XCritic Performer Spotlight: Kenzie Reeves

December 8, 2018
DEMARKO

An interview with Kenzie Reeves. I think that when a person gets such an opportunity you must know that such things beneath the surface must be found and talked about. It goes without saying that a porn star, an adult entertainer, they are simply always seen only in one light. Since her start in the industry, any fan will tell you that a Kenzie Reeves scene is one that is money in the bank. What they may not know, Kenzie is a woman who will go to any lengths to make sure that her scene is the best that it can be. This is very rare in any form of entertainment for a woman who is in her early twenties. Most actors simply do not gain the true passion for artistry until their early thirties no matter what type of film they make. I think very few critics of the adult film world know that such stars exist. Kenzie has a great reputation on set. She is a woman who gets close with her co-star. She is outspoken in the best of ways and she takes her craft as serious as a heart attack. Most of the people who I spoke to about what an interview with Kenzie would be like, everyone pointed to her passion for production. She is a student of the game and she has invested so much into this. There are many people that will tell you that they are an open book, but few truly mean it. Most will put on the marketing mask and have you guide the interview to a place only they wish it to go. Kenzie, she was a true open book and when I say that phrase, I mean that she is a wealth of knowledge. As we jump into this interview, Kenzie and I are busy talking about our dreams of filmmaking and I think that as you complete the first part of our interview, you will see why this beauty was nominated for not only an acting role but also for best new starlet.

Kenzie Reeves: ….. I think that is one of the best parts of being on set. I really do see myself a way down the road directing. I love behind the scenes stuff. I love talking with other performers and envisioning where their characters may go in a scene or film. I have always known that I wanted to do something in the adult industry. I really did not know it would be exactly this……

Don Juan DeMarko: Dude, I love that. I shit you not. When I was younger, I had the same mind frame. I knew that I wanted to do something in the adult industry, I did not know what, but that passion has always been there. It is not just the things that come with sexuality either. I love everything about it. I was very blessed because I got to get into the business during the truly great years of true film. I got to meet all these amazing people, where I was at that point, I was like, “Daaaaamn! I remember seeing you in Hustler dude!”

Kenzie Reeves: No, totally. I wish I could have been able to see those days and be a part of them. The Vivid Girls, the amazing movies. I really wish I could have been there. I would have loved to have just seen how business was done back then. I am told all the time that business was so different back then compared to today’s adult world. Ten years ago, versus now, it was just a completely different ball game it seems.

Don Juan DeMarko: I think that you are truthfully a performer who would thrive with a return to such a style in the industry.

Kenzie Reeves: Oh my God, thank you. When I was younger, I really wanted to be an actress.

Don Juan DeMarko: Well, being that you are one, I think that just makes the fact that you have been discovered and are now doing this for a living, five million times cooler. You are such a talent in this business I love it. I could go to a million different places with you. So, to get down to business, my first question with you is this. For all the XCritic readers who do not know and what person could that possibly be. How did Kenzie Reeves get discovered in the business?

Kenzie Reeves: Well, I first started as a dancer who would go all around the country. It was not in clubs or anything. We were doing private shows, with security, doing these synchronized routines. It was mainly a weekend thing and it was really good money and I miss it very much. I think that dancing is truly another one of my passions. I am just like the Energizer bunny, so dancing comes naturally to me. It was while I was doing that for about a year straight. It was there that I really got into a bad place, Don. There were times where I would just sit in my apartment and I had these aspirations to do something, but I did not know what I wanted to do. I wanted to have a “normal” nine to five, but I did not want to be with “normal” people. I needed to be able to be free. I needed to have something where I would be able to express my thoughts with people and be open. I knew that the one thing I had to have, was something where I could be as comfortable as I wanted to be. I also knew that I wanted to do something that I loved, so I Googled the pros and cons of being an adult actress and I found that personally, the pros outweighed the cons. For me, I was simply all for it after that and it was right then and there that I began talking with a lot of the agencies and I picked the one that I had the best connection with. It was only two days after that I signed the contract and then two weeks later I was on a flight to LA.

Don Juan DeMarko: Damn that is motherfucking gangsta! I love it! So, you were a true feature dancer before you got into the film side of the business?

