A Field Guide To Sovereign Syre

No foolies: we've been in love with Sovereign Syre for a long time, so we gave her a little heads up about this Field Guide and she responded with a bunch of bonus material and commentary. And just like that, we've become even more obsessed with this brilliant glamour model-com-adult entertainer!

Sovereign Syre doesn't give out her exact date of birth, but we'll just assume that she was born in New Orleans thousands of years ago, sprung from the head of Zeus or something like that. What else could explain the dazzling beauty that has captured the hearts of many a photographer and erotic art enthusiast?

Although she doesn't consider herself as "an intellectual," people can't help but recognize the big brains hanging out behind those luscious lips of Sovereign's, and some have even asked the dreaded question: "You seem so smart, why do you do porn?" Fortunately, she delivers a nifty bundle of answers in this video. To paraphrase, even though Sovereign never planned to work in the adult world, and even though she rejected many early advances to get her to pose naked, she treats her work as her duty. She says,

"Toni Morrisson would probably scoff at the comparison, but she said something to the effect of, 'If you can't find a book you want to read, it's your duty to write it.' And I feel like if you can't find the sexual or erotic images that speak to you—if you can't find the things that arouse you, that celebrate your sexuality—then it's your job to go out there and create them, so that your voice is there."

She started back in 2009, posing for the popular alt-girl site, Gods Girls. It was there that she met and began working with photographer Joshua Darling (also known as JM Darling), and as their professional relationship bloomed, so did their romantic relationship (or was it the other way around? or in tandem?), and together they formed Darling House.

As Sovereign notes on her (super awesome) bio, she's worked with dozens of different photographers (including some of our favorites like Ellen Stagg and Holly Randall) and appeared on many different websites. Most recently, Sovereign started working with Nica Noelle on an upcoming Mile High movie, and our editrix was there to catch her first steps toward Dylan Ryan's waiting arms. In addition, Sovereign was nice enough to answer some of our questions about her first foray into the world of hardcore pornography—as well as her plans for the future—but before we get to the mini-interview in the rest of the gallery, we'd like to present Ms. Syre's favorite poem: "Kyrie" by Tomas Tranströmer.

At times my life sud­denly opens its eyes in the dark. A feel­ing of masses of peo­ple push­ing blindly through the streets, excit­edly, toward some mir­a­cle, while I remain here and no one sees me. It is like the child who falls asleep in ter­ror lis­ten­ing to the heavy thumps of his heart. For a long, long time till morn­ing puts his light in the locks and the doors of dark­ness open.

· Also: Sovereign's Bio (darlinghouse.net)
· Her blog, Sans Jupe: a woman of negotiable virtue (sovereignsyre.tumblr.com)
· Her Twitter (twitter.com)
· And lastly, Sovereign wants you to know 25 Things About Other People (blogcritics.org)

[Photo by JM Darling (darlingerotica.tumblr.com)]

Fleshbot: What was it like working with Nica Noelle?

Sovereign Syre: Nick Manning once told me, "The sex on Nica's sets is the most innocent sex you'll have."

Nica Noelle is looking to elevate the platform. After reading her articles and interviews and watching her movies, I got an immediate sense that she was going places, and on a purely self centered level, I was interested in hitching my star to her wagon. I came to the experience to learn and she was absolutely invested in making me comfortable and safe. She wrote the feature around me, she treated me with a great deal of dignity, and she brought on my partner, Joshua Darling, to do the still photography for the movie as well as making a cameo in the feature (along with Katie St. Ives and Kate Kastle). I may be new to this industry, but I'm not naive. I understand that for most girls, this is not typical of their first experience.

I get the sense that Nica respects me as an artist and model; and what we do together feels very collaborative though she is the person writing and directing things. It definitely feels like you work with Nica, not for her, though she is very much in control of her set.

[Above, Sovereign Syre's calling card, by JM Darling: Be My Baby (youtube.com)]
What did you find most rewarding about the experience?

