The XCritic Interview: Kendra James

Now, before we begin this second chapter of this amazing interview you have to catch up the first, don’t worry, we will wait. In the article entitled "The Performer's Life" we discovered the beginnings of not just the actor and model named Kendra James, oh no, we discovered a passion for all things entertaining and the path a performer truly takes to discovering who and what they are. In this article, we are going to find out about her days on the road, her stories from the past the few human beings are ever privileged to take. As we get to the meat and potatoes of this interview we began asking her about her days in music and taking part in Ozzfest and many other things as not just a performer but a woman who conquered so many fears of the stage to become one of the most iconic performers in the history of adult film. Finding out how it all led to adult cinema is a grand story and how privileged we are that she chose to tell it to us.

 
Don Juan: Oh, how times a change. Here is the next question now that I have been dying to ask you. Especially with everything that I was reading about you going on tour. Being that you use to tour with all of those big bands, I would love to hear a story about being on the road. I would love to see things through the eyes of the performer. Me, I only ever got to be a low level “go-for” getting the band stuff when they were too drunk. The crazier the better I say.

 
Kendra James: Oh my God, one of my crazy stories. It was so long ago. Too many drunken moments. I feel extremely fortunate that I was able to tour with Ozzfest for as long as we did. We toured for three years with them and it was just like a big family. It really was. I think that it completely spoiled me for anything else that I would ever be a part of after that. I really mean this, it seriously was like a big family. The crew, the bands, everybody was friendly to one another. There were very few egos amongst us. I would not go as far as to say there were not any egos but there were very few of them. Everybody hung out after shows, everybody was just welcoming of the other person. Going into things I thought everything was going to be this elitist mindset especially with the big bands who were completely famous would be hanging out with the bands that were opening up the show. You know what I mean? It ended up being the exact opposite. Everybody was just so loving. I think that the year that Pantera was headlining was probably the most fun I had when on tour. I mean it was ridiculous.

 
So, there was a night, well, there were a lot of nights actually. We were backstage with Pantera. Their dressing room is always where you ended up. It seemed like no matter what night it was everything always ended up as, “what is going on tonight?” “I don’t know, let’s go to Pantera’s dressing room. It was almost always a party and everybody was always welcome. Every night they got like thirteen gallons of Crown Royal. Over one hundred and thirteen Coors Lights and like five bottles of Skyy Vodka, or something like that. They were just relative guys right. There was one night Peter Steele was in the back and as we walk to the back of the room we see Darrell and he is jerking off this baby powder bottle and Peter Steele is on his knees and my husband and his partner who put on the freak show they were standing behind them, rooting them on, “yeah, come on! Get it! Get it! Get it!” I am saying to myself “what kind of shit is going on here?” I ask the obvious question, “why is Darrell jerking off a baby powder bottle?” Then BOOM! Peter’s face is covered in baby powder. I still have the deepest recollection of what it looked like but can not recollect why it was all going on. We have told this story to people for years now and a few years ago on Facebook someone randomly posted this picture of Darrell, jerking off the baby powder bottle and then getting it all over Peter’s face and of course, in plain view is my husband behind them pointing his finger rooting the whole thing on. Nothing else could come to mind to say except, “are you fucking kidding me?” This was eighteen years ago and then almost two decades later this picture surfaces. Now, we finally had a picture to go with that story to say, “see, it really did happen.”

 
Now another story that comes to mind, we were on tour with Tommy Lee. It was after a show one night and we had all the buses parked in a semi-circle in the parking lot. Everyone is sitting on top of the buses and things are getting pretty wild. Tommy Lee is on top of his bus getting a blow job. Everyone is hanging out within this semi-circle and we were barbequing below. We had this massive barbeque pit set up. We were still on tour with Pantera. They would bring this trailer with this huge barbeque on it. So, randomly they would set it up. We were barbecuing, I was doing a grinder show and as I said, I looked up above my head and right there is Tommy Lee getting a blow job, I don’t know. OK, that’s cool.