Kenzie Reeves: It kind of was. I think that to be a feature dancer, you must be dancing at clubs and these gigs were always………

Don Juan DeMarko: OK, I got you. They were more like these corporate events where it is a private event. It is usually some suits and you guys go a little bit more into a routine, right?

Kenzie Reeves: Yeah, that is exactly right. It was something that was so synchronized. The dance routines had a lot of things to where it wasn’t just stripping, it has a routine behind everything. This show had so much behind it. It was amazing. There was a lot that every girl had to be accountable for. A good example that comes to mind right away was, let’s say that there was a night that you did not have your usual dance partner, then the girl who takes her place will be able to take her place because she will know the steps that you are doing. I actually created that within the business. Before me, there was actually no structure. When I first started to really take on the company, I was one of those people where I got really bored. So, I was starting to do the advertising. I had already been training new girls. I was getting smarter at doing all the little things. I really began to spread this knowledge to others. I can remember showing the girls as a part of their training, how to run a credit card so that it would not show up as stripping when they were trying to get paid. I was creating all these new toy shows and game shows that would help the girls to have more fun and to earn better money. I was literally doing everything except for driving and security.

Don Juan DeMarko: Damn dude! (She laughs every time I interrupted her, God bless her and when she would she would always have this adorable laugh. Well, perhaps more than adorable. I mean, picture Kenzie Reeves smiling and laughing as you are simply having a blast getting to know this amazing woman, whose sexuality is like a neon sign, glowing powerfully and always present.) So, you can do choreography too?

Kenzie Reeves: I am tiny, so, I do not have the big butt or boobs, so I figured that I needed to add something more. Twerking, God, I love it. I am telling you, Don, I love Big Booty Hoes. I have never been endowed with that. So, I said to myself, what can I do that will make me stand out and make me sexy even though I do not have all of those assets. From that moment I was teaching myself to become more flexible. I would do headstands, I would do backflips over guys and I would give them lap dances.

Don Juan DeMarko: Damn, that is fucking badass!

Kenzie Reeves: (That cute, sexy laugh comes about again as I interrupt her.) I think that is truly how I stayed in such good shape back then. I remember that I would walk everywhere. It was so fun being a dancer. I think you can see why I do miss it so much.

Don Juan DeMarko: I dig those kinds of stories doll. I shit you not, when I first met Jillian Janson, I was covering one of her stage shows. She is an amazing dancer, a woman who puts a lot of thought into the mix and she kept telling me to come sit stage side, so I could have a “ring-side” seat to the show but I couldn’t. Not that I did not want to partake in such heavenly offerings, more so that I love to watch a great set. I love watching a performer who puts so much into a dance routine with a provocative spin. It is not an easy thing to create.

Kenzie Reeves: I definitely know what you mean. When I first got into the industry and I was weighing out all those pros and cons. I had read about some dark experiences and some companies that were not legit. I had seen a lot of girls posting on the internet about working with all these shady little companies in the middle of nowhere. I know what you mean so much when I was coming into the business and seeing that and then also getting to work with those companies that are as legit as it gets. I had never had any kind of situation happen like that when I was dancing, so I honestly did not know what to expect. Now that I have had a chance to apart of the industry like this, it makes me see that so many people do not know what really goes into creating so much within the industry. I had a few fans ask me one time how I was able to fit so much of my kinky side into a one-hour scene and I told them, “you have no idea what really goes into it.” I had spent hours and hours on set creating the scene they were talking about and it was a long, long shoot that went into the early hours of the morning. I think that is the best part of this work too though. There is a whole story that goes with every shoot I have ever done.

Don Juan DeMarko: Oh yeah. I feel you there darlin’. I can tell within ten minutes of us rapping that I could talk to you forever! There have been many occasions that I am hanging with the girls and they talk about Mike Adriano. The stories that I have heard of showing up on set and being treated like a queen by this man who loves the industry so much. Those are stories fans will never get to hear and they are what create the best of the best in this business.

Kenzie Reeves: Oh, my gawd! I love Mike Adriano. He is such a gentleman. You have been told right about what it is like being on set with him. I love him, I love him, I love him. I have done Swallowed twice with him, I have done a regular boy-girl and I just did my True Anal scene with him.

