The XCritic Interview: Britney Amber

June 23, 2020
DEMARKO

In every interview I take part in, I like to showcase a film of the starlet. To me, what the tell-tale sign of a true superstar is has to be when I can go to any press page, any marketing team or publicist, and find out within seconds just how much work a performer has done with the company and how good a performer that person really is. Yes, within seconds. For instance, let’s look at HotMovies.com, one of my favorite places to find information about an adult actor. When you go to that page you not only discover that Miss Britney Amber is an AVN Best New Starlet nominee, we find her scene with GirlGirl.com within the DVD entitled: Milfs on Milfs on top of a filmography that contains over five-hundred films. That is a number that is not often reached, even by the performers some would call the greatest of all time. In this film from Alan X and Jules Jordan, Miss Amber does what she is known to do by her die hard fans within a flash. She steals the scene, steals the spotlight and triumphs over every single performer on that DVD with her opening scene. These are not unknowns or newbies we are talking about, these are legends of the game, like Katie Morgan Bridgette B as well as genre phenom Serene Siren. Now, let us not compare too much, as Britney Amber is a woman who I found to be as humble as they come, and has a passion for those she works with when the camera is rolling and when it is not. Anyone who calls themselves an “industry insider” or a writer of any sorts in this industry knows of the legend that is Britney Amber. A woman whose path to this business is one greater than any urban legend or lore in my book. She is a woman who is all business, all power, and honestly, as I found out after this interview, a woman whose journey through this life and industry is a tale that few will believe and only the brave can know. I promise you this, after both parts of this introduction you will know the true name of Britney Amber.

Don Juan: ...you are making me remember the days of big hair and massive make-up, the whole nine-yards. The moments where a model got a second paycheck!

Britney Amber: Yes! Yes! Exactly. You are talking about the “good old days!”

(Our conversation began with me trying to spark a conversation of the “good old days.” Turn thirty and it is something that just happens without thought. A nice little inside bit of information for fans. When Miss Amber started in the industry around 2008, right around when I did as well, models used to get paid to shoot the box covers. Yes, believe it or not the models were given a second paycheck with another day of pampering and glamour to make the fans mind go bonkers as they passed their DVD or VHS on the shelves of an adult bookstore. Something that does not happen anymore unfortunately. That is the wonder of talking with the true legends of the business. They can tell you about many tales of the past, as well as what is bullshit about the past and what is the truth of the future.)

Don Juan: I know! Not to bad mouth the current State of the Union because I love the business and I always will, where you and I are going to get along the most, because I have honestly wanted to share this story with you for years. When I was in college, I delved into sex work here and there. You got to pay tuition and them student loans somehow, right?

Britney Amber: Oh wow, you went to an Ivy League school?

Don Juan: I did. I went to a "Public" Ivy, a tad easier to get into, and something more for the artists of the world as you probably know. Let's just say Thomas Jefferson is my hero and that helped me pick schools. Yes, I am a lame ass. What I have always respected about you the most, and I have always wanted to sit you down for this conversation. I am a person that thinks very firmly that it is sexuality that unlocks so much within the human mind and persona. I don’t think that we give a person’s “sexual” journey enough credit in life for shaping who they are in a good way, as it did for me and it still does. I don’t think we give the industry, women, sex, sexuality, companionship, anything along those lines, enough credit you know?

Britney Amber: Yeah, I do agree but I also think that everyone does have their own views about sex, and sex for a lot of people is just a taboo thing and if you bring it up with that kind of person, their initial reaction is “oh, gross!” Most people are like that in my family. Very uncomfortable with any subject that has sex involved in it at all. So, well...at least they don’t label me as an outcast. No one in my family treats me different but that is not always the case for every family. Sex is a subject that never comes up, my job is never comes up, it is a completely taboo subject that no one talks about.

(We share another laugh and even though these words might seem a little bold as our laughter comes from this kind of strange occurrence that takes place when a person joins the world of adult entertainment in any manner. The subject of “talking shop” as I like to call it, or what I think is a better description, a confident conversation that people in the industry share. It is almost as if when around a person in the business you feel their ability to tell you who they are, and we are not just talking about sex. You will see more in this interview but Britney Amber shows this true to life empowerment, confidence in situations most “civilians” can never face due to outside ridicule, or as I always tell my friends, talking about living life naked. Britney’s intelligence, lack of fear, confidence with a calm, casual demeanor, it is what I love about this industry. You meet people who are the most empowered in the world and it stems from sex in my opinion and what you choose to learn from it. That is why we laugh in moments of conversation where perhaps others would be puzzled a bit. Once again, that is why I love this industry.)