 
Don Juan: Now, are we talking about the typical road craziness? It is two in the morning, people are tired, yet hungry and do want to go to bed but they really don’t?

 
Kendra James: Oh yeah, I am thinking it was right around 1 AM. It was after the show and it was before bus call. Somewhere around midnight, one AM. Everyone is just hanging out, waiting for the bus drivers, waiting for the crew to finish.

Don Juan: You said it all right there when you referred to everyone as family. I have always thought that is the most beautiful thing about performing, performances and artists. That is why I love those kinds of stories. Those are the things that truly matter in life. There are not many things in life that come with that comradery, that togetherness you know.

 
Kendra James: Oh yeah. I was on a bus with eleven dudes for many months at a time. Being the only girl on a bus on the bus with ELEVEN GUYS! Those mother fuckers. We did a run and I have no idea why the routing was scheduled this way. We went from San Antonio, Texas to Seattle. Why the fuck would you route San Antonio to Seattle. That made absolutely no sense whatsoever. We stopped in Denver so that the bus drivers could all sleep. So, it ended up being San Antonio to Denver. Denver to Seattle. I mean I don’t care who you are, that is a long drive for anyone. You have all these people cooped up on a bus together. I was on a crew bus because we were only two people so they stuck us wherever they could. We were actually working for Sharon Osbourne. So we are on this crew bus for Ozzfest during that entire time. So, whatever the crew was doing that is what we were doing. So, all the crew buses, they stopped in Denver to either switch out the drivers or let some bus drivers sleep. It was really something weird on that entire part of the trip. We had to share hotel rooms or sleep on the bus. We ended sharing rooms at a hotel and we got each room right next to one another and we had this massive party in Denver. Somebody got an escort and I remembered seeing this little girl, well, little girl, she was twenty. I remember her coming and we thought that we were hiring a stripper, we wanted some entertainment and she walks right in and says, “Well, I can not fuck all of you.” I just had to laugh. I remember thinking, “Oh no, oh girl, oh no. We just thought you were going to come in for some light entertainment.” I don’t know, of course, I am the one trying to be like, “are you OK? Are you sure you wanna be here?” she did end up blowing some of my bus mates in the corner. I remember somebody brought in this big piece of luggage to put as the box spring on a bed. The theory was that she was going to use it as a pole to dance on. All we had was the clock radio in the room as far as music goes. So the music is shitty and I remember this local radio station just crackling on this shitty AM/FM clock radio. It was bad! So, the party winds down, we run out liquor and then head out to the buses. I remember someone taking a chair from the lobby of the hotel and taking it on the bus. That was the last thing I remember. I did manage to make it back onto the bus and into my bunk. That I do know. I am the one who wakes up the next morning to this lounge chair right in the front area of our bus. One of the crew members passed out on it and I just remember thinking to myself, “all right then.” So, as that is happening, you have to remember, on a tour bus, everyone is confined to such close quarters, it was a free for all and just hanging out and having fun. It was a special sort of time.

 
Don Juan: Oh, the memories that are floating through my head. When you said “sharing rooms.” I can remember back in the day and they always stuck my cousin with one of Wes’s drummers and he was a real handsome guy. He was the type of guy who always wanted to put on a show with everything he did. It became such a common thing when they were rooming. He would always pick up a girl, take her to the bathroom, fuck her and wake him or I up with, “hey guys, look what’s going on over here, I’m fucking this gal, wanna watch?” By the end of that tour our answer went from yes to “no, we have already seen that show!”

 
Kendra James: Right, hey I feel you, it gets old and you just wanna say “hey, just close the bathroom door.” You would probably say hurry it up, I need to use the restroom. Come on! (We share a grandiose laugh. What is so charming and amazing about hearing someone tell you about stories from the road. It is that wholesome tone one shares when talking about debauchery. I kid you not this was something I had always wanted to hear from Kendra. I don’t think most would get the vibe. Her and I sounded like two people talking about Sunday church, especially when we share a laugh. What a woman.) Then you tell them, “hey, could you turn on that light? Please, thank you, OK.”