The most rewarding part of the work is the creation of something beautiful and experiencing the creation of something beautiful, which is all that I care about. I have a lot of respect for Nica. She makes a great product, so to get to be part of that, is very rewarding.

I also had an amazing cast. Richie and Veronica Hart were both great touchstones for me to react off of. Veronica Hart is such an amazing actress. She gives you everything even when its not her closeup. She's very giving in that way. I got to work with Dylan Ryan, who I'd been wanting to work with for over a year. I think she's exquisite looking. Also, I have a huge crush on Katsuni, she's my porn idol and she was there for my first day on set (she has a scene with Sinn Sage in the film), I got to cuddle and flirt with her all day, which made the experience even more fun for me.

That's the other thing about Nica. She's very intuitive. I respond to seduction, I like to be seduced. She anticipated what I wanted and it was always there for me.

Also, I really enjoyed the sex! That was a big thing for me. After my first scene with Dylan Ryan (which was awesome, I got slapped, choked, and spanked!), I was eager for my second with Sinn Sage, and after that, my third. I'm champing at the bit right now to do more. I've already sent her the names of more girls I want to work with. So I discovered that I'm a bit of a beast.

And most difficult?

The most difficult part is letting go of control and letting someone else do the driving. Joshua Darling and I work almost exclusively together and because we have a romantic relationship and a shared platform at Darling House, I get to have a lot of creative control. When the medium of your expression is your image, its hard to give control of that over to someone else.

The other difficulty on this particular project was that I was playing a character full of psychosis. I had to tap a lot of resources for that, and there were times when it was quite stressful, which was good; it means she was hitting on something that was real and true for me. There is a lot going on when you've never shot a hardcore scene before, so much anxious energy, so much insecurity about what you're doing and whether you'll do it well. It was kind of a great first feature, because I had someplace to but all of that nervous energy.

Its hard not to apologize for taking a porn role so seriously, but I'm not going to do it. I took it very seriously.
Do you have any plans to appear in more porn films?

When Nica first approached me I told her I was only interested in working with someone I could build a relationship with over time. I think we both felt after this first film that we're a good fit for each other on a professional level. We are very different people, but I think at our core, when it comes to our art, we have all the right things in common. I'm interested in growing as a performer and I'm interested in doing more scenes. I really like performing, I like having the opportunity to really push myself sexually. When you're with a new partner constantly, if you want to be good, you have to stay on your toes, sense what it is each person wants or needs. Especially with women. Pleasing men is a little easier, but women are a mystery. They can be turned on by just about anything, and half the fun and half the frustration is figuring out what that is.

[Photo by JM Darling (darlingerotica.tumblr.com)]
Do you have any intentions to do boy-girl scenes?

I am interested in doing boy/girl scenes eventually. I want to tell sexual stories and since I'm a bisexual woman, of course I want those stories to include men. I think that the conditions have to be right for that though. For me attraction to men is a lot more tricky. There are a few performers out there that I find really sexually attractive, but given how new I am to performing on camera, I think I would be too intimidated to give a good performance. I think as I grow as a girl/girl performer I will hit a natural point at which I'm ready to move into boy/girl. Also, as I spend more time in the industry I will get to know more performers and I will have a sense of which male performers I have chemistry with. I want to be as respectful to myself as I can in deciding which projects to pursue and which paths to take.

Nica has asked Joshua about performing with me on camera, and I think that is something that we are open to doing in time. Josh and I have always talked about eventually creating explicit films together, so it's always been on the horizon. I know the scenes would be amazing. We're incredibly attracted to each other as a couple and are very much in love, our tempestuous relationship inevitably makes for passionate physical expression.

The short answer to the question is that, I want to do and experience as much as possible in the adult industry, but I want to do it on my terms.

It's like Marilyn Monroe said, "I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it."

[Photo by JM Darling (darlingerotica.tumblr.com)]


[Photo by JM Darling (darlingerotica.tumblr.com)]