Her name is pronounced Tayzh-a. She lifted it from an Oriental cocktail waitress she worked with in the days before becoming lodged in the pink firmament of porn stardom. Rae she swiped from King Kong’s original love interest, Fay Wray, changing the spelling because she doesn’t like names that end in y. The exotic-sounding name is the only thing that’s phony about this remarkably down-to-earth sex goddess who, with Traci Lords, Ginger Lynn and Amber Lynn, completes porn’s Big Four.
Though she’s worked fairly consistently over the past two years, stardom did not come quite so quickly for Taija as it did for Traci, Ginger and Amber. For one thing, those three were products of the West Coast video explosion. Rae’s early work was primarily in films, which take longer to shoot and even longer to release. Not only that, until recently Rae’s figure was decidedly doughy, and living in Philadelphia pretty much restricted her to East Coast productions, which had slowed down considerably. Primarily, though, she just didn’t give a fuck about becoming a porn superstar.
Thanks to a trimmer figure, a West Coast agent and an utter absorption with sex that you can read in her face, Taija Rae has assumed her rightful place in the carnal fantasies of trouser-snake strokers everywhere. Rae’s meaty roles in She’s So Fine, Looking for Mr. Goodsex, Taboo American Style, Desperate Women and Sex Crimes 2084 reveal her as an unusually intelligent actress with a flair for comedy. What you really notice is that extra note of depravity she injects into her encounters: the urgency, intensity,wantonness and irrepressible craving for sex that only a handful of porn queens can project.
Intrigued by the star’s “Are you man enough for Taija Rae” mystique-and determined to let HUSTLER readers know what makes their favorite performers tick-Entertainment Editor Doug Oliver sat down with Rae during a rare break in her shooting schedule and pummeled her with questions.
HUSTLER: Most of the girls making sex films today started off as models. Any chance your career began differently?
RAE: A little bit. I had an interview with a guy who was starting up an agency for girls who wanted to get into the X-industry, and he just said, “Look, you’re not going to make it as a straight model. You can make a lot more money doing adult films.” And I said, “Okay.”
HUSTLER: But you wanted to be a model?
RAE: Well, sort of. I didn’t think I was pretty enough. I always had more of a chest and hips than most fashion models, but I figured I’d give it a shot anyway.
HUSTLER: So were you ushered into an adjacent room to start filming?
RAE: No, no. They told me in November that I’d be shooting in February. It wasn’t an overnight decision. And I decided. Shit, I want to do it. I’m not doing anything else, and I’m tired of not making any money. I was ready for something new. I made three videos the first weekend I worked. Dangerous Stuff, Scenes They Wouldn’t Let Me Shoot and one other I don’t remember.
HUSTLER: You started out working for some pretty heavy-duty directors, Cecil Howard and Henri Pachard. From your two years’ experience can you single out some favorites?
RAE: Yeah. Henri Pachard, of course, because he’s a lot of fun on the set. Ned Morehead. He’s great. He knows exactly what he wants in a sex scene and only shoots what he needs. You do it, and you’re done. Thomas Paine is good because he knows how to get real acting out of you.
HUSTLER: Have you ever worked for Gregory Dark?
RAE: No, and I don’t think Lever will.
HUSTLER: Why not?
RAE: He just does down-and-out, nasty, dirty stuff. I like pretty sex because that’s the way I think it should be in reality. He films stuff that’s real messy, the sleazier sex that I’d like to stay away from: hooker sex. I’m just not into that.
HUSTLER: How long do you think you’ll stay in this industry?
RAE: This is a means to an end. Porn isn’t an end. I want to stay in it for another year after I move to California and just make as much money as I can. Maybe a year-and-a-half or two years if I have to, but no more than that.
HUSTLER: You don’t see yourself consolidating your star status like Traci or Ginger?
RAE: No, no. I’m only in this for the money.
HUSTLER: Well, up there on the screen it looks like you’ve got more than dollars and cents on your mind. There was a scene in Looking for Mr. Goodsex involving you, Billy Dee and Francois that had you in orbit.
RAE: That was a great scene. Billy Dee is incredible. He’s the hottest thing to work with.
HUSTLER: A lot of the girls say that what is it about him that’s so special?