 
Don Juan: Woman, I am telling you, you got my mind going, I got goosebumps over here remembering those times. That is too cool, thank you for sharing the memories of yours. To get back onto the philosophical questions. I love that the way that you got into the business was both sides or sexuality in terms of sexuality. When you first began, I simply would love to know what the word “fetish” means to you?

 
Kendra James: Fetish is sort of an umbrella term to me. I feel like it covers a lot, especially now. When I got into the industry I specifically did pro domination. Then, when I started shooting fetish stuff it was for companies like Kink and a few others in San Francisco that I did work for and they were more particularly bondage.

With Kink it was bondage, it was electrical play, it was more specific now you throw up a term called “fetish” and it kind of turned into a lot of things. I think that is why it is an “umbrella” term. There are so many things that it includes. I think it is a way to call things like “chloroform, spanking, you know? It’s an easy way to sort of say, “this is what I shoot, I shoot fetish.”

 
Don Juan: I love hearing that view from the performers who it is an intricate part of their soul, their character and being like you. My girl, she got me to understand the part of your mind that opens up with such things as endorphin release and more. I had been involved in shooting fetish for magazines and creating layouts but I had never gone deeper than that. When I did it was almost as if I felt like I missed out on so much throughout my life in the years that I did not engage in fetish.

 
Kendra James: Well, I also think that there are certain “fetishes” which may have been incorporated in our sexuality our whole life. Like, if I think about somebody who has a foot fetish, maybe that has been an integral part of their personality since they were a kid. They won’t necessarily think of it as a fetish and something that is included in sexuality stuff. So, I think that fetish is something that we think in general is strange and specific but it is something that could have always been a part of your sexuality so that it is not truly strange and specific you know?

 
Don Juan: Yes! Oh, most definitely. You are such a perfect interview. You set everything up so well. I had another performer tell me, “we all do that because we all have the same types of loves and passions.” I think she may be right. One of the best answers. So, part two to this question, what does the word sexuality mean to you?
 
Kendra James: Wow, I don’t know. I feel that one is a difficult one for me because my entire adult life has been spent in the sex industry in some capacity or another. Now, whether it was pro-domination, whether it was shooting Girl/Girl content for other sites, or shooting content for my site. I have always been fluid in my sexuality, so by dissecting that and asking “what does that mean?” I don’t think that I have an answer to that honestly. It just sort of is. Like I said, I have always been sort of fluid and taken things as they come. Thinking about, processing it. No matter what it is like when I face it, it is about how the person you are with presents it to you. Even in my personal life. It is something where we look at something new that is presented and we say, “OK, we are trying that.” For me, there has never been a huge crutch to a lot of things when it comes to sex so, ….
 
Don Juan: I love it! The reason I love asking that question is that I think that sexuality is the most opening of things in the world. We in the business understand this so much, I think sexuality as silly as this sounds to “civilians” opened up my eyes to a world and self-confidence that I don’ t think that you can get from anything else but sexuality. As corny as that sounds, that is what I would love to open up people’s eyes to within themselves because it would solve so many of the world's problems.
 
Kendra James: I think that a lot of people are hung up on sexualty and hung up on the pre-lesbian terms. People are always hung up on terms. As opposed to sort of like letting things happen and allowing yourself to be comfortable with the different scenarios that can be presented to you. A lot of our discomfort in our society comes from social “norms” and these “norms” have been in place for so many years. If somebody tells you, “it’s wrong, it’s wrong, it’s wrong!” Even if it is not necessarily wrong in your eyes, within your terms you will still think it is wrong because you have been told it is for so many years. Being gay for example. How many years have people been told that it is wrong? That is a good example. When society says that it is wrong, it is wrong. It becomes the norm for many people within society's walls and now those walls are being broken down. That is where being fluid and open is so important to being comfortable with things. Being told that something is wrong when you are totally comfortable with it is sort of a mind fuck you know? It is all about your comfort level, what are you OK with? “You are OK with that? OK.”

