Changing Lanes with Carter Cruise

November 21, 2014
ALFIE

Carter Cruise is the type of porn star every parent wishes her daughter was—an educated, levelheaded performer with enough foresight to see how porn fits into her life goals.

When I called for this interview, I had several preconceived notions of who the real Carter Cruise was. These were shaped by the starlet’s unrestrained sex scenes, the fact that she started shooting anal so early in her career, and her preference for neon raver gear. What I discovered was a side of Cruise that isn’t nearly as accessible as online pictures of her pierced nipples and her trademark sex face.

The Carter Cruise adult fans have come to know began to emerge the summer before her senior year of college, when she flew to Costa Rica alone to spend three months surfing. The experience showed Cruise what it’s like to live completely free of other people’s expectations. In the fall of 2012 Cruise returned to her life as a sorority sister and pre-law student at East Carolina University, but she wasn’t the same girl. Between classes she moonlighted as a nude model. With graduation approaching, she increasingly reflected on the trajectory of her life. She realized how many of her decisions had been influenced by other people’s expectations. Eventually she chose a life no one expected. She chose to become a porn star.

Despite her short time in the adult industry, Cruise has worked for all the major studios and has already landed the industry’s most coveted agent, Mark Spiegler. Recently, she signed on as the face of the up and coming studio, Airerose Entertainment. Smart money has Cruise as a front-runner for “Best New Starlet” at every major award show this year.

Alfie: You’ve been shooting a lot of anal recently. Did anyone try to advise you against doing anal so early in your career?

Carter Cruise: Actually I got tricked into my first anal scene. Well, not tricked. I was told the scene wouldn’t be released for a year because I wanted to hold on to that. It was released two weeks later. That was my fault for being young and naïve and not making sure it was in writing. I was really angry. It was one of my first scenes to come out. I was at the tanning salon and I got a tweet that was like, “Carter Cruise’s first anal scene.” I was like, “What the fuck?” It ended up being good because as a Spiegler Girl, he expects you to do anal. I didn’t get a huge pay out for it being my first anal, but I’ve made up for it with all the anal I do every week.

Alfie: Once you’ve had Dana DeArmond’s fist in your ass for kink.com’s “Everything Butt” where do you go from there in terms of how much more extreme you can get? Do you worry about getting shot out?

Carter Cruise: I’m not worried about getting shot out but I’m also not worried about doing circus acts. I like to push my body but I don’t need to be the girl known for fitting huge things in her ass. I totally think Adriana Chechik is the bomb for doing that and I totally respect that. She wants to be the nastiest girl in porn, which is awesome. That isn’t my goal because I don’t think I could top her. I’m not even going to try. I’m down to do double anal and to try different stuff but I think I would rather grow as a performer in other ways.

Alfie: What was it like doming guys in Evil Angel’s “Strap Some Boyz”?

Carter Cruise: I had used strap-ons with girls, but only for fetish stuff. I was really nervous about that scene. It was the first scene Spiegler booked me for. He called me and was like, “Will you fuck a guy in the ass with a strap-on?” I didn’t want to say no, so I was like, “Okay sure.” I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through it. I was really nervous. I am not very dominant with men. I got there and Wolf Hudson was so nice and easy to work with, but I still felt so far out of my comfort zone. Eventually I just dove in. I’ve found that’s the best way to do pretty much anything. If you are going to do something, just do it. We were a few minutes in and Joey (Silvera) was like, “You know you can slap him around and stuff.” I was like, “Wait. Wolf likes this, otherwise he wouldn’t be here.” I think it’s hot to see people get off, even if it’s not my fetish. So I started to treat him how guys treat me when they are doming me. It was a power trip. I ended up having a great time. Wolf told me that he could see in my eyes when I started to get into it.

Alfie: You are known for having your eyes roll back when you come. Now that people expect this sex face from you, have you had to fake it when you aren’t feeling a particular scene?