Don Juan: That is so funny. It is true, my family is the same way. Once upon a time, my dear old dad just happened to be with me and I had a friend who was feature dancing in Denver, and she stopped by my house for lunch and to say hello. My father was there as well and I told him, “hey pops, look, here is a Penthouse Pet right before your eyes, did you ever think you would see the day? I say this being a man whose first naked woman he saw was under the lid of his father’s tool box. Needless to say, my father was tongue tied did not know what to say.

Britney Amber: Yeah, yeah. My Dad, he is a little bit of a different story. I actually saw him just a couple of days ago which is something out of the ordinary for us. When I did my cover of Hustler, which was May 2009 and around that time I think that I had told him that I was working in the industry. Somehow he got a hold of me, and he tells me, “hey, I saw you on the cover and I bought it!” My first reaction (we are both laughing hysterically almost to where I can not hear the recording of the audio.) …was “Oh no!” I guess his reaction could have been a lot worse and something negative, but he was more proud of than anything else. I hope he never opened up the magazine. (Massive laughs again.) You know Hustler is right there with “mainstream” and is as popular as Playboy and Penthouse and other things. So, he was just proud of me to have gotten the cover, and back then, you could get a copy of Hustler anywhere, even at a gas station. I think that is what happened that day. He was getting gas, saw the magazine, and he bought it. His reaction was once again, “OHHH I am so proud of you.”

Don Juan: No darlin’ that is a massive, massive accomplishment in the world of modeling. You know, to touch on my experience in the "sex worker" realm, you get to discover what the “real world” is. They know the credit that they should be giving us. Especially to you models and performers. It is a big deal to be a part of that and be on the cover or in the pages of a magazine that is sold worldwide and just like you said, something that was once upon a time found at every corner store and gas station across this country. Now, to get this thing really rolling in a rather boring manner, because I can imagine you have told this story so often. Can you tell the XCritic faithful how you found your way into the world of adult?

Britney Amber: So, I had started by working at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch in 2007 and before I was working there I was working as a hotel auditor, working graveyard shift, eleven to seven all by myself. That job pretty much consisted of doing paperwork for a few hours and then filled up the rest of the night with little odds and ends. During moments like this at work, I started watching “Cat House” on HBO. That is when my curiosity for the whole “prostitution” world began to intrigue me. This show really had me hooked, as I started watching it at home too. I saw all these girls making all this money and having all this fun. First thing I thought was that I needed to get in on this. At that time I was married, and I had a daughter at a very young age and I decided that I was going to talk my husband into letting me try this. Of course, he was not onboard at first. We had also got married when we were very young, so there were problems from the very beginning. I was a teenager when I met him, so I think due to many circumstances it was a marriage that was bound to fail. As I was feeling the end of things coming on between me and my husband, I was looking for ways to become more independent, both financially and more. The way that I went about reaching out to Dennis Hof, for those who do not know, was the owner of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch and obviously at that time he was very much this big celebrity, and the way that I went about reaching out to him, I said to myself, “he is never going to see this message and even if he does, he will probably skim right by my it.”

So, the way that I actually reached out to Dennis was on his MySpace page, yes back in those days. To my surprise he actually sent me back a message that had this page full of information. This letter said that he would pay for me to come out with no obligations and if I did not like it, I did not have to come back. He literally made it almost impossible for me to say no. So I was off to Carson City, Nevada, and my husband finally allowed me to go out there. It was something terrifying, I was not even old enough to drink yet. This was also the first time that I was ever leaving home, first time that I had ever been away from my family. I had taken this job on a whim and once I finally got there I got a big dose of reality. I did not know how things operated and after a couple of days had passed and I had not yet gotten what they call a “party” up there. (A “party” by definition in a legal Nevada brothel is the wide amount of services the courtesan’s offer their clients for all those people who do not know.) Just the anticipation and not knowing anything about anything has so difficult and nothing was falling into place like I thought that it would be. So, the second morning that I woke up and I still was not getting any jobs and it really got to me and I started crying. A few of the girls approached me and started consoling me and telling me that this was normal and that is what every girl goes through when they are starting out. They made me feel wonderful about myself and what I was doing and about staying on to see how things would turn out. Literally right at that moment, the doorbell rang. At the Bunny Ranch when the doorbell rings you have to come out and do a line-up. There were actually three girls who had been consoling me and helping me to think better about things that were a part of this line-up. I can remember them telling me, “come on Britney you got to come out for this bell.” I think I had even had them crying. I hesitated for a second and the girls kept beckoning to me, “come on, come on Britney.” Then that was the moment that I finally got picked.