Don Juan DeMarko: Oh, fuck yeah! There was a little telekinesis going on right there with you and I. Rock fucking on! I absolutely love Mr. Adriano, he is so cool! This next question, I have been beyond excited to get to ask you this. Tell us what it feels like to be nominated for best new starlet and best actress all in the same year?

Kenzie Reeves: Honestly, I did not even think that I was even going to get nominated. It was a complete shock to me. Just having the nomination. That in itself, it is an award to me because there are so many amazing actors and talented people in this industry. It is humbling. To me, I feel so honored to just be recognized alongside them. Getting this kind of recognition, it makes you feel like you are doing something right. I was at the AVN nomination party and I was literally like, “did they just say my name?” The feeling was so overwhelming I was just like “oh my goodness” the rest of the night. I was so happy. I mean even right now, I can not put into words what I feel and what that night was like. I can remember seeing my name afterward and I thought it would set in by then and it did not. It still hasn’t really. Getting this kind of recognition, it does give your work credibility. It makes me very proud of the work that I have been doing and I want to make more and more, (There is this slight trembling in her voice she is so happy and joyous. I mean it is something I can not describe myself.) but I also want to do things even better. Every time that I have been doing a scene now, even if I was pleased with what just went on, I am always asking the director for tips and feedback. It has been very common for me now to wait until the production crew is packing everything up and I will go to the director and ask if there is anything that I could do better. I ask, “is there something you saw that was good? Was there something you saw that I should do more of? I have now grown very understanding of constructive criticism. That is my main goal now. I never want to half-ass anything, I want to give it one hundred and fifty percent.

Don Juan DeMarko: You are fucking awesome doll. I think that is such an amazing thing that you are always looking to improve yourself. I do not know if you know this. I think there is only about six actors or so who have ever been nominated for best new starlet and best actress in a feature all in the same year. If you win both, you will join a very, very rare club.

Kenzie Reeves: Wow, really?

Don Juan DeMarko: Oh yeah darlin’! Not just that, you are the best actress nominee in a feature film. That says a lot. That says that your talents go beyond just sex appeal to a place that only true performers can take an audience. To me, that is as good as it gets when it comes to acting. You, getting that nomination, it is one of the oldest categories. It is what the awards were built on, when feature films were all that existed in the industry. You will see time to time a performer get the nods for a scene and perhaps best actor but so very rare is the air that you are breathing on top of that mountain.

Kenzie Reeves: That makes me really feel like being in this business was what I was meant to do. I am in this thing for the long run. Last AVN, my agent was telling me, “you are killing it right now you just have to go get your teeth fixed now.” I honestly took that with a grain of salt Don and about a month later, I paid to get my teeth done. I have had the girls ask me when I would work with them or even just hanging out, “how much does something like that cost.” I always give it to them straight and I will tell them what I paid. I have had more than a few girls tell me, “oh hell no!” I will be blunt a bit more and remind them that you are your own investment. You make your money based off your looks, so this is going to pay off in the long run.

Don Juan DeMarko: (My excitement level was through the roof at this moment. This beauty telling me this was music to my ears and I get so excited my voice comes out so high pitched. It sounded like someone kicked me in the nuts but that is the surprise that describes what Kenzie is truly like.) Oh, my goodness I freakin’ love you, woman! It is a truth beyond words how you are your own investment when you are a model and performer in this industry. Hell, any field of entertainment.

Kenzie Reeves: Don, I apply this measure to everything I do in the business I look at it as getting better, just like learning how to act better, it is something that can be fine-tuned. I remember that I was just on set a few weeks ago and I was talking with a friend and she asked how I did my hair and I told her where I get it done and how much it costs, and she was scared off. I do not think it is superficial when you are your money in this business. You are your business you represent your brand more than anyone else.

Don Juan DeMarko: That is one of the best damn analogies of what a model is that I have ever heard darlin’. That so few people ever realize. You are a business that must have so many different arts that all excel in order to be successful.

Kenzie Reeves: Exactly!

Don Juan DeMarko: That says so much about you. I am so beyond impressed Kenzie. My respect for you, it grows by the second doll. You know, I would love to really talk to that side of the performer. I know that at times, Bree’s sets, Alan’s sets, they are something that some people cannot handle in this industry, but they are also something where a person like you I think shines beyond belief and loves every minute of it. Being that Trailer Park Taboo is what everyone seems to be raving about, what was it like being on set? What was it like working with that crew for that masterful creation?

