Dru Berrymore interview

Soul Magazine interview with Dru Berrymore

1. You are a European Girl, born in Berlin. How did you decided to move to the States?

Yes I am what we call a Berliner pflanze. Born and raised in this beautiful town I didn’t have any intentions to ever move to USA. As a matter of fact I was laughing at people that said I would live there. Funny how life works!
Anyhow as it so happened I was in love with a guy that wanted nothing more than to immigrate to the states, California L.A. to be specific. He had every thing set up to make a smooth transition so he thought. In Germany he was a semi professional soccer player and here in L.A. he was going to mange the “Stings” I guess they were called. By the time he got here and we had sold the business in Germany, the cars and most of the big things were taken care of, he left with a good amount of money in his pocket for the new start in California. As soon as he got there he found out that the team had gone bankrupt and he was out of a job. So he tried to get little parts in the movies and or bar tend. By the time I got there he had gone trough all the money, had enjoyed his time with other women and bought an old Buick for about $300. There was no bedroom set or a mattress in the apartment and the first thing after throwing a party the day I got there for other friends of his that were leaving the following day, he was so kind as to let me know that rent was due, which was $1000 back then.
Upon my reply to just go pay it form the money I expected to still be there, he said I had better get a job, since there was no more money. Well I was stunned but hey I did as I was told just like any other good girl would and we made rent. This was sep ‘89. By Jan ‘90 we were no longer a pair and separated shortly thereafter. To this day though I’m grateful to him for following his dream and helping me on my path to get to where I am today. I love living in California, the weather, the people, the anonymity and the comfort of the big city.

2. How did you get involved with porn business?

That is always asked. Well, that was not until three years later, when due to a drug problem that no one really new about, I decided to leave my then current boy friend of three years for a time to put some distance between the drug and me. I decided to go home to Berlin for 6 months and upon my return to him in L.A. I found that he had sold my clothes or given them away, moved and taken my furniture and car with him. Well the handy girl I am I found him… but that’s
another story. I had returned back to the states with a friend who had problems in Berlin. I had told him I had a very cool boyfriend, house, a job and I would help him get on his feet. Little did I not know that I would get stuck with him for a while? He was also heavily into drugs and so we went from motel to motel until the big quake hit in ‘93. That night we got robbed in a Venice motel, had our papers and identification taken as well as all our money, jewelry and other small belongings and then got kicked out by the police and the owner of the motel. To this day I suspect the motel owner of having something to do with it, since he wouldn’t rent me a safety deposit box in his office and after me inquiring about it took only just about another 24 hrs
till we got robbed. It was horrible. I had called upon some German friends to loan me some money to stay at a hotel but nothing.
Know who your friends are. So we left town slept in the car and through little petty stuff keeping us alive, fed and moving. Back in L.A. I called my mom and told her where I was and she as always helped me out. I love my mom. She’s my hero. If I can be half as good a woman as she is I will make someone proud and someone else very happy. Anyhow to answer your question,
that’s when I got into the adult business. I found myself an agent called “Reb” from “Reb’s Pretty Girl International”. For the first time in a long time I was going to be back in front of the camera but not for advertisement or regular magazines, but a whole new sort of magazine. Men’s Magazines. The rest is history and a natural progression through the business…

3. Some people think that the world of porn is tough and hard. Others say that people involved with that business, enjoy their job. I guess you can find both things, but how is it for you?

It is tough and it is a business. The competition doesn’t sleep and gets younger and younger each year and more naive it seems They are willing do just about anything and perform just about any circus act someone asks of them and a lot of that has nothing to do with erotic and or turning people on or getting them to pull themselves around the room to this material. There is no sex
education anymore nor is there any respect for the female body and mind. It would seem that everybody just goes for the lowest common denominator and that usually is shock value. When I started it was a cash business, we shoot a scene in 45 min and the cameraman used to work around the talent. Girls had lists of guys they worked with and stuff they would do and an Anal or a DP was something special…. not the norm. Since I entered the business in ‘93 I had so much fun. It was something special and people either despised us or loved us. But one thing they all seemed to share and that was respect for us and what we did. Yes, in the early ’90’s we still had porn stars that looked like porn stars, they had elegance, sex appeal and usually big boops and big hair. But when they walked the red carped they had just as much flair as the other movie stars. In ‘ 98 I went back to Europe to visit my mom after having gone through a drug and alcohol program and got stuck there due to a visa discrepancy. Little did I know that it should take me the next two years to deal with that issue. So, stuck there I do what we Porn-Stars do when we’re hard up for money, we go back to work…. LOL. I ended up shooting all over Europe and found that the European market did not pay as well as the Americans did and expected a lot more of the performers. I ended up having to make deals with producers to show why I was charging so much. I would work once for a lower fee but after that they had to pay my American rate per scene.
Some did and others I only worked for once. But I extended my networks throughout Europe and did well in France (I love Paris and the south of France) and Italy. I got to go to Israel for an adult convention and look at the sites described in the bible. That was amazing. I really dunno how old I was but for the first time I understood what people where talking about. The bible is
a history book telling of happenings a long time ago, and when you see these places you just seem to understand. I got it… and I strongly suggest to anyone that believes in any one specific “BOOK” to go there and form his or her own opinion. It is a good thing to be a critical thinker and question the information put in front of us. So by the time I came back to the states in mid 2000
the business had changed as well. The American producers had found the European marked and the European actors the US market and they slowly began to blend. The US marked became harder and harder and the girls younger and younger and more natural, to the point where anybody could shoot porn. All of a sudden everyone was a porn star that had ever shoot a few films.
Well with the intercontinental working talent the disease factor rose as well. In 2000 after a couple of unpleasant surprises that the business grated me, I became Condom only! And the world was alright again for a while…

