Porn Star Interview: Kurt Young

STORY AND BOTTOM PHOTO BY VINCENT LAMBERT

Porn director Jerry Douglas is sitting in the living room of his Upper West Side apartment recalling the first time he met Kurt Young. “We were in the offices of Image Video,” Douglas says, cigarette poised in midair, “and I thought, now there’s a possibility for the lead in my next film. After talking to him for 10 minutes, I was sure.” Two months later, porn’s leading auteur sent Young a script, and the results are currently on view in Flesh & Blood (All Worlds Video), a Hitchcockian tale of twin brothers gone wrong.

Across the room, the star in question sits nestled in an oversized leather chair. Dressed in ripped jeans and a white tank top, Young, 22, listens intently as Douglas continues. “Kurt Young is the most talented, intuitive actor I’ve worked with,” he says. “He’s the most dependable sexualist I’ve worked with, and I adore him as a person.” Douglas knows of what he speaks—his nine Adult Video News and Gay Video Guide awards glisten prettily on a tabletop in the next room. The porn veteran pauses long enough to smile at his leading man and ask, “Now, have I embarrassed you enough?”

For a porn star, the lanky Young embarrasses quite easily. “I’m the kind of person who won’t walk around the house without a shirt on,” he says, blaming his insecurity on a bout with chubbiness in his early years. The actor, who has appeared in such films as Handsome Drifters, Hot Summer of Sex and Tradewinds, has only been in the movie business for about a year. He says he doesn’t usually watch his films, except to fast-forward through them looking for his mistakes. “I look better than I used to,” Young says, “but I’m definitely not where I want to be.”

This unlikely screen stud was born and raised in Maryland. Young calls his childhood “predictable” and “normal.” He played sports and “liked anything dealing with water,” which may explain his current job as a lifeguard and swimming instructor. He attended college at University of Maryland, College Park, where he studied kinesiology. It was there that he first became aware of the gay scene. “I told my close friends, ‘At some point, I will sleep with a man,’ ” he recalls. “I was curious. After all, you only live once. If there’s something you want to do, you should do it.”

Something else Young wanted to do was leave Maryland. “The place was a trap,” he says. “I was being carried by my parents, and I was just taking advantage of it. I never really had to do anything on my own.”

So, after hooking up with boyfriend Matt Easton, he decided to move to Los Angeles. The lovers found an apartment in Santa Monica, and Young started working 60 hours a week as a lifeguard. But money was tight, and Easton began looking for an agent who could get him into the porn industry.

“Matt answered an ad and two days later did a scene,” Young says. “He came home four hours later with a nice check. I thought, if I did one, we could buy some furniture.”

But Young says it was also something he had been interested in for a while. “I always liked porn; I watched it. I don’t see a difference between watching it and being in it.”

He also found that sex on-screen was a big ego booster. “When someone like Jerry picked me for Flesh & Blood, that gave me some kind of confidence that I know what I’m doing and that someone out there likes me.” Young saw his dual role as twins Eric and Derrick in Flesh & Blood as a great opportunity. “I was really lucky to get it. And it was such a challenge. I’m in practically every second of the movie. I had to work really hard to make sure that people didn’t get bored with me.” Young’s mutual admiration for director Douglas was also a motivating force behind his performance. “I just wanted to do a good job for Jerry,” he says with a smile.

Although Young’s relationship with Easton ended several months ago, they remain friends and roommates. Young is currently involved with model/porn director David Thompson. Together, they have formed a dance group that tours around the country. Young says that it’s hard to maintain a relationship, but “I’m a trustworthy person. If the other person has a problem with my work, that’s understandable, but it’s something I like to do. It makes me happy, and it has nothing to do with sex.”

The actor hints that his future plans may include stage work (he’s read for the lead in the road company of Ronnie Larsen’s Making Porn), but for now he enjoys making movies. “I get to meet nice people, and I’ve made really good friends in this business. It’s like any other job—you go for your eight hours and do the best you can.”

Reprinted from HX magazine (1996)