Separate the porn star from the porn actress

In the mainstream industry, folks usually define themselves as an actor/actress and not a star. Lately, I have seen women who have made films in the porn industry categorize themselves as a porn star. So what makes a woman a porn star? How is that person different from a porn actress?

That is a damn good question, never really thought about it like that. In my book, any gal that does porn is a "star", lol

I would say someone like Katie Morgan, or Sasha Grey would be porn stars. Someone who does one bangbus video would be a porn actress. There are alot of providers who claim to be porn stars who have done very little, but expect to charge outrageous rates just because they've been in a couple of movies

Would you say that a porn star would get "name above the title" credits on movies made by the major studios?

It's interesting that you chose two actresses who appeared in mainstream films and TV shows.

In the mainstream industry, folks usually define themselves as an actor/actress and not a star. Lately, I have seen women who have made films in the porn industry categorize themselves as a porn star. So what makes a woman a porn star? How is that person different from a porn actress? Originally Posted by S-Man

I read somewhere recently that they do not even use the term "porn star" in the adult business anymore.

They now use the term "porn girl".

There are now so many, basically interchangeable, women doing porn that no one qualifies as a star.

Jenna Jameson was probably the last porn star. Jesse Jane, Jenna Haze and a few others are trying for that level of fame and big money, but few (probably none) are achieving it.

Many porn girls now do porn videos to promote their escorting business. The do a dozen videos or so and then bill themselves as a porn star on their websites.

I follow a couple of porn fan sites, and they refer to them as pw's or porn w*****. It is hard for a girl to break through from doing a lot of videos to being a box cover girl or then to crossover into mainstream in some capacity. Most of them do some type of escorting on the side. If you want to see the variety of porn actresses available, check out pamelapeaks.com. You have to get past looking at her over surgeried self, but you can see who is a working girl.

Yeah, I've checked out the pamelapeaks website before. I was working in the LA area for a while and met some of the actresses a few years ago.
There are also a few other agents who promote both the actors and actresses for porn shoots as well as private shoots.
Interesting...
Good point though S-man, the porn business is so full and diluted these days, it's rare that someone that even works a lot is known as a star.