RON JEREMY: It depends: the guys get paid by scene, the girls get paid by scene or by per month fee of the contract. A girl can make from $150,000 to a quarter of a million a year. Remember, you only get like $60,000 a year from a company like Metro.

RON JEREMY: It's standard. That's for ten movies. That's not even a movie a month. That's like ten grand a scene. No, six grand a scene if there are ten scenes. And then they do the personal appearances on the road and even the lowest ones make like $5,000 a week. And up to $18,000 a week. The upper level women make that, like Jenna Jameson. You work two weeks a month and that's $36,000 a month just off dancing. Then there's the Internet. The girl talks directly to the consumer. No middle man. Just her, her webmaster and the customer. Asia Carrera claims she makes $20,000 a month on her web-site. Danny Ashe, who never did porn, makes millions. You know, Danny's hard drive, so with web-sites, appearances and all these girls are making a quarter of a million dollars a year. In fact, your photographer here is thinking about changing careers right now. Isn't that right? (pauses) No, I'm kidding. The men make $300 a scene. And very few have web-sites because no one cares who the men are. You're not going to see a Vince Voyeur web-site. I have one because I've been doing this for so long people know me.

RON JEREMY: Well? Thank you. The truth of it is that the men don't matter much up front. The girls make the bigger money, but the men's careers can last longer. In the old days, only certain guys could do it. Now on Viagra, any guy can do it.

RON JEREMY: I don't take it, but a lot of guys do.

CHRIS NEUMER: Makes sense. Once you start taking it, I'd imagine you'd come to rely on it.

RON JEREMY: Yeah.

RON JEREMY: Before Viagra, the number one thing that Jim Harley says in the documentary "wood" You can't wait, waiting takes time, time costs money. For a guy to look at the pretty girl, without too much help from her fluffing you, you get a boner and do a scene. That was the most important number one thing. After that, looks matter. A guy has to look fairly clean. I'm always a character actor, the pizza delivery man, the older brother, which is always my big joke, why does the girl order pizza when she doesn't have the money to order it in the first place? "Well, sir, I'll just pay in trade!" The plumber, the older brother, the father, those are the kind of character parts I get. But the boys of today since--they look for nice looking clean cut guys. Not so much for the audience, the audience doesn't care, to them men are props, but for the girls they're working with. The actresses prefer younger cuter boys.

RON JEREMY: Right. They want to work with younger cuter boys. The majority of them will work me, only a few won't.

RON JEREMY: That's very flattering that you say that.

RON JEREMY: I know exactly where it comes from. Parents raising their sons to go get 'em, and raising their girl "don't you dare". That's where the double standard comes from. That's the upbringing. As their parents did unto them and their parents did unto them?You raise a bunch of horny boys-- [to photographer] you have children?

PHOTOGRAPHER: A daughter.

RON JEREMY: Here's an example: would you want your daughter doing porn?

PHOTOGRAPHER: No.

RON JEREMY: If you had a son, it wouldn't be so scary a thought. You don't want him either, but?/P>

PHOTOGRAPHER: I guess he can do what he wants.

RON JEREMY: You see that? You're getting it right here with the first person I ask. Bingo, right on target. The boy, he can do whatever he wants, the girl, "Don't you dare". Same attitude about porn as socializing. If your daughter said that she wanted to have sex at the age of sixteen or seventeen, you'd be pissed off.

PHOTOGRAPHER: She wouldn't do it.

RON JEREMY: But if a guy said it, you wouldn't care. Well, she's shrugging her shoulders, see?

RON JEREMY: None.

RON JEREMY: No, no, no. I would? [pauses] You'd like to think that you raised your kids a certain way. I know why I got into the business. I think I'd raise my kids, put them through college, none of the girls who are in porn have any college education and they're making more money than those who did. I'm not saying you're not going to make more money as a doctor or a lawyer, but I think if I had a daughter, I'd be putting her through school, she'll do the various things that she can do with her degree. She goes to be an RN let her be a damn nurse. She goes for political science, let her be a lawyer. Why waste all that tuition if she's going to want to be a porn actress? But, if she's eighteen, I can't really stop her, you know? If that's what she wants to do.

CHRIS NEUMER: So you just hope--

RON JEREMY: You guided her a certain way, and she'll make the right choice. That's all a parent can do.

RON JEREMY: I know. What's funny is that with my daughter, the odds are in her favor for me trying to talk her out of it. "Well, dad, you did it." So then I'm fucked.

RON JEREMY: You mean with money and three condos?

RON JEREMY: Trying to do mainstream movies? Don't let the movie fool you, I've done a lot of mainstream movies. They interviewed my sister three years ago when she says "he gets a lot of extra work". Oh! (groans). I cringe. I hate that part the most. I had parts in Boondock Saints, American Virgin, the TV show Nash Bridges, which they do show on CBS, Just Shoot Me, Studio 54, Charlie Sheen's The Chase, Rodney Dangerfield's Meet Wally Sparks, Detroit Rock City, Orgazmo?it goes on and on and on. I mean, I've had the kind of work that regular actors would like to do. It's not easy getting breaks. How do the actors get on Nash Bridges? CBS's non-comedic, hot TV show?that's since been canceled. I had a big part in that. I'm the guy who sees the killer and identifies him in the lineup. I've had some good parts, but the thing is from the documentary it seems like I've just tried to get parts or gotten little bit parts or B movies and, sure, there's plenty of that, but I've got some work in A films too.