It was such a unique experience. The first guy that I ever had picked me, he worked on a fishing boat and was out to sea for long stretches of time and there were no women on his boat. They would travel to Alaska, and he would say that there are not many women up there either. The women to men ratio was tiny and I think still is very, very small up there. He was either in his late thirties or early forties, and he said that he was still a virgin. There just were not that many women, and he spent so many months at sea on these fishing boats. That is why he came to the ranch, and in the end, things turned out better than I would have ever thought. He turned out to be a very sweet guy, and he was a virgin. It is that anticipation that got me, as you do not know what to expect when you are taking things head on for the very first time without knowing what to do. It is the fear of the unknown that just gets me in every situation in life. After that I ended up making good money from working for Dennis. He is a very sweet, unintimidating guy to say the least.

So, I had been working there for about three and a half years all together. Then, about a year and half into working at the Bunny Ranch I met a girl who was doing movies also, and she had started working at the ranch and Dennis, he made it a very staunch rule that you do not talk to the girls about getting into the porn industry. He did not allow anyone to share information about it or anything because in the past, there were girls who were funneled away from the ranch. That was basically what happened to me as well. So, this gal I speak of, we had that conversation that was “only between us” and she gave me all the contact information of her agent. Which was at the time, ...well, I can explain it best this way. At the time, I did not know how important it was to have an agent you can trust and work for you, so I just jumped right into things you know what I mean?

Don Juan: Oh yes, I sure do. I think all of us do that in some form or another in this business no matter where it is that we start.

Britney Amber: Well this person told me that her agent was someone that was perfect for new girls entering the industry, and she has already been in the business six or seven years at that point, and she told me that she recommended her agent for X, Y and Z reasons and at that early stage in my career my opinion was, “ehhh, it does not matter.” I very quickly regretted that line of thinking as I was put in a lot of very bad positions with the start of my career. It was from all this happening that I met Shy Love about a week into working in the porn industry. I had met Shy on a Hustler set and I let her know who my agent was and I told her what had happened and right there, at that moment, she said to me, “stop, you are coming with me now, no questions asked, you are mine now.” She really saved me in so many ways that day. I really do owe her my life because I do not know what I would have done if she had not stepped in to say, “it does not matter what you say, you are with me.” I just can not express my thanks enough to her for how she got me out of a bad situation.

Don Juan: How wonderful. You know darlin’ I have a lot of respect for that woman and you. To hear the stories from a performer that leaves home. Becomes a person who follows adventure, her heart and her passion, you performers do not get enough commendation for that. We can praise someone for trotting across the country and spending mommy and daddies money at a private college, but we can not give praise to a woman who goes instantly into a competitive market, a cold world outside her line of work, then must battle the same things others do. Politics, paying your dues and you all do it well. It is not fair at all. There are very few people who have the guts to do that with anything in their lives.

Britney Amber: Yes, ……

Don Juan: That had to be scary, and I am not talking in terms of how the critics of our industry would move that quote into the context of slamming our business, I mean that in terms of finding the place where you need to go to make your dreams come true, to learn the ropes. You do everything and more than you have to do at any other job. Your will and the courage to follow it is credit you performers never get and it is a damn shame.

Britney Amber: Thank you. The scary thing really has to be getting into this business without anyone on your side. In today’s industry it is even more difficult. Not knowing anybody for me back then, being a young girl, I was only twenty-one when I started doing movies and I just didn’t know about a lot of things and I got taken advantage of a few times, very badly. This happens to a lot of girls. My message to young girls coming into the industry, find a good agent who is on your side and is not using you. Sometimes it can be so hard to differentiate when they are using you, and when they are not. There is always that gray area, and you really have to be vigilant. It is always good to have a friend in the industry, someone that earns your trust so that they can give you advice and stick by your side no matter what. I got really lucky when Shy stepped in so early. I think back on things now, and it was literally a week into my career in film and before that, it had been years before anyone even stepped in to help me. I can not imagine what could have happened without her.

Don Juan: God rest his soul, Dennis was a person who would not share things with a woman who was entering porn until the very end after most people had made up their minds about coming into the business and then bam, a person is there and so much that they do not know. I am not a negative person or a guy who thrives off bashing the industry. I think every person needs to look at the business side of things and Dennis would tell people, “you are stepping into a different world” in porn and that was it. Trying to figure things out from there is up to the performer. You are stepping into a world that is you by yourself. I really appreciate you sharing that thought that you need other people. My God, it is a truth in this world more than anything.

