Twenty Questions with Porn Star Tyler Knight

Total Tyler

Veteran male performer Tyler Knight is well-known for his thoughtful, strong feature performances and his memoir "Burn My Shadow: A Selective Memory Of An X-Rated Life" is a treasure of a read. Get to know Knight here!

What kind of guy were you back in high school? Who did you hang out with/date?
"I went to two high schools. The first one, I was the quiet kid and I kept to myself. My freshman year, I lost my virginity to a blonde girl who was a senior (and had a thing for BBC, go figure!). Somehow, having sex with her made me even made me even less popular... In other words, nothing changed since high school. This was an early lesson in human nature: the perception of worth and social status by whom you associate with.

When I switched high schools my junior year, I had a clean slate and it was an opportunity remake my identity. Day one, I sussed out who the popular kids were in the lunch room and sat with them. Didn’t ask permission, I just did it. Unsure of if I was from the same social strata as them, nobody spoke out... They all assumed I was like them and they accepted me. That was another important lesson in human nature. In this school, I hanged out with everyone. I was a skater who was also on the varsity wrestling team, and the art club. I was voted Student Council secretary, and I probably could have been class president."

Were you a porn fan before you got into the industry? Who were your favorite porn stars/favorite porn movies?
"No. Aside from the odd discovery of a Playboy magazine in the woods when I as a kid, where the girls were photographed through hazy cheesecloth. Content in those days wasn’t ubiquitous, and access was hard for a kid to come by....The way it should be. Remember, I grew up in the 80s, so content meant a VHS cassette. A kid couldn’t just download scenes for free on any smart phone.

Only when I decided I wanted to make porn for a living, I watched how the guys in the Anabolic crew performed, but from purely an academic standpoint... I learned how to perform by watching [Erik]Everhard, Jon Dough, Lex [Steele]... Then, I watched everything that Joey Silvera at Evil Angel shot. When I ended up on his set, I was a bit awestruck. Joey and Kevin Moore were very good to me. They allowed me to fuck up and learn... Same with David Luger at Red Light... Their sets were comfortable and relaxed, and conducive to learning the craft. Nowadays, I feel sorry for new guys. Most directors can’t afford to be so patient, and the learning curve is steep.

What kind of scene have you found is your favorite kind to do so far?
"I love scenes where I’m working with a familiar crew and a director who trusts that I know what I’m doing, and not micromanage me. A comfortable environment, that’s the substrate for everything that goes onto the canvas. My favorite scenarios, more so than the name of the girl or how popular she is, are scenes with a woman or women who are actually into getting fucked by me. Simple, right? Chemistry can overcome almost any deficit, but poor chemistry can kill a with even the most beautiful performers scene dead."

What/who do you want to do on-camera that you haven’t done yet?
"I stand before you a man whose every turn of perversion has been immortalized on a film. I’m fortunate that way. There are a lot of women whom I’d love to fuck, but my job is to make the one person I’m working with at any given moment feel as if I’ve waited my entire career to work with her. Like, it’s an event. And, maybe she responds in kind, and you see it on the screen.

So, the girl I’m most looking forward to working with is the girl I’m working with right now. I kill myself to make her feel like I didn’t sleep the night before in anticipation of fucking her... Like I’m six, and it’s Christmas Eve."

Who is your favorite performer to work with so far and why?
"A performer who is looking forward to fucking me in the way I described above."

You respond to your fans a lot on Twitter. What do you like most about talking to your fans on social media?
"I very seldom ever tweet about work, aside from the odd retweet of a studio that’s promoting a movie I’m in. Most of my tweets are about art, or film, or literature, or long-distance ultrarunning. I’ve never tweeted a full nude photo nor a dick pick... I’d have 20 times more followers if I did, but fans don’t need me for that. There’s Google. The thing I offer on social media is an insight into who I am as a person....As a human being."

How did you become a porn performer? What led you down that career path?
"I was at the end of my career as a fashion model, which was my career in my 20s. As I was leaving the Hollywood Library, a man named Gino Colbert ran up to me and gave me his card. He introduced me to Veronica Hart at VCA Pictures, and the people at Video Team, who ended up contracting me.

So, my first scene for VCA. It was a restaurant scene and I played waiter. The set was filled with civilian extras playing diners...

My job was to walk up to a table where Chloe, their contract girl at the time, was dining with another girl. I didn’t want to take my pants off, because I couldn’t get hard! This was back in the time where porn was filmed with over-the-shoulder Betamax cameras, and there were two of them: One across the room for a wide shot, and the second death lens on a tight single on my crotch. It could not have been less erotic.

After struggling to get it up, Veronica told me to take some porn magazines and go off set and return when I was ready. I took them into the bathroom and started to work up an erection in a stall... Then I came in my hand. I contemplated jumping out of the window and making a run for it... What stopped me was the fact that I was on the second floor, my pants (and wallet) were on set, and the only one who can get away with running around wearing a shirt with no pants is Donald Duck or Winnie the Pooh."