Carter Cruise: It’s not hard to do it because it happens even when I am not really coming. There are so many types of orgasms. There’s the orgasm I give myself when I rub my clit. Then there are the deep penetration orgasms. Then there are orgasms where it’s like this ongoing thing that can last for like a minute where I’m totally in another world. It’s not the same type of release that comes from a clitoral orgasm. Anytime I start to totally lose control of myself, my eyes roll back. I don’t ever have to think about it. It just happens. I more have to try not to do it. The first time it happened and there were pictures online, I was so embarrassed. Then everyone told me it was hot. I was like, “Really? I can just be myself during a scene.” That was a huge breakthrough for me.

Alfie: So you knew about your sex face before you got into porn and you tried to hide it?

Carter Cruise: I didn’t think about it much. I was just so uncomfortable with being on camera that I wouldn’t let myself go completely. I would have orgasms but they weren’t the type where I was lost in my own little world. When I come I have no idea what is going on. I’m just completely out of it. It can last awhile. I definitely wasn’t having those types of orgasms when I first got into the industry. I didn’t know my eyes really rolled back. Then it happened once or twice during a scene. I was working with Bonnie Rotten for my showcase, Meet Carter. She was fucking me and I was trying to hold back. I was trying to stay in the scene. She was like, “I see you trying not to let your eyes roll back. Fucking let it happen.” So I did.

Alfie: You and Dakota Skye both switched from East Coast Talents to become Spiegler Girls in June. Was that a coincidence?

Carter Cruise: Not really. Dakota and I started the same day in porn. We both talked to Spiegler before, but he wasn’t taking new girls at the time. He told me to wait three months. I wanted to make sure that when I contacted him again he would definitely take me. Dakota and I met with him together. It was funny. One night we were at her house and we were both supposed to call him. She called him first. He didn’t say anything about me even though he knew we were there together. I was like, “Wait, do I need to call him separately?” It was exciting to go through that process together because it is so nerve racking when you really want it.

Alfie: Why do you think you and Dakota Skye are always featured in the same films? Is it just because you are both young, petite blondes?

Carter Cruise: We started together and we’ve been moving up together. We work for the same companies and we have a lot of the same people helping us out. We’re also friends so people see us tweeting together and in pictures together, so we share a lot of fans. It’s a combination of all those things.

Alfie: As a book connoisseur, how would you compare Ashley Blue’s Girlvert to Asa Akira’s Insatiable? Which taught you more about porn?

Carter Cruise: Ashley Blue came from a different era. I learned more from her book because it described a time in porn I hadn’t experienced. It was interesting to see how Anabolic started the whole hardcore gonzo scene, and how she helped create that. Asa’s book was more relatable for me. She and I both come from really supportive families, so I felt more parallels with Insatiable, but they were both amazing.

Alfie: Are you working on a memoir?

Carter Cruise: You know, that’s been my ultimate life goal since I was a kid. Memoirs are my favorite genre. I love looking at life through someone else’s eyes. I’ve always wanted to do that myself. But to write a memoir, I knew I needed to live an exciting life. I’ve been keeping a journal since my sophomore year of high school, since I was fifteen.

Alfie: What are some of your favorite non-porn memoirs?

Carter Cruise: I love Running with Scissors. My favorite book, which is totally non-porn related, is Dear Diary by Lesley Arfin. Most of my life would not have happened the way it did if I hadn’t read that book when I was fifteen. It inspired me to want to write my own book, which has led me to many pivotal life decisions. She kept a diary from the time she was about 12 to 25. She used some of the best entries in her book and went back and interviewed some of the people she wrote about. It’s interesting to see her grow, to see her go from dealing with mean girls in middle school to coping with a heroin addiction. She is the only writer I’ve ever written to. I even wrote to her in college telling her how much her book had influenced me and at the time I didn’t even know how much.

Alfie: What was the hardest thing to readjust to when you left Tamarindo, Costa Rica to return to college?