Britney Amber: Oh, for sure. The thing is that I went around Dennis to get into the business, so he did not know anything, so I never even got that little speech from him. I think that made things even scarier when I was starting. I literally got the number from this woman for her agent, and went into everything blindly. Being twenty-one or younger you have so very little life experience, let alone business experience in life.

Don Juan: You know, many of the people who helped me along the way in this business taught me about following my instincts and meeting Dennis himself years ago, I saw that importance of business and more in the “sex” industry. I never thought about the true importance of having someone by your side, “on your team” so to speak. That is true wisdom madam. I think that way that you faced things without fear and hesitation is something so commendable.

Britney Amber: Why thank you. I can not take too much credit as there was so much that I learned and faced just going through things blindly. Obviously a lot of people do that when they are eighteen, going all the way up to their early twenties There were so many things that I did then, that if I were to do now, I think I would be too terrified to do the same things that I did. Things like having a child, getting married, all those life experiences that people just step into. Just thinking about my daughter. I look at that and I can not even imagine having a child now. I am telling you, I would be terrified. My daughter, she literally turned fifteen a couple of days ago but I think that everyone has these things occur at points in their life where you feel like a light bulb just switched on you know? That is the best thing to compare it to but looking back on things I see that I was not a person that was thinking too far ahead. I did not think about carrying baby, delivering or how am I going to raise a child. Am I going to be working at McDonald’s and what will the income be years from now? Every day was something where I woke up and the thoughts on my mind were, “what am I going to eat today?” It was all about living in that moment and not thinking about the scary things that were to come. These were things that I really needed to be prepared for and when I was young, the quote that sums it up best is that "ignorance is bliss."

Don Juan:I truly give you credit madam, as I think most people, even when they are young, do not take risks and allow so many other things in the world keep them from enjoying the day, the year, their life. Acting upon impulses, yes it does have its downs and risks but I think that is the part that is the true enjoyment of life in any situation. Knowing your story from when I started in the business and I have told this to a handful of young performers. I see interns galore of all ages at the “office” and what I see with nine out of ten of them is a person that is scared shitless to do anything. To get their feet wet and try. I would trade a million interns for some of the performers in this business and especially a person like you.

Britney Amber: Thank you.

Don Juan:It takes so much to become an actor, become a model, learn how to become a performer. Getting into Hollywood, getting into the sex industry. These are all things that not everyone can do and it is not because it is beneath people or that they had some kind of advantage growing up. No, it is due to the fact you all have the guts and the heart to go places others fear to tread and live. Those days of waking up and saying, “what am I going to eat today” as their biggest obstacle to conquer, those are the people that succeed, those are the people who always evolve in each stage of life they face. You have so many people tell you performers that this rambunctiousness you have must be “outgrown” or changed, and that is bullshit. You ladies have an outgoing-ness that is very, very rare in this world.

Britney Amber: Thank you again. Ignorance is bliss and that is how I feel that my mind set was when I was eighteen and all those younger years. It is always easier to jump into things instead of thinking things out. Yes, I think you are right, sometimes that is a benefit. When you overthink things, you really think yourself out of so much. You do keep yourself from so many amazing things. I feel like I am slowly creeping into the next phase of things just like we talked about earlier. I guess when it comes to getting older you just simply get a lot more cautious. As time goes on, you get a little bit more set in your own ways. Maybe that is just how time goes on for us all you know? I think being younger is all about having that fresh outlook on things. You are this sponge and you are just out there. Absorbing everything that you can.

Don Juan: I can't picture myself being old and grumpy, how about you?

Britney Amber: (She gently laughs.) Geese, I hope I don't. I do think about those things a lot.

Don Juan: You know Tori Black, she is a friend who has faced some things you have. At conventions and events, she has been a drinking buddy and seeing her with her family, her daughter and now hearing you speak about your relationship with your daughter is such a wonderful thing. I tell people both inside and outside the business that growing up with a family, it is not always what it is cracked up to be. My family is all very distant and unconnected, and we always have been. I see a woman like Tori and you. I hear you speak such wonders of your daughter and the beauty of that bond, or that relationship. That is something special, and something to rant and rave about coming from our business. Showing who our people really are. Those things are the most special things I have seen in your performers. It is something that is built into your hearts. Those are beautiful stories and I love to tell them to people who think such things do not exist in our business.

Britney Amber: Why thank you. I, too, had a similar upbringing as well. My Dad, he really was never close with us. He would say on a regular basis, “I wish I never had kids.” I never understood that. He says that even to this day. I just don’t get it. My Mom had a rough life and it was hard for her as well.