4. I have heard that you like having sex morning, noon, and night. How is it when you are on the set? Is it only job? Do you enjoy it? Did something change through years?

Hahahaha… yes I really do! I guess I’ m one of the few women that really like to have a lot of sex. Especially in the early day’s, the guys that worked then still knew how to touch and please a woman. Sometimes I would get home and think this is the coolest ever, I got off good and got paid. Where else can your job be satisfying on so many levels? Do not get me wrong it is still work. Usually whomever I would work with I would take aside and ask what I could and could not do to them…. it is funny the things that make people tick and the stuff that will turn someone off. I always thought I was helpful to have a bit of a roadmap and some general guidelines before I started my own exploration of the other person’s body… and that’s just what it was. Like Disneyland for Adults! Sometimes it felt like you had a new boyfriend since you may have worked three or more times in a week with the same guy. The Talent pool was also smaller then and the guys were natural talents not like the buff, good looking but Viagra or Cialis or Cavaject inflated performers of today. The Guys abuse their systems and get so obsessed with their penis
that they totally forget they are actually entering another beings body, and that the whole reason they have a job was because it brings other men pleasure to watch a woman cum and I mean really cum and enjoy herself. Not get fucked and ripped to shreds to where she can’t wait to get of the set and have it over and done with. Unfortunately it turned out to be more the later part and so I stopped for good three years now except to shoot my own stuff. I think people wanna see pretty people getting it on. Getting into each other, some chemistry that can get hot steamy and a bit nasty but not degrading or painful.

5. How was your first time, having sex in front of the camera? Can you describe feelings, thoughts etc.

Well I know what you are looking for, but in this incident I was not really having sex, but rather a simulation sex-scene with my boyfriend of the time in a video called “FIT FOR SEX”. It was a nude exercise video that concluded in a simulated sex scene. I went through the entire two days of shooting, they had made me sign the release before we started and afterwards I knew why…
well all went well I got my money and as I left in the car I started thinking… what if my family sees this stuff… my friends… and so on. I turned the car around determined to give the producer back his money and get my release. To my surprise they just laughed and said go home little girl…. do you know how much a day of shooting coast us here? You could not pay that but thanks for the great work it looks fantastic. I was devastated. What had I done? Nothing a little alcohol and drugs could not fix.
So I flushed that feeling down and the more I got into the business, the more normal it became…. I mean my work. Because everyone was doing the same thing. All the people that entered my life were in the industry…. all my friends were doing it so it became okay! I always liked showing my body, especially when I felt good about myself. That’s what had gotten me multiple parts in mainstream…. I didn’t mind taking it off. So now I had taken it up a notch…. and I was on the road to self-exploration and exploitation.

6. What is the point that turns a girl who simply works in sex movies to being a porn star? How does the Porn Star system work?

I think it has to do with a multitude of things. I personally think it is the same way as in mainstream. It has to do with promotion, the company’s you work for but also with looks, style, and charisma. If you’re a plain Jane, you’re not an Ion Flux. (A super hero fantasy girl) You need to have mystique, flair, class, and determination and to be responsible and reliable. You need to be sexy and sultry then people gonna wanna see more of you in movies and find out more about you. In the public’s eye, most of all, you need to be seen and have some sort of connection with your fan base.

7. What’s the money, for a sex scene for a girl, and what is it for a boy?

It used to be that girls made twice to three times the money of a male actor when I started but now it’s pretty even. They make about the same; at least the so called “A List Talent does.”

