James Deen - Career

Career

According to Deen, performing in pornographic films was his ambition since he was in kindergarten. After entering the pornography industry in 2004, he initially worked with older female performers. Deen's appearance has been described as "normal guy" or "slightly skate-punk". Deen, who has appeared in approximately 1,400 films, has made over $20,000 per month from his performances and describes himself as "overpaid". Although best known for producing what is known as "female-friendly" pornography, Deen also performs in more male-targeted productions.

In 2009, Deen was named the "Male Performer of the Year" by Adult Video News at the age of 22, making him the youngest actor to have won this award.

Deen has a fan-following among teenage girls, a demographic that is typically not associated with the pornographic industry. In February 2012, ABC Nightline aired the feature "Porn's Boy Next Door", which included interviews with both Deen and his fans. One fan described him as the Ryan Gosling of porn.

Deen co-starred with Lindsay Lohan in Paul Schrader's 2013 film The Canyons, written by Bret Easton Ellis.

ln September 2012, Deen was a participant in a press conference, along with others opposing Los Angeles County Measure B, an initiative which would require condom usage in the pornographic film industry. Deen questioned the measure's constitutionality.

Deen’s collaborations include work with popular NSFW site WoodRocket.com. As the host of original web series, “James Deen Loves Food”, Deen has been featured reviewing top restaurants, to ordering every item on a drive-thru menu at once, and creating a $580 burrito.

In January 2013, Deen took to crowdfunding site Kickstarter.com to raise funds for the mainstream steampunk western film Cowboys And Engines. Deen is listed as the producer of the Bryn Pryor vehicle. The campaign surpassed its goal of $100,000 in just 58 days. Actors Malcolm McDowell, Richard Hatch, and Walter Koenig have signed on to the project. In February 2013, Deen was invited to return to his alma mater, Pasadena City College, to speak to students about his career. The appearance, initially open to the public, was restricted by college administrators due to “public safety concerns” over “protesters”. Deen was restricted to speaking to the students of PCC’s “Navigating Pornography” class. Deen participated in a “Night With The Stars: Life, Love, and Sex in the Workplace” panel as part of “Sex Week”, held at Washington University in St Louis, MO.

Deen has been invited to college and university campuses across the country to speak with students on legislation, condom use and contraception, relationships, media, and sexuality. Deen also spoke to students at the University of Wisconsin – Madison on April 18, dubbed “A Night with James Deen: Pornography & Sex Ed”, as the keynote for the university’s Sexual Health Fest.

Deen was featured in a July 2012 GQ multi-page article, chronicling his work and personal life. GQ interviewed Deen again for an article about his workout regimen, in which he credited healthy eating habits, a “Jew stomach”, and lots of sex.

In 2013, Deen was listed as the only male performers to make the CNBC "Dirty Dozen" list of the porn industry's popular stars.

In April 2013, information was leaked about Deen’s involvement in the mainstream Samuel Gonzalez Jr vehicle, based on events surrounding D.B. Cooper and the novel Catcher In The Rye. Deen has commented, “I am not going anywhere” in response to questions about his intention to leave porn.

In April 2013, Deen filmed a pornographic scene with reality television participant Farrah Abraham, who had been in one of the Teen Mom series. Deen indicated that he was asked to pretend to be dating Abraham as part of a ploy to market the scene as an accidentally released sex tape, but refused to do so, arguing "If you're going to make a celebrity sex tape and try to pass it off as an amateur home video, you don't hire a well-known porn star!"