 
Don Juan: You know, it is funny. The thing that I relate to a lot as a male who is very much in touch with his feminine side, the thing I will get, especially in the corporate world. The thing I see the most among the masses are these so called “macho” men, who they will cry into beer and being that I work in the business, like for instance, the latest thing I get asked in this exact scenario is, “does watching and liking “trans” porn make me a homosexual?” For me, I just, I wouldn’t say that it is frustrating but it is close because I literally have to spend so much time convincing them that those are the things that make them normal! Sometimes trying to teach them that is how we evolve as human beings is easier said than done, that is for damn sure.

 
Kendra James: Yes. Well, I still offer pro-domination sessions and the people who come to see me, the different types of people are vast. I have a lot of men who come in who want to be feminized or show up and they want a strap on penis. A lot of times they will tell me, “I am not like this in my real life. I am not at all like this.” Or, “In my normal life,...” I am this and this and like this and they want to be dressed up in pink lingerie. Some men come in and they just want to suck a cock and I want people to know, that is OK. It is something that is a part of us, it is OK to do that. You play one role in your personal life and another role in your professional life. Sexuality, it is something different for everybody and these guys who think it is so taboo for everybody. “I wanna suck cock but I am not gay.” My reaction is to those guys, “Dude, really I am not judging you it is cool.” (She says those last words with the most understanding tone. Something that I think few people know about industry folk. The acceptance, that comfortable tone. It is something I see very few places out in the world. The best way to sum up the tone of Kendra as I interpreted it was that a person who wants people to know how normal they are and who they are is wonderful.)

 
Don Juan: I so agree, truthfully, when I first got into the business. I was mixing the “civilian” friends with the industry friends and it was this clash of worlds always in the start. One of my best friends, she has been a domme for a long time. Whenever we would go to the club, every single person would jump on her cuckold and ask him twenty million questions and I would literally tell them, “geeze, leave the guy alone. Let him enjoy the evening. He likes what he likes. He loves to see his girl get hit on by other men. I could never convince them of that. I would say to them in a bit of a harsh tone. “He is normal, just interact with him like a normal person.”

 
Kendra James: Yeah. You know people are curious and if you see a situation that you are not totally familiar with they are going to ask questions and I think that is OK for intersexual behavior because that opens the door for conversation and that is the true pathway to acceptance. So if you want to ask someone a million questions, the majority of my friends in Florida I would say are “vanilla” or “civilian.” They all have normal jobs and they all know what I do. My friends are architects and work in sales. Some of them are motivational speakers. They all do a wide variety of things. They will get a little drunk and start asking questions. The butt plug question will come up, that is just the way it goes. “You mean that you have to prep before you have butt sex.” I have to tell them, “yes, there is prep involved, unless you want a mess.” To this day there are still times where questions do come up and I am totally fine with that. Because that means that maybe they implement something in their own life. Or, maybe it just gives them a broader understanding of their own sexuality.

 
Don Juan: Darlin’ I truly mean this. That is what makes you performers the most special people in the world and I mean that with all my being. It takes a bigger person, a stronger person to be able to see those very things and help bridge the gaps in the world that separate us but should not. I admit, referring back to my friend that when I see her getting asked twenty million questions I would be jumping the gun and get upset. Just like you, she would take me aside and say, “no sweetheart, this is something that is educating them.” She was right as are you. This is opening people’s range of sight. Here I am jumping to the worst conclusions and here she is, like all you guys being so understanding of the other view, the other side. She sees where people come from and that is a rare thing to do in this modern world we live in.

