Cali Carter, The Girl You Never Saw Coming

I almost missed Cali Carter. She sat quietly by herself in the corner of an LA Starbucks. My first thought was that she was yet another prime example of why I moved to southern California, to be surrounded by beautiful blonde refugees like this girl who probably came west to pursue acting or fitness modeling. But then I noticed the scales of a koi fish tattoo on her ribs, peeking out beneath the short top that showcased her chiseled midriff. The black ink hinted at something a bit more substantial lurking just beneath the surface of this woman’s perfectly polished veneer. Only then did I recognize the tattoo from pictures I had seen of Cali Carter naked.

While Cali and I sat outside to chat, several men lingered around us. They chain-smoked and spoke foreign languages into their phones and snuck sidelong glances at Cali. To them it was clear that she was someone important, that she had the magnetism that went far deeper than her bleach blonde hair and golden tan. But they, like me, were still trying to figure out who exactly Cali Carter was.

What I knew of Cali before driving up from San Diego to meet her was the standard biographic details. She grew up in a small town in northern California where she developed an overactive sense of competition and athleticism from keeping up with her three brothers. She played basketball and softball through school, and even landed a spot on the softball team in college while earning an associates degree. Her sexual history was almost as typical as her upbringing. Before porn she had only slept with four guys, all of whom she dated for multiple years. Curious about sex and the adult industry, Cali dabbled in webcam modeling before making the trip down to LA to shoot porn.

On camera Carter is known as vocal, athletic starlet with crystalline blue eyes who delivers performances far more commanding than her 5’1” stature would suggest. Her talents include a lack of a gag reflex, which is on full display in a recent scene for Airerose’s Pure Vol. 1 where she commands Daniel Hunter to face fuck her while she lies on a bed.

If viewed only based on her body of work, Cali Carter may appear to be just another porn star-next-door. But what distinguishes her is how she conducts herself off camera. She has no delusions of grandeur about her porn star status, nor does she judge her self worth by the number of Twitter followers she has. She’s a modest, responsible country girl who owns her own home, is in school for nursing, and who happens to be one of the hardest working porn stars you haven’t heard of yet.

Alfie: You are attracted to women who look like you. Is that how you ended up dating Katerina Kay?

Cali Carter: I’d say the majority of women I’m attracted to look like me. Katerina Kay recently lost a tremendous amount of weight, so we don’t look nearly as similar as we used to. I used to love her big booty and her curves, and now she’s this tiny little thing. For the most part I like blondes and big booties.

Alfie: Were you dating Katerina Kay when you two filmed your scene in Airerose’s Sorority Carwash?

Cali Carter: Yes. We met in January at the AVNs. We realized we’re both on the same page. We’re not into that whole party scene. We’d rather stay in and eat pizza and watch Workaholics than go out and party. Partying takes so much work getting ready. Then I always feel like you have to pretend to be someone you’re not, like you’re always trying to one-up everyone. I don’t like that sense of competition or all the drama. Kat feels the same way. There’s so many times when we’ll get dressed up and take pictures like we’re going out, then we’ll just get back in our PJs. 

In March Kat said, “We should be Kat and Cali together.” I didn’t know what she meant. She said, “I think we should be girlfriends.” I thought that was pretty cute. We had messed around a couple times, so it was fun and exciting. Sorority Carwash was probably our second scene together, and you can really see the passion and connection between us.

Alfie: So it wasn’t strange having a director tell you how to fuck your girlfriend?

Cali Carter: Some directors tell you what positions to hit and they direct the sex more. The director that day just told us to fuck and have fun and he would follow. We honestly only cut once. Kat and I tend to wrestle when we fuck because we both want to dom each other. We keep switching roles during sex. She’ll grab my face, then I’ll grab hers. We got really hot and sweaty. We were sliding all over this leather couch. The director called cut so we could take a break and refresh. It’s rare for a sex scene only to have one cut.

Alfie: Do you only wrestle for dominance with other women?

Cali Carter: I like to be dominated by guys. With Kat and a couple other girls I’ve messed around with, I tend to just say what I like and how I like it. I’ll start giving them orders and telling them to turn around and stuff like that. I’d say I’m a dom when it comes to girls and a sub when it comes to guys.