What do you most want to achieve in the industry?
"Up until recently, I was unambitious about any porn accomplishments. Couldn’t care less about any of the awards I’ve won (and I still don’t). But, now I wouldn’t mind directing, and lending my brand to a line of content. Fans have asked me to do this for years, but I’ve not capitalized on any opportunities to direct because I wasn’t ready at the time. Now I am. After a decade-and-a-half long career of shooting for the best directors in both gonzo and in some of the finest features our industry has ever produced, I’ve seen under the hood. I’ve got a lot of unique ideas, and got a lot to offer."

What was the response to your memoir Burn My Shadow?
"It’s great to hear how BURN MY SHADOW has connected with everyday people from all stations in life. A memoir is a slice of the human condition and, hopefully, a way to connect people through shared or common experiences. A memoir is empath through proxy.

I don’t read professional book reviews, however. It’s useless, because it’s in no way instructive on how to improve as a writer, which is the only thing I give a damn about. That said, yes, obviously I’m aware that BMS is well received. Its critical success has given me opportunities to write for mainstream television and film. A-list Hollywood people have read it, and there are opportunities which I cannot discuss due to my singing NDAs. It’s life changing in ways I couldn’t have predicted.

Currently I’m finishing a novel, a thriller, which I’ll hand over to my literary agents when its ready."

Who are your favorite directors to work for?
"Man, this would have to be broken down by era, and there’s no way I’d be able to enumerate without forgetting someone and alienating business. This list is not comprehensive...Of the current era, Bree Mills and Craven Moorehead are my co Svengalis, and I am the grateful muse to the artist who is Jacky St. James. Francois Clousot. He was one of the first persons to hire me when I returned from a four-year sabbatical. Stormy Daniels....Those guys put me in their rotations right away when I returned from a four-year sabbatical.

Early adopters from the beginning of my career include David Luger, David Lord, Brad Armstrong, Diana and Alexander DeVoe, Joey Silvera, Veronica Hart, Kelly Holland...

This next group, Ren Savant, Eli Cross, David Aaron Clark... Those guys have made some of the greatest porn that won’t be touched in this lifetime.

Suze Randall, Erica McLean and, of course, Axel Braun, who kept using me when I was green and sucked. I am confident I’m leaving people out, so I’ll just ad an “et.al.” designation to my answer."

What do you think are “must-have” DVDs for your fans?
"You could pick at random anything I shot for David Luger at Red Light and it’ll stand up to anything shot today. Those days were magical."

What do you like to do for fun?
"I’m an ultramarathon athlete. I run 100-mile long-distance races through the mountains and deserts. They take everything I have inside of me to simply finish. The word, race, is used lightly because they’re really a competition of one. A battle with the demons in your own mind. I’ve run upwards of 29 hours nonstop.

Also, I’m a huge cinephile - I watch upwards of four films a week in the theater.

Museums... You could also catch me haunting the Getty Center, LACMA, or MOCA several times a month.

I also write a minimum of seven hours a day, no matter what.

But, when I’m not doing any of those activities, you can find me running across Los Angeles at 0300 while listening to podcasts and audiobooks. Multitasking."

What are your favorite fetishes to explore on camera?
"I’m not an exhibitionist by nature; the presence of a camera is incidental but not essential to my sexual exploration."

Who are your role models in porn?
"Sean Michaels and Ray Victory made my career possible."

What is the best mainstream movie you have seen recently?
"I saw Blade Runner 2049 four times in the theater. It’s got a three-hour run time, so that’s a commitment, ha ha. Roger Deakins, the cinematographer, is a master.

Get Out is a paradigm-shifting masterclass of storytelling. Jordan Peele crafted a story that transcends genre. It’s both entertaining as well as socially relevant. It’ll be talked about for years to come.

Wind River....So yeah, Taylor Sheridan is one of the artists I admire the most, regardless of medium. When people say, “They don’t make movies like that anymore,” it’s the kind of film Sheridan writes and directs. I could digress on my man crush for him for hours."

How about the best porno movie? Is there someone whose movies you like to watch who is working now?
"Jacky St. James’ entire oeuvre."

 
What is coming up for you?
"Currently, finishing this novel. I’m working on it to the exclusion of almost everything else."

If you could fuck any celebrity, who would it be?
"Jessica Chastain (Extreme talent is sexy); Danielle Herrington; Angela Sarafyan."

What single piece of advice would you give a brand new male performer?
"Yes. Don’t be an asshole."

Is there anything you want to say to your fans here at Fleshbot?
"Thank you for caring!"

All of the images and video here appear courtesy of Sweet Sinner/Mile High Media. Click right here to watch Knight's scene with Giselle Palmer in "Darker Side Of Desire 2" right now!  [jwplayer id="7407243" blog="702" src="/data/videos/straight/006/024/187/2737_1920x1080-darker-side-of-desire-vol-2-2018-adult-dvd-empire-e226e3c8_mp4.mp4" alt="" placeholder="/data/videos/straight/006/024/187/2737_1920x1080-darker-side-of-desire-vol-2-2018-adult-dvd-empire-e226e3c8_image.png"]

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