Carter Cruise: Costa Rica was a life changing experience. Before that trip, I had been living for everybody else. I had so many expectations from family and friends. I hate to disappoint people. I had been making myself miserable trying to be what everyone wanted me to be. I went to Costa Rica alone. I didn’t know anyone and no one knew me. No one had any expectations of who I was. I didn’t need to impress anyone. It was a freeing experience. Obviously I loved surfing everyday, the food, and not having to work. But it really showed me how happy I was just being myself and not worrying about meeting other people’s expectations. It was really rough coming back. I suddenly had to deal with everyone’s expectations again. I struggled for a while with that.

Alfie: In a previous interview you said that you feel like you’ve gone through many different phases: you were homeschooled, you were rebellious in high school, you dated a nice guy who made you want to settle down, you were a surf bum in Costa Rica, you were a sorority girl. Do you worry porn is just another phase?

Carter Cruise: I ask myself that a lot because that was one of my biggest fears about getting into the industry. I thought about what I wanted and considered the pros and cons. I had this vision of where I wanted to go. I think this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I feel very good about it. It did scare me in the beginning. Porn isn’t a phase you can bounce back from. I took a lot of time to be sure. The decision to do porn was one of the first decisions I’ve made that wasn’t influenced by everyone around me. No one told me to do porn. The decision was purely my own. I sat down and thought: What do I want out of life? What’s my vision? Where do I want to be? What do I want to experience? What do I want to learn? I feel like I’m on the right path. People say that “Carter” is just a porn persona. To me, Carter is me. Carter is who I’ve always wanted to be, but was too afraid to be.

Alfie: Have you used porn to help build your connections in the DJing world?

Carter Cruise: Porn has helped me build connections for everything I want to do, but I definitely don’t want to rely on it as a crutch. I want to stand alone as a DJ and not be that girl people hire because I show up half naked. That’s not me. I used to be a huge raver and fell in love with not only the music but the community. I would go to shows and think “some day I’m going to do that” so now I’m making that vision a reality.

Alfie: A lot of porn stars dabble in DJ. Performers like Niki Belucci, Christy Mack, and Bonnie Rotten. I think Sasha Grey is DJing too.

Carter Cruise: Yeah. Sasha just had a song come out. Jessie Andrews is doing well and traveling the world. I think Jessie is the only one who has made it a career.

Alfie: So you’re saying you wouldn’t use your sex appeal to help market yourself as a DJ?

Carter Cruise: I think a lot of girls use their sexuality as a crutch to sell themselves. Personally I hate sexual attention, which no one understands because I’m in porn. I don’t like to use my sexuality to get things. If I’m at a bar and a guy offers to buy me a drink I’ll straight up tell him, “I would love for you to buy me a drink but I just want you to know I’m not going to flirt with you or go home with you.” My friends are like, “What are you doing? That’s how you get free drinks.” But I don’t want to use that. I hate feeling indebted to people. I don’t feel comfortable using my sexuality to get anything.

Alfie: Do you think a lot of porn performers are so accustomed to relying on their beauty, that when their looks begin to fade, they are at a loss for how to cope with reality?

Carter Cruise: I think that is definitely true. A lot of people think they are better than others just because of how they look. People need to realize their beauty won’t last. Some aging performers get all kinds of plastic surgery to save themselves. Their beauty is all they have. I definitely don’t want to be like that.

Alfie: Speaking of older porn performers, I know Brandi Love is sort of your porn mentor. How has she helped shape your career?

Carter Cruise: She really helped me in the beginning. I had a lot of people telling me I was making the wrong decision with my agent and I shouldn’t fly to Florida and things like that. She reassured me. I rely on her opinion all the time. I asked her for advice on how to approach Spiegler. I asked her which companies and performers I should shoot with. I didn’t know anyone in porn. She just helped me become more comfortable with the business.

Alfie: You and Brandi Love have such similar facial features, does anyone ever mistake you for mother and daughter?

Carter Cruise: We get that all the time. We’ve done a few scenes together and people love it.