A Field Guide To August Ames

This week marks the ninth annual Feminist Porn Awards, a time when numerous adult industry luminaries descend on Toronto for a celebration of progressive porn. Regrettably, we weren't able to make it up north for this year's celebrations--but we did manage to track down a fetching young lady who gives us one more reason to say, "Ooooh, Canada."

August Ames was born in Nova Scotia, Canada (which, while not quite a hop, skip, and a jump from Toronto, is close enough to satisfy our urge for northern naughtiness). Growing up, she worked as a babysitter (which we're sure prepared her for quite a few porn roles), cleaned stalls at a Colorado Springs horse ranch (which probably prepared her for fewer porn roles--but you never know!), and, right before entering the world of smut, was a yoga and zumba instructor (which definitely prepared her for every porn role ever). Still, it's a bit of a ways from an idyllic Nova Scotian childhood to shooting hardcore scenes in the Valley--so how exactly did August Ames end up in porn?

Ironically enough, it was all thanks to an episode of "Dr. Phil." Well, sort of: as August recounted in a recent interview, she was at home watching "Dr. Phil" one afternoon, and--during one of the show's many commercial breaks--decided to start surfing porn sites. While checking out the haps at Hustler.com, she noticed a call for models; on a whim, she decided to apply. A few hours later, she learned that Hustler was indeed interested. With a list of talent agencies in hand, she started making preparations for a new career--and less than a month later she'd moved from New Brunswick to Los Angeles, and was hard at work shooting the hardcore scenes we've all come to love. In the four months since she landed in LA, she's been shot by a whole host of websites and companies, like Evil Angel, Wicked Pictures, Digital Desire, and, of course, Hustler (just to name a few).

"Dr. Phil" may have inadvertently sparked her decision to enter the adult industry, but how did she pick her name? August was easy: it's a tribute to her birth month, which also happens to be her favorite time of year. As for Ames, well, that was just a short, quick last name that flowed well when paired with August. As fans of alliteration, we fully support the choice (even if "Ames" might be a more appropriate name for a male pornstar...get it?).

Wondering what August's like off set? As it happens, she's just as comfortable out in the woods roughing it as she is in the club shaking her butt to "The Thong Song" (which, dated as it may be, will always be her favorite song). When she's relaxing at home, she loves watching "Dr. Phil" (no joke, it's her actual favorite show) and enjoys the occasional joint; she's also a big fan of tanning, beaches, and the occasional frozen yogurt (all of which we suspect is much easier to find in LA than her home and native land). But avoid the temptation to write her off as some trash TV-loving airhead: she's also a fan of Sudoku, a pretty mean Scrabble player (we're keeping our fingers crossed that the finds a way to combine her love of porn performance and her love of Scrabble some time in the near future), and, as she puts it, "a drama nerd at heart" (a passion she's happy she gets to channel in hardcore features).

There's a nasty stereotype that holds that porn performers are all estranged (or worse) from their families, we're pleased to report that August is anything but. When she decided to pursue a career in the world of porn, she was very upfront with her family (a terrible liar, she figured anything less than honesty would just come back to bite her in the ass). While her father was less than thrilled, her mother--who she considers her best friend and talks to regularly--was incredibly supportive of her career choice. (And for those family and friends who didn't have the same level of respect for her new life? August doesn't let them get her down: "There will always be those haters everywhere you go, so I learned a while ago to appreciate the positive and ignore the negative.")

It's only been a few months since August first entered the industry, and only time will tell if this ends up being a lifelong career or just a fun temp gig in between yoga instructor positions. As you may have guessed, we're hoping it ends up the former: why waste that flexibility on yoga students when so many porn fans are eager to ogle it?

· Follow August on Twitter (twitter.com)
· Check out a day in August's life with I Heart Radio (news.iheart.com)