8. Tell us about your latest works or your plans for the future?

My latest work is my website where you can find out more about me. I have a huge free section to browse through, because that is how I started out my website in ‘97 and just because it got rebuild I didn’t want to go all members area like some other girls do. Not everybody can afford to be signed up or in to these sites so, I wanted to be able to give the fan something for free. Legally, however, I’m required to keep the outside soft. Sorry guys for the hard stuff you’ll still
have to sign up.:-)) On the other hand I do not just do adult stuff. That’s what I have been doing for over a decade, however, I believe that we need to evolve as human beings and so I’ve been back to school and learning for years. I’ve made my real estate license, my CDS, as well as my Yoga Instructor and my Reiki Master. I’ve learned about Vibrational Medicine and homeopathic healing as well as the benefits of therapeutic touch/ massages and or movement and healing through yoga.
Nutritional and supplemental changes as well as lifestyle changes and how they affect our bodily system. The body mind connection and much more. I believe we live in a world that has more that just three dimensions and I hope to be able to make my dream come true and build a healing center here in L.A. on a property in Malibu over looking the ocean, downtown and parts
of the valley. There I want to integrate spiritual believes and medicinal truths to help people become happier and healthier and live fuller more full filling lives. I want to be able to offer and integrate oriental and western medicine, as well as counseling and life coaching, movement and stillness, old wisdom with new innovations. I want this to be a place like a medicinal spa, where you can come to relax and rejuvenate but at the same time I would like to offer some spiritual wisdoms and disciplines that may be help full in everyday life. When it comes down to it were all one no matter what color or creed, what religion or heritage. We have to learn to look for similarities rather than difference. There is only one source, one system and nothing truly ever gets lost in this system. It just gets converted back into energy and space, to be fed back into the system. Besides all power comes from love, all problems stem form fear, replace fear with love and the problems disappear!! We need to learn to love one another and I want to create a place where it is safe to do so even if it is just for a small amount of time. Progress rather than perfection!

9. I’ve heard that you are interested in painting and design, so, I’m happy, because I am an architect, that maybe one day I will have the chance to collaborate with my favorite Porn Star! What else do you do in your personal life?

Not only am I interested in painting I used to be a scenic artist for the film studio’s as well as a set painter, I worked as a subcontractor painting apartment buildings in L.A. and if time permitted I used to paint on canvas. I love to decorate the house (mine) and other people’s spaces as well. I seem to have a natural talent for it. Thus far I have not considered going back to
school for it but I subscribe to a ton of industry (decorating and design) publications. Which I read out as soon I get them. When I was a little girl and still in school I would dream of becoming an architect. Yes I think it would be fun to collaborate with you on some project in the future. Right now I’m in my Asian, Zen, Buddhist influenced phase and am designing a pool and spa for the back yard with a walking meditation area as well as a seated meditation and yoga space. To make me happy the landscaping needs to be part of the design of the pool and the house. I like to create areas where the house extends into the backyard as a living space.

10. What do you have to say to people about their sexual lives?

Now you wanna put me on the spot. That depends on what the situation is and if there are problems or difficulties… “challenges” as I like to call them. Or if people are just bored and need some outside influences to spice things up again or whatever anyone might wanna know, I would be happy to answer as best as I can. I’m not a certified sex therapist however as I took some classes in college and had extensive experience in the industry and in my personal life I think I’m qualified to give some advice. I had a lot of people write me with questions from Europe but I never made a column out of it. Or worked for a magazine as an advisor but now that you mentioned it I may just integrate that as part of my website for my members and post
some of the more prevalent questions on the free site for all to profit from (of course with names changed to protect the writers anonimity) or if there should be a request for me to work with a magazine I would be happy to do so. I wanna say this in closing:
” Sex is good for the immune system and the soul, it makes you happy by releasing chemicals in the brain and is something that will definitely bring you closer to and let you better understand your partner. So practice as much as you can…wishing you many fun filled hours and plenty of orgasms”

11. Do you intend to move back to Europe one day?

I haven’t decided. I still keep and apt. in Berlin and I love to visit a couple of times a year especially in summer for my b-day and for Christmas when it snows. I love living in California because of the weather, we have 250+ sunshine days and the live and let live attitude. However would I want to raise children here? Not really. After what I had gone through with my step
children, two girls out of my husbands first marriage I must say that L. A. is not necessary the best place to raise children. It’s so commercial and fast lived here that kids grow up at such a fast pace and I think we grow up so fast anyway that I would want my children to have a childhood and be able to be carefree and play for as long as possible before they have to join the ranks of adulthood, responsibility and sacrifice of everyday life. Because once you’re grown up there’s no going back and responsibility can and will weigh you down at times. Then, as an adult, you’ll spend your time to make sure you’re only growing old and not up, trying to preserve that little bit of naivety and childlikeness in you as best as you can, so you can appreciate the little things, the simple things in life.

12. Do we have a chance of seeing you in Greece someday?

I hope so. I must say that I have been blessed in my career with worldwide travels to so many interesting places. I got to meet incredible people and come across fabulous things. It has allowed me to keep my mind and my heart open and learn and revise what I had thought I had already learned. When I was younger I knew everything. I now understand that this is a path of progress rather than perfection and that there are so many things I don’t know yet, but hope I get to experience, learn, feel, taste, smell, see or do before it’s time for me to return back home. I can truly say it’s wonderful to wake up every morning and see the sunshine, smell the flowers and I’m always looking forward to what this new day will bring. I’m living every day as if it was my last and I love the adventure it presents. With this I hope that one day my adventure will bring me back to Greece since it’s been almost 15 years since I’ve been there last.

Love, light and namaste
Dru