RON JEREMY: I got axed out of Ronin. My name's in the credits as Hyatt. That's H-I-A-T-T. And also I was axed out of .

CHRIS NEUMER: Of the mainstream parts that you've had, do any of them strike you as being more of what you're looking for in future roles that with others?

RON JEREMY: Yes. Clearly, I want to get more mainstream roles. There's not very much to it: I want to get more and more mainstream work.

CHRIS NEUMER: Why does that mean so much to you?

RON JEREMY: Because my whole life, I've wanted to be an actor. I got a BA in theatre, I got a BA in education. I taught theater in New Jersey. I've got a masters in special ed. I quit teaching to be an actor. I was acting in plays and school plays and high school plays--I was always the class clown--my mom had to get called out to the principal's office many times, the principal would be like, "Your son is bright but just get him to SHUT UP! He distracts from the other classmates, you know?" So I was always the entertainer. It's a typical profile for a middle child or an only child. I could give you reasons for why I was always a ham or the center of attention, we could dig deep and figure it out, but all I know is that I do it because I enjoy it. I've made money with it, I've entertained a large segment of the population, some people have enjoyed what I do, so it justifies itself. But the move to mainstream is also going to be seen by a greater audience. Women and children too. Not just the 18 and over crowd.

CHRIS NEUMER: More fanfare.

RON JEREMY: That too. And you feel better as an actor having sex and keeping your pants on.

CHRIS NEUMER: It just sounds like you're tip toeing around saying one form is more valid acting than the other.

RON JEREMY: IT IS! You're comparing Shakespearean soliloquies to "Here honey, eat this"? Yes the dialogue is very minimal in some of those films.

CHRIS NEUMER: Hearing about how you got cut out of some of these films reminded me of how David Schwimmer got pared down in Apt Pupil, because too many people identified him as Ross. Do you think that there's anything you can do to overcome the stigma that people have of you as Ron Jeremy, the face of porn?

RON JEREMY: I'm not going to overcome the stigma for a long time. Traci Lords has been badmouthing porn and trying to get out of the stigma for years, using the same name, Traci Lords, but she can't breakout of it--you just can't. You'll say, "Traci Lords, former porn queen," and she hates that. Tough. You did it of your own free will, you're stuck with it. I'm stuck with it and she's stuck with it. I don't mind though, she does, that's the difference.

CHRIS NEUMER: Have you ever thought about changing your look?

RON JEREMY: That's easy, I do it all the time. I let the hair grow, I'll shave real clean, almost every porno film I did I had the mustache. I shave the mustache and I'm almost unidentifiable.

CHRIS NEUMER: That's what I was saying.

RON JEREMY: Skull cap with blonde hair. I can change my look if I had to and I have had to.

CHRIS NEUMER: What occasions did you change your look?

RON JEREMY: Frankenheimer movies. Adam Rifkin had me shave the mustache for Without Charlie. [nods off]

CHRIS NEUMER: Man, I feel bad sitting here with you. I'm afraid you're going to keel over and knock yourself out on the table.

RON JEREMY: No one's ever let up on me. I enjoy this, I'm not going to complain, but they piggy back appearances with these gigs and they don't have to do that anymore. I have promoters who book me all over the country. Well, you saw, Grandpa Munster said, "He's the worst act in showbiz. He's not funny" my comedy act, "bad timing". I've done the comedy act for two years and it's been very successful. I packed the house last night in Muncie, Indiana. Five hundred kids showed up for a place that holds 350. I do well with it. The producers talked to my promoters and they figured, why don't we put Ron in the same cities at the same time so that we can save on airfare, so that they could ride on someone else's coattails. They publicize me being here for the premiere and you get promotionals for this market, so they keep piggybacking it. I told them that this was the last week I was doing this. I don't need to do both gigs. I can do one or the other. Either I'll come to Chicago and do a comedy show and go the fuck home, or I'll come here and do the promotional for the movie and go the fuck home. They also piggybacked me with an autograph session, for the adult film I have coming out on Metro home video. The press person for that is here in Chicago and then they booked me for that! Three separate jobs I have while I'm here. I'm sure Brad Pitt and George Clooney are promoting their movie, they have busy schedules, but the thing is they face it better. I just have to try to earn the money while I'm here. I'll do the promotionals for the movie and we'll do the rock and roll promotions like we always do. It's taking its toll on me. It's pretty unrealistic, isn't it? Starting at four o'clock in the morning on Wednesday--two days in a row I had to be here at five or six in the morning to be on Mancow's show. Where's my sleep?

CHRIS NEUMER: When do you get to go home?

RON JEREMY: Tomorrow I've got a comedy show in Fort Lauderdale, I'll sleep on the plane. Done. Sunday I fly back to LA and I don't have to work for a couple of days. Finally.

CHRIS NEUMER: I'll be thinking of you when I'm sleeping this weekend.

RON JEREMY: I'll appreciate that.

CHRIS NEUMER: It seems like you have some misgivings about this lifestyle of yours.

RON JEREMY: No, it's what I thought it was. It's exactly what I thought it was. It really is kind of fun--is the music interfering with your tape?

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