Sasha Grey's early life was similar to other women who ended up in the skin biz, but her formative years were also defined by an artistic awakening that would ultimately be her guiding light. Raised in Sacramento, she came from a broken family, and a life of near-poverty meant that simple childhood activities like watching movies with friends or going shopping were out of the question. Nevertheless, Grey came to enjoy acting, and she started taking lessons early on and would continue to do so for a decade.
After high school, Sasha Grey moved out and worked at a steak restaurant during a year that would change her intellectually -- and bend her physically -- in a myriad of ways. Through a series of college arts classes and her own interest, she was introduced to the cinema of French director Jean-Luc Godard, the novels of Hunter S. Thompson and the music of David Bowie -- all of which gave her an existential take on life. In addition, she entered a heated sexual relationship with a coworker who initiated her into sexual activities that were highly questionable and surprisingly enjoyable! It left her curious about whether she could have sex professionally, in addition to personally.
sasha grey enters the adult film industry
Just a few weeks past her 18th birthday in 2006, the newly single, forever-existential and brazenly sexual Sasha Grey moved to Los Angeles with her eyes peeled on entering the adult industry. Living in a house without an air conditioner or a proper kitchen, she found agent Mark Spiegler through the internet and filmed her first scene in Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge for director John Stagliano. Although Stagliano was a veteran of the business, he and Grey's scene partner, Rocco Siffredi, were unprepared for what happened next. In the heat of the moment, Grey asked the male talent to punch her in the stomach, to which he refused. The incident rippled across the industry and left everyone pondering who this young woman was -- and why she wanted a tummy ache.
Sasha Grey finished her first year in the adult film industry $200,000 richer with an award from the X-Rated Critics' Organization for Best New Starlet. It was only the beginning. In three years, Grey would make over 100 adult movies, pose as a Penthouse Pet of the Month, open her own L.A. Factory Girls agency, and be named 2008's Female Performer of the Year, according to both XRCO and the Adult Video News. Why so successful? Some of it was her willingness to look at the camera and "connect" with viewers, and a big part of it was her flat-out fearlessness about what she would do on camera. While some (like Tyra Banks) cried degradation, Sasha Grey cried feminism and argued that it was her idea!
sasha grey stars in the girlfriend experience
In 2008, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh was in the early stages of a new film called The Girlfriend Experience, about a high-class call girl in New York City. One of his assistants contacted Sasha Grey through her MySpace account, but she thought the message was a hoax, until the director himself called her the next day. Impressed with her stated desire to try "regular" acting, Soderbergh cast her and the film was screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. While additional roles followed in the horror-comedy Smash Cut and the drama Quit, Grey hopes to restrict her non-adult acting to independent films -- in keeping with her tastes.
Sasha Grey has also found work in modeling for American Apparel, and in music with her own industrial music group, ATelecine. As if she wasn't busy enough, she managed to pick a fight with Howard Stern, calling him a "closet racist" in Rolling Stone. The dig was not kindly received and sparked a war of words that only added to her popularity. Now engaged to photographer Ian Cinnamon, Grey will soon be offering up a new project that promises to be even more revealing than her already bare past: her own documentary about the three years since her 18th birthday. Tsk… tsk… and you thought there was nothing left of her to see!