Hollywood's love affair with the porn industry

02 April 2017 - 02:00 By Pearl Boshomane
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Actress Amanda Seyfried played the role of porn star Linda Lovelace in the 2013 film 'Lovelace'.
Actress Amanda Seyfried played the role of porn star Linda Lovelace in the 2013 film 'Lovelace'.
Image: Supplied

The relationship between porn and Hollywood seems to be one of mutual admiration.

Recently, reputable publications and channels like CNN, The Washington Post and Newsweek all wrote stories about Mia Khalifa, 24, a Lebanese-American hardcore porn star who is one of the biggest names to come out of the industry.

Khalifa, also known as Mia Callista, is not the only one who has been embraced by the mainstream: porn stars like Traci Lords and Jenna Jameson have continued to have public careers post-pornography, while one of internet porn's biggest names, Sasha Grey, has appeared in the TV show Entourage and starred in the 2009 Steven Soderbergh movie The Girlfriend Experience . Soderbergh is the guy behind the family-friendly films Erin Brokovich and Ocean's Eleven.    

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The Girlfriend Experience follows the life of a high-class escort and it was adapted into a moody, brilliant and critically acclaimed TV series in 2016 starring Riley Keough (Elvis Presley's granddaughter).

Another recent show that explored the lives of women in the sex trade (without judgment) was the BBC's Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Of course this is nothing new: one of French cinema's most-loved films is the Catherine Deneuve classic Belle de Jour (1967).

Porn was the star of the show in 1997's Oscar-nominated Boogie Nights, which featured Mark Wahlberg as a porn star named Dirk Diggler, a fictionalised version of real-life porn actor John Holmes. Holmes was later played by Val Kilmer in the 2003 film Wonderland.

Another real-life porn star who was immortalised in a Hollywood flick is Linda Lovelace (she of Deep Throat infamy), who was played by Amanda Seyfried in 2013's Lovelace.

Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe starred in the 2002 film Auto Focus, about a real-life sitcom actor who had a sex addiction and began recording himself engaging in sex acts.

Also making home movies in a film were Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. The two starred in the tedious Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), playing best friends who decide to make a sex tape because they're broke.

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