RAE: He knows how to fuck. So many guys are afraid of hurting the girl, of looking bad on camera or just afraid to let loose. Billy has a pure animal instinct. He’s a power-fucker. He’s out to please himself, and I think that’s very sexual. And he’s also out to please the girl. He gets off watching how much you get off.
HUSTLER: Who are some of the other good fucks?
RAE: Buck Adams. He just drills away. Name some more names.
HUSTLER: Francois?
RAE: Francois is really good-looking and has a great body, but he’s not a powerfucker. I like power-fuckers. I like guys with balls who will just take what they want-as long as they’re not hurting me, of course. I like to get fucked. I’m perfectly happy to lie on my back in the missionary position and get my brains fucked out.
HUSTLER: Harry Reems has a sort of jackhammer style.
RAE: I’ve never worked with him.
HUSTLER: Joey Silvera?
RAE: Joey’s good. Joey’s not a powerfucker; he’s more into sensuality-slow, long strokes.
HUSTLER: Who’s got the best cock?
RAE: I guess Tom Byron does, because it’s not real fat. You can have sex with him for a long time because his cock is slender. Now, Kevin James’s cock is really fat. It’s one that you can slam-fuck for a short period of time, but you really couldn’t go at it for very long. I couldn’t anyway. I’d be so sore, I wouldn’t be able to walk.
HUSTLER: Do you enjoy girl/girl scenes?
RAE: Usually. They’re harder to fake though. I like to have a cock in me; so when all I’m getting is external stimulation, it’s harder for me to get off. If I’m turned on to a girl, it helps. Nina Hardey is really good to work with. She’s really good at what she does. And Sharon Mitchell is really good because she’s into girls. If she likes you, it will be a good scene.
HUSTLER: Do you consider yourself to be bisexual? Have you made it with a girl in your private life?
RAE: No. I have yet to do that. I like women; I like to watch women; I like to feel them because it gives a perspective of what a guy feels when he’s next to a woman. But if I went to a bar looking to get laid, I wouldn’t pick up a woman. A girl can’t fuck you the way a guy can. I like the hardness of a guy, and I like the way a guy’s body feels more than I like the way a girl’s body feels next to me.
HUSTLER: Are you into anal sex at all?
RAE: No. It never appealed to me. I’ve done it in my personal life, but I would definitely never do it on film. I don’t think it’s sexy. Anal sex is a nastier version of sex that I don’t care to promote. I’m not into it. I don’t like to watch it, and I don’t like to hear it when girls are having anal sex on the set-especially if it’s double penetration. I just don’t understand how they can get off on that.
HUSTLER: Who does get off on that?
RAE: I have no idea. I don’t know whether the viewers really like double penetrations, whether the girls really need the money or whether they’re so into sex that they love having DPs.
HUSTLER: But anal tapes seem to sell quite well.
RAE: I think the general public doesn’t do stuff like that; so it’s something new, something different. I think they like to watch, regardless of whether or not it has any sexual appeal.
HUSTLER: What do you like to have done to you sexually?
RAE: I like to be slam-fucked. The harder the better, the faster the better. On a set once I told Buck Adams, ‘T want you to fuck me like my ex-boyfriend used to fuck me.” And he said, “How is that?” I said, “Like you hate me.” He freaked out. It’s a good scene though. That’s the way I like to have sex: real hard and real intense.
HUSTLER: What was this ex-boyfriend like?
RAE: Interesting. I think my sexuality evolved out of that relationship. I have no complaints. He was a real nice guy.
HUSTLER: Was he your first fuck?
RAE: Yeah. I lived with him for 4 1/2 years. So I never really slept around and experimented with sex until my first year doing adult films-that’s when I’d go into bars, pick guys up and have sex at random.
HUSTLER: Did these guys know you were a porn actress?
RAE: Well, I experimented. And the ones I told either felt like they had to prove themselves by fucking my brains out and trying all this weird, kinky shit, or else they’d be so inhibited, they didn’t know what to do. So I just stopped telling them. If anyone asked what I did, I told them I did publicity for a movie company. Picking guys up was a lot of fun, but I only did it for about three months.
HUSTLER: What type of guys did you pick up? What’s a turn-on or a turn-off for you?
RAE: I like rock ‘n’ roll types. I like “litde boys”-younger guys. I’m not crazy about blond hair. Bodybuilder types don’t turn me on. I like lean, long muscle: swimmers’ and gymnasts’ bodies. And I don’t like uncircumcised cocks.
