3 Surprising Facts About Porn Shoots

3 Surprising Facts About Porn Shoots

Because what you see on RedTube doesn’t tell the whole story

Jenn Tisdale, 33, is used to doing bold things that might make other women cringe—after all, she's a comedian who’ll do whatever it takes to get laughs when she’s onstage. But the gutsiest thing she’s done by far? Responding to an open casting call from porn star James Deen back in September.

Deen posted the announcement that he was looking for a woman to film a sex scene with him via Twitter (the person he was supposed to shoot it with had canceled on him). Tisdale wasn't even sure if the Tweet was legitimate, but she decided to respond for fun—she definitely didn't think she would actually hear about it ever again. But then Deen's "model coordinator" e-mailed Tisdale a few hours later, asking if she wanted to shoot a scene in New York City with him. "It was real," she says.

In addition to doing standup, Tisdale works as a writer at the Washington, D.C.-based website BrightestYoungThings. So when she heard back from Deen’s model coordinator, she asked her co-workers if they thought she should do it. Their unanimous answer? Yes. Not only were they curious about what really goes on at a porn shoot, but they also thought the experience would make for a great story. "I had no desire to do porn," says Tisdale. "But it was more about who was asking to have sex than my interest in porn. If I saw [Deen] on the street, I’d be interested in sleeping with him."

Before she could do that, though, Tisdale had to go through STD testing and background screening. A couple of weeks later, it was go time—although Tisdale had known from the start that she would write about what it was like to sleep with Deen. "Honestly, I wrote about it because it’s something I would want to read," says Tisdale. She never expected her story to get picked up by so many websites—XO Jane, Jezebel, The Daily Mail, and Huffington Post, just for starters. But even before her article (and the video she made with Deen!) went viral, Tisdale had no hesitations talking about her experience. "Immediately afterward, I was psyched about everything," Tisdale says. "I hopped into a cab, and the first things I said to the driver were, 'Hi, I'd like to go to this bar,' and 'I just made a porn,'" she says. "I told everyone."

Find out some of the biggest secrets Tisdale learned on-set:

Periods Don't Get in the Way
"I warned James mine was coming, and I asked him what the professionals do," says Tisdale. The short answer? The show must go on. Period sex can make some men squeamish—but not seasoned pros like Deen, who suggested the two move from the bed to the shower to make mess a non-issue.

Porn Shoots Don’t Always End with an Orgasm
Despite Deen's sex-star rep, he still couldn’t make Tisdale climax—which was OK by her. "There are all sorts of things you can do in bed to make sex fun without having an orgasm," she says. "[Deen has] done this so many times, so he knows how to move a lady around."

But Porn Stars Do Care About Each Other's Pleasure
When you watch porn, it can seem like it’s all about one person—usually the guy—but Tisdale was happy to find Deen was curious about her sexual preferences, too. "He asked ahead of time what I did and didn't like," she says. "I told him exactly what I was comfortable with and what I liked, and he was fine with that."