Kenzie Reeves: Well, I had worked with Bree beforehand. We had done a scene with Alec Knight that had really been a wonderful experience for all of us. When she brought me back for that feature, I was so surprised. I really was saying to myself as I got cast again, “really?” One thing I love about Bree and Alan, they do not always do what is good only for the status quo. They are always branching off into these different avenues that push boundaries and create something out of the ordinary. They have originality and that is what I am looking for in myself when it comes to my career, so I think that is what has brought us together to click on many levels of creation. When I was on set for that film, everyone was just so nice. It had that feel of a mainstream shoot. It was more about the acting than anything else. The thing that was so thrilling to me was that I had to stay in character. Each day that I was on set creating this film, I really felt like I got to know my character more and more. I also felt like I got to learn skills that I never had before this film. I never had to cry on camera before and that is not as easy as some people might think it is. That was one of the most unique experiences in my life. I also got to see the raw footage and the complete product and that was something that I enjoyed. We were doing some marketing for the film and even though we could not post everything that was being worked on, it was such a great experience to take part in for the first time. One of the other cool things about all of this. I got to go to Montreal. Gamma flew me to their headquarters and that is where I got to see the original footage. I began to tear up Don. This was one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen. It felt so raw and it felt so real. It was like being at the movies. You know where you sit down. You see the theatre go dark and you see the previews come up, the feeling was so similar. After that, I had this feeling of being so grateful just sweep over me for being able to be a part of that in some way. To have that opportunity to learn new skills and work with such amazing talent.

Don Juan DeMarko: This is music to my ears. It really is Kenzie. It means so much to this old reporter to get to hear that a performer enjoys this part of the business as the film critic who picks apart a film. I simply love what Bree is creating within this industry, I really do. There are so many people within the industry on the fence with her Pure Taboo work, or they simply do not get it but people are not giving it the just due that you would any film that pushes the boundaries and creates something ever before seen. Films are always meant to grab ahold of you and take you places emotionally that are only taken with emotions being tapped into by the viewer. I shit you not sugar, that film, it is one of the closest things I have seen in the industry in a very long time that makes you forget that you are in a fantasy that is how much what she has created makes a person’s emotions and thoughts go everywhere and that is as cool as it gets in this business. The drama that she creates, it is fucking intense.

Kenzie Reeves: It is intense, and I will honestly admit that I'm guilty of giving head that close to penetration. I am truly guilty of that but that is where the moment takes you. I watched that scene and I was so captivated with the actual acting and the experience that I was thinking a few times where else can my acting go? I was truly looking at all the other performances and I said, “holy shit, this is good. Where else could a scene like this go?” That is what a film like that inspired in my mind.

Don Juan DeMarko: OK, to change gears a bit with the interview, I would love to know a bit about the woman behind the alter ego. I have heard through a few mutual friends that you are a huge bookworm and a big geek like me. I am dying to know how true that is. Are you a person who loves video games, are you this massive gamer? Perhaps a big comic book nerd? Or maybe even this big film buff who simply loves cinema in ways that only a passionate film person can, ...

That, ladies and gentlemen we will find out next time as we get closer to AVN. Getting to find out how much knowledge this little ball of fire and brilliance has in her was so eye-opening. If you have ever seen a Kenzie Reeves scene, you will know that she has made a name by becoming every person’s fantasy. This interview we simply had to find out what makes her performances so sound and so sexy. Throughout the industry, she is one of the hottest things going and I think we have all found out why. She is so dedicated. She loves to always learn. That demands respect. It is something that most fans do not realize exists within the performers that bring their fantasy to life. In our next chapter of the interview, we learn about Kenzie the person. We find out how close she is to not only her porn family but her deeply religious family that is as massive beyond what anything I think a fan could comprehend. What I can tell you that you are in store for, is a story of a woman discovering who she is. A tale that truly shows the people of the world who we are in this industry. Kenzie Reeves is one of the brightest new starlets who has all the goods to go far. In the next part, be prepared to meet a porn star whose alter ego is truly something that is as beautiful as it gets in life. That is Kenzie. Stay tuned dear readers….