Alfie: When you first got into porn, you kept your job as a waitress in northern California. Are you still going back and forth?

Cali Carter: I do go back and forth but I quit my day job in January. It was a new year. I wanted a new start. I needed to focus my energy on porn. When I came home from the AVNs I needed a break. The AVNs kicked my ass. No joke. It took me ten days to recover. I was sick. It was partially the exposure to so many people and germs, but also your eating habits are different. You’re up later drinking more. You’re on your feet longer. I actually ended up pulling a muscle. I was in my heels running down the stairs like an idiot and I slipped. I caught myself, but pulled one of my side muscles. I couldn’t carry a tray to save my life. That’s when I put in my two-week notice. It was hard. I was there for seven and a half years. My managers took pride in me. I cried. I still commute back and forth, but only because I own a home in northern California. I’m remodeling it now so I can either rent it or sell it. 

Alfie: Are you moving to LA?

Cali Carter: I am. As of now I am usually home for a week to ten days, then I come down for the same amount of time.

Alfie: Do you like having that psychological distance from porn?

Cali Carter: I love it. I get burned out on the drama, on the, “Guess who is sleeping with who?” It can get exhausting being on set all the time. When I go home it’s nice to not worry about picking up my phone or running off to work. When I’m home, I’m six hours away, so it’s almost impossible for me to work. I get a break from everything. I definitely like the separation. It keeps me grounded and levelheaded. That will be hard for me when I move down here. I’ve definitely seen people change from being in the industry for so long.

Alfie: How would you describe that change?

Cali Carter: People start caring more about their appearances when they are in porn too long. You get caught up in the gossip. It’s like high school. I don’t really care who slept with who or who broke up. When you’re here, you’re always invited out. Then I feel like people think I’m stuck up because I don’t want to hangout. I’d rather stay inside in my pajamas than put something tight and uncomfortable on and be gawked at all night and get drunk. I’d rather save my money and stay in my comfy clothes. People get wrapped up in the drama and their appearances. Some people have a problem separating their porn persona from their true self.

Alfie: You’ve described yourself as a nymphomaniac and claim to have sex two times a day off screen. If you don’t like to get caught up in the drama of sleeping with people in the industry, where do you find people to meet this quota?

Cali Carter: My boyfriend is with me all the time. He comes down with me.

Alfie: He works in the industry too or he just has that flexible of a schedule?

Cali Carter: He has a flexible schedule. He also does my content with me. I’ve told him that if he wants to perform, he can. The problem is that he has a blood phobia so he can’t give blood consistently. He’ll pass out. He can’t even go with me into the testing facility or he’ll pass out. Plus new male performers don’t get paid much and he just doesn’t have the desire to screw that many girls. He’s like, “I’m happy with you and if we end up getting side tail, that’s cool, but if not, no big deal.” He’s usually with me 24/7. He drops me off on set and picks me up. It’s kind of weird dating someone outside the industry, but it definitely works. 

Alfie: You seem to treat porn as just another job. You used to get weirded out by guys who came into your restaurant and were in awe of your porn star status—

Cali Carter: I’m from a small town so when anyone gets any kind of fame, they don’t know how to react. Guys just assume that because you have sex for a living that you will put out for anybody. I would get that when they came into the restaurant and requested my section. They were always like, “So what have you been up to?” And I’d say, “You tell me. You stalk my Twitter. You know better than I do.” 

Alfie: Do you think you need to believe in your own self-importance, in the idea of yourself as a famous porn star, in order to become a famous porn star? Do you need a certain amount of egotism to make a name for yourself in porn? 

Cali Carter: You do need some of that. If I’m going to do something, I put my all into it. That’s why I quit my job at Red Robin. I wanted to really make a career out of this. I didn’t want to half ass it. I want to make a name for myself, to brand myself. In twenty years when someone mentions Cali Carter, I want people to have heard of me. Girls come and go in this industry so quickly. We are replaceable. There’s always a new fresh face. That’s what people are looking for. So unless you have a very unique niche, or you’re doing something different that makes you stand out, you have to put work into building your brand. You have to do interviews and meet fans and stay on top of your social media. There’s a lot more work into becoming a porn star than what you see on camera.

Alfie: For someone who seems so unimpressed by porn stars, what about porn interested you?

