BY VINCENT LAMBERT
Porn star Johnny Hazzard had a good time at this year’s GAYVN Awards. “I couldn’t believe it!” exclaimed the Rascal exclusive and winner of three awards. Speaking a week later from his home in Palm Springs, the 28-year-old Cleveland native seemed to still be letting it all sink in. His rise to the upper echelon of porn hadn’t really taken that long.
It was only three years ago that Hazzard was living in Boston and spending his summers in Provincetown. The way he tells it, one day he woke up and decided, Hey, I could do porn! And it was as simple as that. The tattooed cutie called old pal Doug Jeffries, who put him in touch with director Chi Chi LaRue. She liked his pictures and flew him out to Los Angeles to do a scene in Detention. Since then he has made more than 10 movies, including Bolt and What Men Do, and become one of Rascal’s rising stars.
But last year, Wrong Side of the Tracks 1-2 put Hazzard into a different class of porn stardom. The film, which received 12 GAYVN nominations and won seven awards, was built around Hazzard and his edgy bad boy persona. But Hazzard claims his character is not based on him. “It mirrors an element of my personality,” he says, “but it’s not me.”
Tracks took almost a month to shoot and pushed Hazzard in many new directions. “I worked every day,” he says. “I was always doing something—B-roll, sex scenes, whatever.” And it required him to do more acting than ever before. “That was fun,” he says. “At first I didn’t take it seriously, but I got into it. It was something different and new. I realized that I possess this skill.”
Which explains why his Best Actor trophy means the most to Hazzard. “I really wanted that one,” he says. “I mean, to be named actor of the year—it was just too much. When I won, I felt like, You like me, you really like me!”
Of his award for Best Sex Scene (Duo) with Tyler Riggz, Hazzard says, “It was a fucking amazing scene. We really were in the back of an old van, jammed in there with [videographer] Hue Wilde and his camera. Chi Chi was communicating with us via baby monitor. It took about two hours to shoot. As soon as the scene was done, we were like, ‘That’s it! Best sex scene!’ We just knew!”
His third award was for Best Solo Performance. “I didn’t even really remember the scene,” Hazzard admits. “Solo scenes are usually where you just sit on camera and play with yourself. It’s pretty easy.”
With his awards tucked away on a shelf in his bedroom, Hazzard is pondering his next move. “Chi Chi has been the brainchild behind the movies,” he says, “but we have been throwing a couple ideas around. I think there will be a scene in an upcoming movie where I shave my head.”
In the meantime, Hazzard will be making personal appearances and working on his Web site, which features his blog (where his mom posts too!). He has landed a few writing assignments, including for Frontiers magazine, and in the future hopes to create a clothing line. “Fashion and design are two things I am passionate about,” Hazzard says. “And I even like to sew!”
Next stop, Project Runway?
Reprinted from GAYVN magazine (2006)
