Filed under: Interviews, Hot Picks, Reviews
For those of you who have seen Mr. Marcus "at work,'' it's hard to imagine the porn star as a family man, married with two children, ages 14 and 7.
The Pomona, Calif., native admits that the nature of his work has challenged his 16-year marriage, but it also has made it stronger. His wife, whose name he did not reveal, is a so-called civilian -- meaning she does not work in the porn industry. He revealed that the couple met more than 16 years ago in Santa Monica through a woman he was dating at the time.
"It has its difficulties, you know,'' the man legally known as Marcus Spencer said. "It's one of those challenges we had to overcome. I'm a good dude. I just happen to work in porn. You've got porn and you've got your family. You want your job and you want your family. It's a constant struggle. A long time a go, she [his wife] wanted me to walk away. I told her I couldn't. I just had to do something more with it. I wanted to make an impression. Hopefully, it will take me in a different direction.''
The 39-year-old adult film star certainly has made an impression. He is one of the best-known names in the industry -- with more than 1,000 skin flicks to his credit. He is in the midst of a tour for his new book, 'The Porn Star Guide to Great Sex,' an illustrated hardcover tome of sexual positions that also provides advice to men and women on how to give and receive "great sex."
Black Voices caught up to Mr. Marcus. Excerpts of the conversation are below.
BV on Books: How long have been in the porn industry? And how old were you when you started?
Mr. Marcus: 16 years. I started out when I was 23.
BV: What prompted you to write 'Great Sex?' MM: I think it was just time. It was all in my brain. It also was things I was kind of fascinated with. So I just kinda started gathering information about it. That's where the book comes from, pulling together all the different kinds of sex you can have and answers to questions random people would ask me.
BV: Who would ask you?
MM: It's crazy, people in uniform, people at the doctor's office, the pharmacy, grocery store -- just random people, who would always ask for insight about sex. Some wanted better sex, while others were having a sexual problem.
BV: So, people view you as a sex therapist?
MM: Yes, to a degree (laughter.) There are a lot of different things going on in that book.
BV: What was your favorite part of the book?
MM: There are two things. I like the chapter introductions, which add a personal touch to the book. That way, it's not so clinical. If you read it with an open mind, there is some humor to it. The other thing is that it has an underlying message for people to be happy and to incorporate it into their daily lives.
BV: The illustrations are fairly graphic. Why did you pick some of them?
MM: They're pretty basic positions, considering the business that I'm in. You want to give people realistic positions, things they can do at home. They're not going to get a crook in their neck doing these. I don't want them calling the chiropractor after reading the book. It's about having things to do at home that are different than what people have done before. I write in some of the extra details. The basic overtone is here is something you can do that is not as strenuous or as active as making a porn movie. But it gives you a good sense of how you can change it up in the bedroom.
I figured the positions would grab people's attention, but I didn't want to alienate people by the hardcoreness of the author. I just really wanted it to be about sex for the novice from a person who is an expert. But even some experts are saying it's not expert enough. That is fine.
BV: Well, you can do a second book for the experts.
MM: Right, I really could. I've got some techniques. I've got some things that I can do that I'm really proud of.
BV: You address safe sex at the end. Do you think you needed to do a little more of that?
MM: Safe sex is a personal issue no matter how public the message. It's one of those things that you really have to teach it early on. Personally, my only approach is HIV testing. And I always encourage people to go that route. They don't have test as strictly as I do, but at least know your status at least once a year.
BV: You're obviously heterosexual.
MM: Obviously.
BV: Do you think you will change professions?
MM: Yeah, it will happen. Change is inevitable. The people in the porn industry are great. But porn is something you have to survive. You have to come out intact.
BV: What's next?
MM: More books. I would like to learn a few things in a textbook sort of way about sex psychology. I think that's one of the things that will come out of this.