Cali Carter: I had only been with five guys before I got in the industry. They were all serious relationships. Most of my relationships were two years or longer.  

Alfie: And you worked at the same restaurant for seven years. You must really like commitment.

Cali Carter: I do like commitment. I don’t like change. If I’m going to do something, I put my whole heart into it, which includes relationships. I didn’t want to sleep with someone I wasn’t going to date. If I was going to be with someone, I was going to do it all the way. So after all those long terms relationships I started to develop a fantasy about having one-night-stands. All my friends would talk about how hard they got fucked by a guy they met at the bar the previous night. That sounded so exciting and erotic to me. 

We played this game at work one day where we all anonymously wrote down our answers to these sex questions. One question was, “How many times have you slept with someone in a single day.” One girl put 15. I was like, “Who has sex 15 times in one day?” Another question asked how many times we had had a threesome. The answers were like 3 and 4 times. I felt like a loser. I had never had a threesome. The idea of sleeping with someone you weren’t committed to was very erotic to me. It took me awhile to realize that there was a difference between sex for fun and making love. 

When I got in the industry I had a hard time having sex for fun. I couldn’t figure out how to detach my emotions from it. If you look at my work over time, you can see my confidence level change as I figured out how to separate my emotions from sex. Once you figure that out, you can become a better porn star. You can focus on actually enjoying yourself instead of just going through the motions.

Alfie: So in the beginning you weren’t falling in love with your costars?  

Cali Carter: It was more of me being nervous and worried about doing something wrong. I had very low self-esteem getting in the industry.

Alfie: I hear that often, that porn helps boost performers’ confidence. 

Cali Carter: It does. I always tell girls who are curious about getting in the industry to start by webcamming. Your fans boost your confidence so much, which helps when you start performing. I got into the industry having no confidence at all. Once I realized people actually liked me, I was like “Wow. I actually can do this.” You need that reassurance. Your fans and the people you work with, the talent, directors, photographers, producers—whenever they say something nice, it helps you. You just have to keep from getting a big head and getting cocky. You have to just be confident and know that you are capable.

Alfie: How do you deal with the negative comments and trolls?

Cali Carter: You have to have enough confidence in yourself and know that everyone has their own niche and preferences. If you are into brunettes, you won’t like me as much. If you think I’m too muscular, that’s just your opinion. As long as you are happy with yourself then you are able to put those negative comments aside. 

Alfie: Do you think having beautiful eyes predisposes you to receive more messy facials on camera? 

Calie Carter: No. Every once in a while it’s kind of annoying when they get it in my eyes. I wear contacts so it just sticks to it. It’s the weirdest thing in the world.

Alfie: Do fake lashes help keep cum out of your eyes. Are they like safety goggles?

Calie Carter: Sometimes yes. It gets stuck on top while we’re taking the still photos after the facial. The whole time I’m thinking, “Please take the photos as fast as you possibly can before it drips into my eyes.” I do get more facials than anything else, but I just think it’s the industry and it’s just the easiest way to end a scene. Fans want to see if she enjoys getting cum on her face or if she is disgusted and fakes it.

Alife: You prefer giving blowjobs to having someone go down on you— 

Cali Carter: Yeah I’m not a big fan of that at all.

Alfie: You seem to get off pleasing as opposed to receiving. Why does this appeal to you? Do you like the power of being able to please others?

Cali Carter: I do get off on it. I think partially I’m just such a giver in general. That’s why I went into the nursing program. I want to give back as much as I can. That’s also how my friendships are. During sex, I like to watch the guy’s reaction. When I see his eyes roll back, or his back arch, or feel him shaking, I think, “That’s because of me.” It’s a power trip. I feel like I’m in complete control of the situation. I think that’s what turns me on. I think that’s usually why the first thing I want to do is to give a blowjob. It shows if he’s into me. I feed off his body language. If you just sit there and stare at me, I’m going to be like “Wow! I don’t want to do this anymore.” But if the guy is into it and he’s making noises, then it turns me on. After that, we can just go straight to it. You don’t even have to touch my pussy. It’s already soaked. I’m ready. 