HUSTLER: What about the guys in porn who are uncircumcised?
RAE: They’re really cool. They’re very clean. I can’t be too picky about it because that’s my job.
HUSTLER: Do you prefer the younger males in your work as well?
RAE: Yeah. The older guys have been in the business so long that now they’re into kink to get it up. They can’t just walk into a scene and fuck. You’ve got to squeeze their nipples or smack ’em or shove a finger up their ass or something like that. It’s not just pure animal sex for them anymore.
HUSTLER: Is there anybody you haven’t made it with that you want to?
RAE: Not that I know of. We need more guys. I get sick of having to have sex with the same men all the time.
HUSTLER: Why do you think there aren’t more men than there are in the business?
RAE: Because it’s hard to find guys who can fuck like these guys can, who can get it up and keep it up in front of the camera and who have big dicks. Joe Schmoe walking down the street usually doesn’t fit the requirements. It’s a shame. I don’t know why the guys in the business have to have such big cocks. Most of the public isn’t like that. I can’t wait to come home and have sex with my boyfriend, who’s normal.
HUSTLER: Women seem to leave the business a lot sooner than the men. Why do you think the men hang on so long?
RAE: I think it’s because after two or three years nobody knows who the hell the girls are. You can change your hair color, get married and kind of go back into the woodwork. But I’ve gone out in public with Joey Silvera and Ron Jeremy and Buck Adams-and people recognize them. Other guys recognize them. The guys stand out. Also, I think they stay in longer because it’s harder for a guy to go from porn stud to Joe Schmoe working on the construction line. I think girls have an easier time adjusting to reality after doing movies. That’s my theory. I don’t know if it’s true or not.
HUSTLER: Is that true even of women still in the business? Do you think they’re not recognized?
RAE: No, no. Seka, Marilyn Chambers and Vanessa Del Rio are institutions. They’ve made porn their life. That’s what their lives are all about. They’ve cultivated very distinct looks that make it hard for them not to be recognized.
HUSTLER: What about you? Are you recognized?
RAE: No. Sometimes when I’m on a plane or traveling, I get looks from businessmen like, ‘T know who you are, but I don’t know where I know you from.” But I don’t usually look like I do in films when I’m me, when I’m normal-so I hardly ever get recognized.
HUSTLER: Do you think you’d enjoy being recognized a lot?
RAE: No. It would be nice to be famous, but, I mean, famous for fucking? You want to be famous for being known to fuck? I’m in this for the money because money gives me the lifestyle I like. But I have to get my financial shit together so I can live like this after I get out of the business. I’m not in this to become another Seka or Marilyn Chambers. To me that’s bullshit. That’s not real life. I want to go back to real life.
HUSTLER: What do you have in mind?
RAE: I’d like to do something with animals; maybe breed dogs, open up a dog grooming salon. I don’t know, something like that.
HUSTLER: What about crossing over into mainstream films?
RAE: That doesn’t interest me at all.
HUSTLER: Do you think that most of the porn stars who say they want to cross over really want to?
RAE: Oh, yes. Like Kelly Nichols really wanted to do that. Samantha Fox really wanted to. Traci Lords really wanted to go straight. My attitude is, once you do porn, you can’t go back and launch a new career in straight films. You just can’t do it, because you’re known for doing porn.
I don’t see why these girls get so upset because they can’t make the transition. They should take their porn careers as far as they can, make a lot of money, then go back to real life. The truth of the matter is, I don’t think that a lot of the girls are good enough to do straight stuff. I don’t think I am. I don’t think Traci Lords is-I don’t care what anybody says, I’ve seen her act. I’ve seen a lot of these girls act. Kelly Nichols might have made it if she hadn’t done porn, because she was a good actress, but she had a lot of emotional problems; so I really don’t know if she would have been able to handle it. I sound like a fucking psychoanalyst here.
HUSTLER: A lot of the men seem to be serious about acting too. Robert Bullock, for example, seems to have gone from stud to leading man almost overnight.
