Interview Exclusive: Clay Maverick Returns

Clay Maverick loves a challenge. That’s why the porn superstar has decided to make his latest return to the industry into a sort of Biggest Loser contest. When we last spoke to Maverick in 2002, he was primed for another comeback in the award-winning classic White Trash. After making a name for himself in the mid-1990s working for major studios such as Falcon, COLT and Studio 2000 in films such as Hard Focus, Big Timber and Carnal Intentions, Maverick decided to take a break from the big biz and return to school.

“I was a manic,” Maverick recalls of his first splash. “I did a lot of partying, spent a lot of money.” So the Seattle native made a move to Denver to study interior design. He got his degree and started working for a firm there. In 2002, he stuck his toes back in the water with a couple of movies, including White Trash, but soon returned to his legit career. When the economy started going south, Maverick was laid off from his job. He went back to Seattle in 2006 and started his own design company. “It’s a pain in the ass,” he says. “I’m more of a creative guy, not much of a businessman.”

But that creativity gave him the idea to write a book about his life and the years he spent in and around the porn industry. “I’ve got some crazy stories, man,” Maverick promises. “People won’t believe some of the stuff that went on in the old days. I’m writing this book to get my side of the story out—how I got into the business, the go-go dancing at clubs, making movies, all of it.” The book, titled Going Out on Top, will be serialized by the chapter on Amazon and through Maverick’s own Web site starting the end of this month.

And the prospect of writing his autobiography soon gave him the idea to make another comeback. “I decided I need to get my face back out there,” Maverick says. He realized how much the industry had changed in his absence and that new fans might need to be reminded about his contributions of more than a decade ago. “I think doing a few solo scenes will help with that, and they won’t cross any lines with my partner. It’s all about building awareness.”

(Note: Maverick is still as cagey about his sexual orientation as he was in 2002. He refers to having a partner but declines to elaborate or even divulge a gender.)

So, in a bid to reenter the industry, he decided to contact some of the studios he once worked for. “I went out in my backyard and my partner took some pics of me,” he says. “I decided to send them out and see if anyone was interested in hiring me.”

Now, the last time Maverick resumed his career, there was no Twitter, no blogs and no bitchy bloggers documenting his every move. Recent photos of the former Adonis, who is now 34, surfaced and showed him to be a bit, er, bloated. Then COLT Studio Group rejected him with a curt “keep working out and then contact us.” Maverick was surprised at the reaction. “I barely even looked at the pictures,” he recalls. “I knew I wasn’t in the best shape of my life, but I just e-mailed them out. It’s funny—when I was at my most lean back in the day, I was also doing speed and at my most unhealthy!” So was he hurt by some of the online comments about his appearance? “People are always gonna talk crap,” he says. “I’m used to it. In fact, I love snarky comments and I’m not easily offended.”

And he ended up using that criticism as inspiration to reinvent himself. “Being rejected was a great way to show what it’s like to get back into shape,” he says. The result is a new blog, Clay Maverick’s Ask a Porn Star, which documents his progress on a weekly basis. “I decided just for fun to become like a living experiment!”

And part of that experiment means hitting the gym and the weights. “I know exactly what to do,” Maverick says with confidence. “I know exactly how my body works. I started lifting weights in seventh grade. I have started doing more bodybuilding, shaping for symmetry. Sure, I’m dieting a bit and eating more healthfully, but it’s about moving the muscle around.”

Maverick predicts it will take him about two months to be ready to submit new audition pics. In the meantime, he’s looking pretty fine (see new exclusive photo above) for his first personal appearance since 2003 when he returns to Cocktails With the Stars at Micky’s in West Hollywood this Thursday, August 5. “Honestly, I don’t know what to expect,” he says. “I haven’t done an appearance in so long, but I’m excited.”

Maverick says that he’s looking forward to seeing fans—old and new—and plunging back into an industry that first welcomed him in 1997. “Sure, things have changed,” he says, “but the industry is still made up of all kinds of interesting characters. With my book, I hope to show the funny aspects of the business, but also bring some compassion for the performers. After all, they’re just humans too.”

And humans pick themselves up and put themselves back together when the going gets tough. Clay Maverick will finish his book and film his comeback scene soon. Count on it.