 
Kendra James. I feel like we have to be open and understanding because why should a person start out things with any conversation or any topic and be angry. I think that reaction is the last option. You don't have to have people become more closed off.

 
Don Juan: Yes and you said it to a tee. My bestie would always tell me just sit and watch what happens as I would watch our two friends interacting it is the one man who is in the beginning hating, discriminating and calling down the other person for being the cuckold and letting his girl, “get away with too much” and then turns into this person that was curious himself and shows admiration for letting him be himself for what could be the first time in his life. You never know. It is just like you said, my “vanilla” friend who was the naysayer in the beginning, he is the man who does want to do all those things like you said, he is just too damn embarrassed to say so.

 
Kendra James: Oh yeah. I feel like at times people are very angry and hateful towards things that they completely want in their own life and they are not willing to comprehend yet. They are not willing to even attempt to come to terms with that yet. Or, even worse, they are not willing to admit it. Asking those questions and sort of being treated kindly a lot of times that is what will help open that up. Opening up something for themselves.

 
Don Juan: That is one of the best answers that I have ever heard. You are just amazing darlin’. Last bunch of questions for ya. If you were to hang it all up today, what is the piece of performance that would define the legendary Kendra James?

 
Kendra James: (She laughs the sweetest laugh) That defines me? Gee, I do not know. I feel like I do so many different things. I sort of have to walk the line between fetish and girl/girl performer and directing. I pride myself on being able to do that. I don’t know if there is any one thing, something that is the epitome of my career, the definition of. I do not know.

 
Don Juan: Oh, I was trying to stump you in more than one way on that one. You have so many great things that you have been a part of through your whole career. How do you pick just one? For you, it is truly more difficult than it would be for most. That is what makes you the legend you are.

 
Kendra James: (Still laughing that amazing laugh of hers.) I really don’t know. Would I look at myself as a performer, would I look at myself as a director? Is there a particular genre? The superhero stuff, the CosPlay, I really love that stuff. I would say that is something that helps define me because I shoot it consistently. I try to very much incorporate that into my overall career but there is a lot of other stuff out there. I don’t know if so many people are familiar with that side of things either, even though I love it. I have always tried to work at that portion of my career vigorously. I don’t know if a lot of other people see it.

 
Don Juan: What is it that defines the great Kendra James, it is that she is a superhero! What I have to tell you here as we wind the interview down, especially when it comes to your girl/girl work. The way that you are able to work with every director is something brilliant to behold. One of the companies, in particular, comes to mind and that is AdultTime and Girlsway. No matter what director it has been, you always manage to create something fresh with every performance with that company. Your acting fits their style so perfectly. To tap into your latest work with Girlsway, what was it like getting to work with Whitney Wright? I love her to death. She is my favorite nerd in the business. I am wondering, did you guys click on this massive scale? I am picturing so much in my head. I must know what it was like on set.

 
Kendra James: It was really fun. That was the second time I have been on set with her. I do believe that this was one of her first times directing when we worked together for the first time. That was with Bree Mills. The first time they were both handling the directorial duties and on that set, Whitney was looking to Bree for guidance because Bree is just, I mean, she is fantastic. She is a woman who has a very, very clear vision. I believe that it is Whitney’s story, it was a lesbian revenge story with Alexis Fawx and Mackenzie Moss. I played this evil teacher, taking advantage of people. Calling in the mother and daughter. It was fun to play that character of the teacher who is going to blow the whistle on the student who was cheating. I remember it being very twisted and I think Whitney wrote that. I really liked that story. It was really fucked up. (We are both laughing hysterically at that point. Pure Taboo is known for the best damn combination of story and erotica. It was cool to hear getting a massive laugh like this. One does not get to see that from a performer very often.) The fact that it was twisted is what made it so good. We just had a great day. I just can not express how much that was really a great day. I think that Whitney was looking at Bree for guidance in that situation because that was one of her first times behind that camera and that was an exciting thing to witness and be a part of. The way that they collaborated to make things happen, there was a lot of input from both sides.

