On the Set Report: Vengeance 2

BY VINCENT LAMBERT

Audiences love mobsters. Just look at the mega-success of The Sopranos on TV and The Godfather trilogy at the movies. And porn viewers are no different. Director Michael Lucas discovered that a couple of years ago when his film Vengeance, a tale of Russian gangsters gone gay, turned out to be one of his company’s most popular productions. Now, Lucas and his New York–based crew are back on familiar turf with the filming of the much anticipated sequel, Vengeance 2.

For several days last February, Lucas Entertainment shot its latest video primarily in a loft space in Manhattan. On day one, there is much activity as everyone preps for the first scene. A renowned set designer, who has worked on major mainstream films, and his assistant are setting up the sleek Art Deco set that will serve as crime boss Lucas’s office. Photographer Mick Hicks arrives with pal Jack Ryan, who has replaced another model at the last minute.

Much of this first day is spent on dialogue. There is much attention to the lighting, the set and Lucas’s elegant designer suit. He is supposed to be smoking a cigar in the scene but doesn’t seem to appreciate the taste and asks an assistant to light it for him. When it comes time to film the scene, Lucas puffs away and promptly flubs the names of the models. He quickly asks for a retake. After several more takes, he gets the names right, and the scene is done.

For day two of shooting, the cast and crew have moved to a duplex apartment in Chelsea. For today’s scene, Latin stud Alec Martinez is paired with the lanky Ryan. After posing for stills with Hicks in the living room upstairs, the models retire to the bedroom below for the scene. They strip and get into position on the bed. Lucas looks at the monitor intently and gives them directions. Soon, the guys are moving from oral to anal, with Martinez moaning on the bottom as Ryan pounds him. During a break, Ryan lightens the mood, catching a glimpse of himself in the monitor and coyly asking, “Do my eyes look pretty?” Videographer Andre Adair soon reminds Lucas, “We’re losing the light.” Lucas responds, “Okay, guys, let’s go.” There are more condoms, lube, and finally cum shots.

Everyone is back on the office set for day three. Newcomer Richard Black (who will later sign on as the second Lucas exclusive) is pacing in a black Armani suit. He chats in a British accent with Andrew Addams, who is cast in a part that is sure to create more controversy for Lucas. Last May, the director caused a stir at the Grabby Awards in Chicago by making some off-the-cuff comments about a certain Hollywood agent. Addams happens to be playing a Hollywood agent, this one of the sleazy variety who wears loud Hawaiian shirts. In the scene, Black drags Addams through a door and deposits him before Lucas, who proceeds to verbally abuse then physically degrade the agent. The entrance is filmed numerous times before Lucas is pleased with the take and ready to move on.

On day four, eight models gather in the loft to shoot the main orgy sequence. By 11am, they have all been prepped and outfitted in tight underwear. Lucas calls them together to film a round-table discussion that will be a DVD extra, along with some watersports scenes. The topic is escorting, and Lucas takes on the role of a porn Oprah with ease. We learn that sometimes clients become friends, porn stars can maintain long-term relationships and that married men are a turn-off! Who knew?

Finally, it’s time to film the orgy. In the script, the first Lucas exclusive Marco Rochelle is playing host. He welcomes in five of the models—including Chad Hunt, Tag Adams and Jay Black—and they begin making out. They are soon joined by the others. The oral part of the scene moves along briskly. As Lucas watches the monitor, he tells the models to make more noise. “Let me hear it, guys,” he commands. “And play with that foreskin!” The action stops briefly so Hicks can do some photos, both hard- and soft-core. One model notices that three construction workers on a neighboring rooftop have a direct view into the loft. Lucas realizes that they are getting an eyeful, but he has a scene to shoot. Always a stickler for details, he wipes the bottoms of the models’ feet before they begin again. Then it’s on to the ass-eating and fucking. The models go at it for almost three hours until the last drop of cum has flown.

“This was definitely our most stylish production,” says Lucas several months later, speaking from the set of the next two videos in his best-selling Fire Island Cruising series. “The guys were all dressed in Armani and Valentino suits. Our budget was four times the amount of the first Vengeance movie, and it will show on the screen. The viewers will see it, along with the usual hot, masculine guys. This is my best work in Manhattan, and we had a lot of fun making it.” As for the brouhaha last spring with that agent, Lucas is unfazed. “We did a shot of the agent in a heap of garbage for the video, and that is where he belongs!”

Spoken like a true mob boss.

Reprinted from Adult Video News magazine (2003)