Don Juan: Ugh, my Mom too. My Mom is just like that. My Mom says the same fucking things, Oh my God! My Mom and your Dad need to get together and bake a fucking cake. I feel exactly what you are saying, and I am not a negative person either, I believe that people go through their own lives the way they must, I have never been that person who lets transgression rule their life and I can tell you are that same way too. Good for you. Shit happens you know. I grew up dirt fucking poor in the Bronx. Once again, I think it is a huge testament to you as a person that YOU found your way into the business but you found a way to thrive, to survive, to live, you put a roof over your head. You paid your fucking rent, you paid your fucking mortgage. That is massive! No one ever gives you guys credit for that and it is bullshit.

Britney Amber: Yeah, yeah. I feel like I have really accomplished a lot with the cards that I have been dealt. There are a lot of things that I am proud of, gained confidence and success in and I really owe that to the adult industry. I don’t know how else I would have been able to accomplish so many things that I did, and I am now talking about my personal life. Being able to save what I have, being able to provide for my daughter, without the industry, how else would I be able to come up with the means to give her that life. The adult industry gave me the means to be myself, discover things I did not know. I do not know if I would have anything without the adult industry.

Don Juan: Oh, God bless that beautiful, humble heart of yours darlin’! Don’t ever forget the importance of you and you are also a person who allowed such wonders to happen within your life and your time in the business. It was you that faced those situations and triumphed. You performers are a special breed of human beings. You all connect this world in more ways that you think. You know, the wonder of this business will forever be to me that I found more caring, loving, hard-working human beings within it, than I did the “real” world that lies outside our doors. OK, before I start getting all teary eyed, let’s go back into some questions. I love that you chased your dreams at so many levels in the business. Are you allowed to talk about this upcoming film The Arrangement?

Britney Amber: Yeah, yeah. That is actually coming out in a few weeks. The release date is July seventh. It is basically an “indie” thriller and it is starring Eric Roberts. He is playing, well, I don’t know if you can label him as the devil but that was my take from sitting down and actually getting to watch the movie. Seeing things on set was a different tale, as what I would see is that he Eric Roberts, makes these sinister deals with people and you can only imagine where it goes from there. It is due out very, very soon. I think they are also trying to get it on Netflix so that would be awesome. I really, really hope that happens. I also just had another mainstream movie that just came out.

Don Juan: Oh my God, fuck yeah! Please tell me more!

Britney Amber: Of course, now this film, this one comes out on Amazon Prime and everyone should have Amazon Prime. So there is no excuse for any of my fans to watch this one. (God this woman is a fucking charmer. I mean honestly, you can always tell who the gifted actors are. I would have never guessed Amber to be this damn good. I mean I knew she could act but a performer who has this kind of amazing diction, wow! The ability to poke fun and have fun, it is a place that I love an interview to go, as I get the privilege of showing the world that these ladies could out speak a chairman of the board, who is looking to market a film, and display this professionalism you just don’t see at any fucking job these days.)

Girls, Guns and Blood is now on Amazon Prime; it is another amazing thriller. It has this “grind house” style presentation. Think of it like a Quinten Tarantino style movie. That movie was super fun to be a part of, I really love that movie. It is so hilarious. You have to watch it for sure after this, and they are talking about making a part two. Yay, getting to check this film out on Amazon Prime is what the fans have to do.

Don Juan: Hell yeah, I am going to watch that mother fucker tonight! Awesome!

Britney Amber: It has a bunch of other adult stars in it too. It has Cherie DeVille also has Kleio Valentien and Rebecca Love is also in it. Trust me, this one is cool.

……and with that, I think there could be no better place or time to insert our intermission. Most performers in the modern industry have this notion that taking your talent to the mainstream side is virtually impossible. I think Britney Amber proves without a shadow of a doubt that nothing could be further from the truth of what this industry is and can be for not only the people within it, but those who enjoy the art, the spectacle and “the ride.” Yes, I meant that in every way possible both kinky and vanilla. If you thought reading this piece was a joy you have no idea just how much fun it was to finally sit down and talk with a woman who is truly what the term “lore” is all about in Hollywood. A woman who has seen so many things in her life and is as humble and kind as can be. It had taken me about a decade to finally get the great Britney Amber to sit down for a conversation and do you want to know what? It was worth every fucking day of waiting, learning and working. She is a super star whose career began as the end of an era was occurring only so that she could reset the rule book and become a performer who will forever be immortalized by not just her beauty and acting but with her ability to defy the odds, the rules and restrictions that so many believe is the only way one can succeed in this thing we call life.