 
Then there was this last one that we did. It was with Mona Wales and Kenzie Reeves. Yeah, that was super fun and that was all about this almost same kind of situation. There were a lot of fun key shots that they were working on, that Whitney just put so much effort into. The daughter sneaking past the sleeping mom. The way that she maneuvered to get into the other mom’s room. They were really getting creative with that one. It really showed too. The shots that are in that scene. They are just wonderful. It was fun.

 
Don Juan: That is cool you have worked together twice now. I remember when Whitney first got into this business.

My goodness, I knew she was going to do great things with just how much she dedicated herself to things.

She is the sweetest and most timid beauty ever and I mean that in a way that speaks about her wonderful character and how she honestly always puts in so much to all that she does.

Having you in that scene was the completing factor. It is performers like you who have so much drive and talent and have paved the way so that those amazing devious minds can create what they do. I hope that they keep putting you in roles like that because you guys are amazing together beyond words.I think that is what makes fans coming back for more. Both of those scenes are beyond amazing. Such chemistry, such depth.

 
Kendra James: Yes, me too. I am hoping for a sequel. I really loved the Lesbian Revenge story. I will never forget getting to work with Alexis Fawx and Mackenzie. It would really, really be fun to make a sequel where in this chapter we see Alexis get revenge, I don’t know. I am hoping there will be a little something that is already in the works.

 
Don Juan: Now that would fucking rock. In closing darlin’ may I simply say it has been so wonderful to converse with you. You simply made my day with so many wonderful things. As we fade to black I must know. You are a woman who has been in the music industry, who has traveled across the land with the Gods of rock and roll. You are a true student of performers, a geek at heart who has more comic book knowledge than ten nerds like me combined. Fetish is your game as are so many other wonderful things in this grandiose business. What I would love to hear is, tell me something Don Juan DeMarko does not know about you?

 
Kendra James: The thing that you do not know? I do not know, my life is an open book. From the industry side of things, I am and I don’t wanna jinx myself but I have been chatting with a mainstream company about directing something possibly and we are in negotiations and I hope it comes to fruition. What else do you not know about me? I don’t think that you know this. I did ballet for many years. So at least I hope you did not know that about me.

 
Don Juan DeMarko: You are simply the total package darlin’!

 
Kendra James: Thank you so much, I try.

I think it is safe to say that this starlet's ways of “trying” are more powerful than most people’s full brute strength. This summer I reviewed some of her Girlsway.com work, Lesbian Love Potion. If you have seen Kendra work, you know that it is vast. She has been at this modeling and acting game a very long time. In this scene I honestly had my doubts about Kendra. I said, “come on, what could she possibly deliver that I have not seen before for the fans?” Guess what she did? She made me eat my fucking words with a bottle of hot sauce. In that scene she puts on a show that is one of the most powerful “MILF versus Teen” fantasies that I have seen in a few years. There is not just passion, there is a whole new beauty to who she is. That is Kendra’s legacy. A woman who puts beauty, story, character building and thought into everything she does. She is a woman who you would never know at first site was a glass walker, a fire breather, a ballerina, a soon to be hall of fame performer. A woman who is as articulate as she is sexy and would tell she would do it all over again if she could. Kendra James is an example who the adult actress really is. She is the woman who shows the world that sexuality is a path to immortality because the woman seems to age backwards these days. Never have I been so blown away by a performer after an interview. So I honestly suggest, if you are going to hoard anything during this sensitive time in our world’s history. Hoard some love, understanding and so much more from inspirations like the one and only Kendra James.

Follow Kendra on the World Wide Web: 

Twitter: @Kendrajames13

Website: KendraJames.com

Clips Store: https://www.clips4sale.com/studio/53699/kendra-james-super-heroine-world/#cid00dfaa764a630b3fa763539938

Special Thanks to The Rub PR and to Girlsway.com for whom all images provided by.