RAE: He wants to be an actor, a real actor, so bad. And he’s so serious. This is X. You can’t take this business seriously. You do to a certain degree because it’s your career, your bread and butter, but he takes it so seriously that it’s humorous. He has a very hard time performing sexually because he’s so into being a real actor that it’s like demeaning for him to have to do this. He was talking about a scene in The Voyeur where he had to jerk off, and he said he had to go down so deep inside of himself to pull out these feelings so he’d be able to do this, and I was thinking. Shut up and just jerk off you know? What’s the big deal? He’s too intense for me. He internalizes everything to such an extent. But he and I always got along very well. Nice person.
HUSTLER: Of the actresses working today, who do you think is particularly hot on the screen?
RAE: Nina Hartley. Ginger Lynn. I’ve never watched any of Amber Lynn’s sex scenes, but I hear she’s incredibly hot. Sharon Mitchell. Vanessa Del Rio.
HUSTLER: You made a film with Vanessa. Did you have sex with her?
RAE: No. That was Play Me Again, Vanessa. She played my sexual mentor, but we never had a scene together, which I thought was rather bizarre. That was also the picture in which I was asked to do an anal. I tried, just to make the producer feel good, but I knew I’d never be able to do it. So the scene became a threeway.
HUSTLER: Do producers pay a lot more for anal scenes?
RAE: Yeah, they offered me a lot more.
HUSTLER: How much?
RAE: I don’t remember exactly. I think it was like another thousand. It was a big thing, because I’d never done an anal, and they could bill it as my first. But I knew I could never do it.
HUSTLER: Would that be your biggest challenge in a sex film-doing an anal?
RAE: My biggest challenge would be not to have sex throughout the whole thing and get paid.
HUSTLER: Are you really good at getting your price? Are you hassled about that?
RAE: I get $1,000 a day, and I don’t negotiate. I don’t really care if I work or not. I like to work, I like the money, but if I don’t get my day rate, I get real bitchy because I think I’m being raped. I know it’s all psychological, but I just don’t like to work below my day rate. If they fly me out from Philadelphia and back, then I come down in price a little bit, but I have yet to argue with anyone about my day rate.
HUSTLER: You don’t do anals, and you don’t do double penetrations. What else?
RAE: I’m not really into bondage.
HUSTLER: No bondage. You certainly fuck, though, and suck cock.
RAE: I like to suck cock. I like to run my lips down the side of it like a suction tube, and all around it without ever putting it in my mouth. Then, pop!-go down on it and suck it up. Then go back and do it again all around the sides of the cock, licking the base, balls and inner thighs. I
work a lot with my tongue while the shaft is in my mouth, running it around the head. I drool all over it.
HUSTLER: What about oral sex on you? What do you like done?
RAE: I like it, but I get so aroused that I just want to get fucked. I would never say no, but it can’t just be oral sex. I have to have something in me.
HUSTLER: Like fingers? Do you ever masturbate?
RAE: Not on my own time. I just get frustrated, because I want to get laid. It was different when I was young. I used to stick my hand in my underpants when I had my school dress on. That way I could do it and never be noticed.
HUSTLER: You’re so fuck-oriented, you must be an orgasm gourmet. Have you ever experienced a G-spot orgasm?
RAE: I really don’t know, but sometimes, when I’m with the right person, I’ll come-and it’s soaking, soaking, soaking wet. There’s this sensation right in the front of my pussy, near the top, and it’s completely different from a clitoral orgasm. I don’t know if it’s my G spot, or what the hell it is. All I know is that it feels good.
HUSTLER: Can you name some films in which you’ve actually had an orgasm in front of the camera?
RAE: No. I don’t have orgasms for the camera. I can get off, but I never let myself get to that point because when you have an orgasm, you lose control, and I don’t like to lose control in a work situation.
HUSTLER: Is that an emotional or a professional defense?
RAE: I think it’s professional. There’s a difference between having an orgasm and getting off. When you get off, you’re really enjoying what you’re doing, you’re having a good time, it feels really good, and you could almost come. You could come if it went on a little bit longer, and if you decided, rm gonna do it. But I just don’t want to let myself go. I want to stay in control.
HUSTLER: Do you foresee a situation where you might want to let go on the screen?
RAE: No, because I’m not interested in having an orgasm with anybody I work with. The only person I like to come with is my boyfriend. I have to save something because everything else is public. I have to save something for my private life. If I came with everybody, it wouldn’t be special anymore; it wouldn’t mean anything. It would just be a body response. I have to save something. I just can’t do it for the camera.