I think that also just came from my background. Whenever you’re in a relationship for a really long time you have to spice things up. It’s nice sometimes just to jump on the guy, or just to give him a blowjob, or to try out something different. Guys are usually pretty excited when they discover I don’t have a gag reflex. It’s hard to find girls who don’t mind giving sloppy blowjobs. A lot don’t like to spit or deep throat or they aren’t into face fucking. I think it’s fun to get messy and play with everything. There is so much you can do with it. I also don’t do the same technique every time. You have to be unique. You have to keep them on their toes… 

I’m sorry. I’m getting excited. I could talk about blowjobs all day. 

Alfie: I could probably listen to you talk about blowjobs all day… I know you are kind of weirded out by some fetish stuff, but do you get a lot of requests to do wrestling scenes or videos that showcase your musculature?

Cali Carter: I’m not against fetishes. It’s an issue of trust for me. In my personal life I like to be dominated and kind of choked out and held down. But I have to really trust you. I think that’s why I rarely do choking scenes on camera. In my scenes I usually don’t know the male talent well enough to trust him or to know his thought process. If we really don’t know each other that well, how do I know he won’t take it too far? It’s not that I’m against fetishes. I’ve done foot fetishes and leggings and quite a few others. But, for whatever reason my agency doesn’t really push for it and I don’t really ask for it.

Alfie: I know you do anal in your personal life but you’re holding off on doing it on camera. Is that on your horizons yet?

Cali Carter: I planned on doing it by now. I know this sounds silly but I just expected to get more of a fan base faster. My old agent filled my head with these huge expectations. Unfortunately I feel like my tattoos hold me back a bit. I almost got them removed at one point.

Alife: Do tattoos take away from your “teen” image?

Cali Carter: Yeah. I have a little girl’s face but then I have two fat side tattoos. You can’t be the girl-next-door with tattoos, but I can’t be a tatted girl because I don’t have enough. I’m in this awkward in-between category. Tattoos do hold back your career. Some people suggested getting more tattoos but I don’t want more tattoos. I’m happy with the two I have. They are meaningful to me. That’s why I didn’t get them removed. They are part of me. And I realized I’m not going to try to be someone else. If you don’t like my size, or tattoos, or real tits, or anything else, you can be someone else’s fan. I’m just going to be me, and I think I am the girl-next-door. 

I do come across as very shy and timid when I first get on set. But when the camera starts rolling, my inner beast comes out. The camera lights show a different side of me. I always have male performers tell me that they didn’t see that coming. They say, “You seemed shy and timid, like you would just lie back and be fucked. But you fuck back, and you’re good at it.” Those comments mean a lot to me. That’s how I came up with my niche. When you get into the industry you have to figure out who you are and what your brand is. That’s why I’m “the girl you didn’t see coming.” 

Everyone assumes porn stars are prissy, and they are all about their nails and hair and things like that. I’m not. I’ll get dirty in my backyard. I enjoy sports and working out. I don’t need to party or go out all the time. I don’t care about materialistic stuff. I don’t care about name brands. I’m okay with just being an average girl in the industry. A lot of people think that’s weird. When I chat with guys on webcam they are always surprised by how down to Earth I am. They assumed I would be stuck up. It’s interested being in the industry, trying to figure out who you are and to brand yourself and make people like you for you, and not for someone you are trying to be. I try to merge my real life and porn persona instead of trying to be two different people.

Alfie: Speaking of branding and meaning, what does your koi fish tattoo mean?

Cali Carter: I got into Astrology when I was like in third grade, which is why I have the stars on my right side. I remember camping and just staring at the stars and being mind-boggled by the universe. I realized I was a pisces. Pisces are very creative, open-minded, and loyal. I’m all of those things. The koi fish represents that. The koi fish also represents how I set my goals and go for them. In Japanese culture, koi fish are known for swimming up river, against the current. The koi fish shows determination. They move forward no matter what. That’s my life. I’ve always tried to better myself. Whatever gets in my way, I push it aside and get around it. I set goals and go for them. That’s why I won’t get my tattoos removed. They are part of me. They represent who I am and who I will become.

---

See Cali Carter perform in hardcore action in Airerose’s Pure Vol. 1 and Sorority Carwash (10/30) at Airerose.com

Check out explicit content of Cali Carter at calicarterxxx.com and keep up with her on Twitter, @CaliCarterXXX, and Instagram, @OfficialCaliCarter 

Read more by Alfie and contact him via shawnalff.com