First of all, why don't you introduce yourself to those of us
unfortunate enough to not already know you?
My name is Joss Tarnez, and I am a TS performer. For anybody who doesn't
know, "TS" stands for Transsexual.
Sometimes
I go by JossT or JossTs.
What got you
into movies in the first place? And how did you hook up with Doorway
Productions?
I grew up watching Rhonda Sheer and Joe Bob's Drive In Movies, on
TNT I
think it was. I always liked B-movie/Cult films, especially the scary
ones. Doorway Productions was formed by my cousin, Joshua [Josh
Maldonado interview - click here]. Him and I have been pretty close for years, so one day I just sort of
popped up, and said - "Okay, acting sounds fun, I want to try
it." He agreed, but not without an audition/read so to speak... The
Ass! LOL
As a transsexual actor, do you see
yourself shut out of certain roles and/or typecast, or does this also open
up opportunities concerning the range of your roles? Hmmm...
I am still fairly new to acting, so I can't really answer this from
personal experience. However, I do know that there are a lot of
'close-minded' people in regard to roles maybe be open in "general
titles". As far as Adult Titles go, Yes, I will ALWAYS be typecast as
a transsexual performer, but choosing to act is probably the best move I
ever made! Doorway
Productions has recently made the shift from softcore to hardcore
porn. Why was that, and how did you feel about the shift back when it was
announced, how do you feel about it now?
The transition to go hardcore Adult was partially my idea, so I feel
Great!
But obviously, yes there was a reason for it.. I started to notice that
indie DVD titles along with other indie media sales were starting to
slump rapidly. When I got more involved during the first season of The Interviewers, which aired on the
CW, the talk of making
more films came up. Since the company already had it's softcore and
fetish titles in that genre, why not just make some movies specifically
for Adult Entertainment? Even when general title sales started to crash,
some "royalties" were still showing up from the erotic horror
stuff that was still being marketed in the Adult industry.
Once Veronica Blake [Veronica
Blake interview - click here] and myself pretty much took over the filming, we already
knew the genre we were going to aim for.
Some of your
favourite movies you were in?
I really had fun shooting In Captivity which is on
Doorway Productions Adult Drive-In Double Feature. I really had no idea
what I was doing on it... So, I was definitely nervous.
My actual favorite though would have to be Michelle.
This movie took a while to complete, but it is currently our most
popular as far as hardcore goes. Somehow, we convinced one of my
relatives to appear as "Michael" in a flashback as a stand in for me.
Using different camera angles, not getting a clear shot of his face, it
worked quite well. It took about 6 months to complete. I had changed my
hair color before we wrapped, and then found out we needed to go back
and re-shoot a previously missing sex scene. So a close match wig was
found, and we shot it. Since the movie was made in Grindhouse fashion,
certain things were intentionally left in, like the back drop that looks
like a brick wall, moved when I touched it, and the Director calling "Action".
Any future projects you'd
like to talk about?
I know there are two films coming out
in 2012 - Floor Show and Bend Over and Spread 'Em! ... LOL, you asked. You are also credited as a writer of
quite a few of your Doorway Productions-movies. How would you
describe Joss Tarnez, the writer, and where do you get your inspiration
from? I try to write stories that I hope other people can
either relate to, or at least enjoy. Everything I write in way of
screenplays or concepts is for the viewer. Putting films and Adult films
aside, when I write in general it is usually inspired by somebody or
something that I have seen a story on. Doorway Productions-movies of late feature
lots of bondage and fetish stuff. Something you are at all interested in
in your private life, and your personal sexual preferences, if I may ask? Are
you flirting with me, Hon? ... LOL. Am I into bondage and fetish stuff in my
private life?... A little bit, yes. I enjoy the toys, and like to have
fun, but I am not a die hard fetishist or live that kind of lifestyle or
anything like that. As far as my sexual preferences, I am not as attracted
to the "SEX" of someone as much as I am to somebody's
personality.
Soft-
or hardcore, Doorway Productions-movies seem to have a certain
1970's grindhouse feel to them, in both style and story. A comment you can
at all live with, and your personal thoughts about movies from this era? Honestly,
I used to hate that era. But as time went on, I started to view it in a
whole new way. Looking back at the 70's the women were sexy, the men were
handsome, and the movies ROCKED! I would be extremely proud to be in ANY
movie classed as a Grindhouse-style of film especially from that era. I
watch a lot of horror and cult movies from the 70's, and thinking back, I
DO miss it. Also,
from the beginning on, Doorway Productions-films tended to have a
horror theme to them. Is horror a genre at all dear to you, and why?
We talked about the start of Doorway Productions having a bit of a
horror following, so a lot of the new titles do have a horror / thriller
feel to them. It was decided it would be best to keep "some"
horror basis around. But not all of the new films are geared in horror.
The first two that were filmed was Whore Asylum, a short, and
then In Captivity, a company remake horror story, both were
made as horror. Gothique was filmed for an October release
this past year. But other new titles are not horror-based at all.
I AM a little partial to the horror stuff... In fact, when I first
started doing cam shows, I based my themes and outfits for a horror
setting for my shows. But I tamed it down when it became apparent that
my horn dog fans were having trouble keeping an erection when I pulled
out a knife, or performed a cyber BJ as a Vampiress sporting Fangs...
LOL.
You
also do cam-shows, right? What can you tell us about those, what do you do
in them, and how does performing in front of your webcam differ from
performing on an actual movieset in front of a crew?
Yes, I do cam shows, usually a couple of times a week. It is
great interaction with fans / clients that want to experience a fantasy
with me. The Cam shows ARE geared for sexual experiences. Personally, my
most requested outfit for the live shows is my Police Officer outfit. I
have three versions of it.
The major difference in performing on a film as opposed to
performing on a cam show is this: No, you do not have to perform in
front of a film crew of say 5 crew members. In stead you are performing
for like thirty, seventy, a hundred (or more) strangers. And it's live, so there are no retakes.
I look at being a webcam performer as a cross between live theater
and being on a movie set.
It
comes with your job that you get naked in front of the camera rather
frequently. Was that ever a problem for you, and do you still remember
your first nude shoot? I was all for it, until I had to do
it... I was little self-conscious because I am only an "A" cup.
But the more I started to perform both in films and live, the more
comfortable I became. I still get nervous though when I have to go in
front of a camera. I don't know if that will ever go away. My first
"Full Nude" scene is in a video called Floor Show
which comes out in 2012. And the second "Full Nude" scene was a
shower show for a live performance. Roles you'd like to play, no
matter how unlikely? There is an adult comic called Banana
Games by Christian Zanier that is based on a T-Gurl. If it was ever made
into a movie, I would LOVE to play the role of Alex! Actresses and actors who inspire
you, from both the hardcore and the mainstream world?
This may sound strange, but I don't watch a lot of Adult Films, so
I am not really inspired by any adult actress or actor.
As far as mainstream goes, I've taken a lot of pointers from
watching Elvira and Bruce Campbell. And I totally admire Mr. Spock from the original
Star Trek.
Your
favourite movies? House on Haunted Hill, both original
and remake, and Dressed to Kill are the ones that come to
mind. ... and of course, movies you really
deplore? Almost all Disney cartoons... they are too
depressing for me. Anything else you are dying to mention and I
have merely forgotten to ask?
I can be contacted here: http://www.xtube.com/community/profile.php?user=JossT
One of the sites I perform on is: http://www.livejasmin.com/perfinfo.php?performerid=JossT&livejasmin_ session=b248f516f427c1fe144f1b92492af447
Thanks for the interview!
Anytime, Hon... thank you!
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