James Bartholet is a respected name in both the mainstream and the adult entertainment industries. And not only that, he has done it all: act, sing, dance, and he has also been a stand-up comedian! Along with these talents, Bartholet has created a successful PR agency within the adult industry and hosts a much listened to radio show about the porn world called: Inside the Industry. Dave Kingsley of Orgasm News spoke with Bartholet. Part 1 of the 5 part series is presented here.

 

 

James talks about the similarities between mainstream and the adult entertainment business

Well, there’s a lot of similarities between the mainstream and the adult industry because just with the professionalism. It’s an old saying there, “Hurry up and wait…” or you know. You show up and you get there to the set at 7:00 in the morning. You get into hair. You get into makeup. You get into wardrobe. You rehearse your lines. You go over your blocking. Then you’re sitting around, and you’re waiting. That happens in the mainstream sets as well.

 

You sit around, and you wait, and you wait. Then you come to your scene. When we do some of these wonderful parodies and features that I costar in every year, these big films, there’s a lot of dialogue. Then there’s the sex. That’s the only difference, we have real hardcore scenes. You actually see the penetration, and you think sex.   I’ve done soft core movies and it’s very, very vanilla. You don’t really see the insertion in there. Those scenes go really quick. But I’ve really been quite happy when I look back over my career, and I’ve done this in the last couple of days.

 

I look back, and I say, “How fortunate I am, and how appreciative I am to be working in this industry and getting leads in all of these movies. Doing the work that I’m doing. The fact that people appreciate my acting and performing in these movies so much.”

 

Not just the critics, the producers, the directors, the fellow performers I work with, but also the fans. They really, really enjoy this stuff. And there are fans from all over the world. My clients at Galaxy, they’ve got fans writing them, and asking about them all over the work. It’s crazy.

 

James talks about his new movie: Isis Rising: Curse of the Lady Mummy and its star Priya Rai

Priya Rai has this international fan base that’s all over the world. It’s crazy. Priya and I just finished doing Isis Rising: Curse of the Lady Mummy for Tom Cat Films. Now, Priya is the star of the movie, and I’m one of the costars.

 

Priya and I were also very fortunate that Ted [Chalmers], the owner of Tom Cat Films, has brought us on also has co-producers of this movie. And this movie is going to be a big hit. Lisa [Palenica], who was the director did a really fine job directing this movie.   It’s a very, very scary movie. And it’s nice to do something like this that’s totally non-porn. But it’s a horror movie. It’s a very, very scary movie. There was a lot of special effects for the blood and everything in it. It reminded me of when I did the porn parody of ‘Saw.’ We had all these contraptions built, and the traps and this intricate plot, and it was very, very scary.

 

Then I’d go and do this regular, mainstream horror movie, and it’s great. I just love working. I love acting.   I love everyday to be able to get up and go on a set and do acting. What a fun job this is. It’s a lot of work. I won’t deny that. This is a lot of work that has to be done. But it’s also a fun job to do.

 

What are James Bartholet’s three favorite things? They are ‘sex, acting, and making money!’

Yes. [laughs] Well, it’s a family thing…My dear late mother used to say that I was seventh generation performer/actor on my mother’s side of the family. My father and my mother, my father’s still with us, always encouraged the acting. I could see, as a little boy, I always had that in me. Even as a child, I closely watched a lot of those great movies back in the day.

 

I was fortunate enough, and after I’ve moved to Hollywood in the late 80s, early 90s, to have met a lot of these great actors of the time, some of the legends. And I got to pick their brain on a lot of things. Everybody from Bob Hope and Mel Brooks to Sid Caesar, Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly…I learned so much about acting and performing and everything.

 

I’ve been a professional singer, a professional dancer, and a professional actor. I’ve even worked as a mime. I performed on major television shows, major programs, and stage. I did a lot of stage work for years. I’d go from one play to the next. I love acting. It’s something I’ve been into since I was a child.   Also, another thing that I get into at an early age is radio. When I was in high school, I was a huge fan. This is the 70s. I got into Monty Python. I loved watching that comedy. I was doing sketch comedy as a teenager. And then as I got older, I was fortunate enough to be in a lot of professional sketch comedy troupes and sketch television programs.

 

I performed, regularly over at the Comedy Store up on the Sunset Strip. That’s pretty major stuff. I was there back in the days when people like Jim Carrey and stuff like that were starting out, the Wayne Brothers, Arsenio Hall, doing all of that stuff.

 

The Start of James’ porn career

Here I am, going by, doing the little roles and the mainstream things. The porn stuff came by because I had been dating a couple of different adult film actresses. I had friends like Ron Jeremy, who were in the industry. I was doing a mainstream entertainment news report on behind the scenes of an adult film.   When I was there, the director said, “Wow. I saw you in some mainstream stuff and you’re a very funny actor. Would you like to do a little cameo in this movie?” At first, I was like, “No. I can’t do that.” I said, “What the hell?” I did it. It was a lot of fun. I started hanging out more with people in the “X” industry. I got an agent right away.

 

There were people [who] were doing all of these movies, and they said, “You know what? We need to have somebody who’s really good. That could do the voices, that could do the impressions, that could do the acting.” I was doing tons and tons of non-sexual roles.

 

People were beefing them up because they were appreciating my talent, the opportunities of just working all the time. After a while, I said, “Well. I’m already in the deep end of the pool. I might as well swim into the deep end.” I think I’ve said that before. I started doing sex roles, as well, actually having sex on camera. That was big step. Here I am…I am having this scene with a girl who’s well young enough to be my daughter. But I’m thinking, “Wow. What a great job.”

 

James Bartholet: Not your Typical Porn Star

You know? I don’t have washboard abs, and I’m not superbly well endowed. But I have an average sized penis, and I can get it hard, and stay hard, and do my scene, and do it really well, and pop on cue. That’s really what you need to have.

 

There’s actually a lot of guys, a lot of guys out there, that watch our “X” movies, who are not washboard abs and stuff like that.   They’ve written to me, or they’ve come up and told me at fan signings, “Hey. Thank you very much. I can relate to this because I have an average body like you. I can relate with the fantasy more.” That’s what it is. We are making a fantasy. We are entertaining people. If this helps the guy, maybe he could envision himself in there with me when I’m with this girl.   When I’m with this little blonde, or this little brunette, or this beautiful, little black girl, this beautiful, little Asian girl. They can relate now.

 

That’s a cool thing. I’m entertaining these people. I’m making them laugh. I’m turning them on.   This is a great thing. I’m doing a lot more these roles, and doing the sex roles, doing the non-sex roles, doing mainstream, doing adult. Hosting the radio show, running the Galaxy Publicity, producing movies. [laughs]

 

Keeping busy and staying busy is key

I love to stay busy. I do not know what to do with my time if I’m not busy. I would sit here in my beautiful house like I am right now talking to you, and looking out my giant windows of my home, and watch the sunset or something like that. That’s like, “OK. I need to be doing something!”   I’ll just do down the pool, and go swim my 50 laps in the pool, like I do every day. But now what do I have to do next? I’ve got to have something to do, so I always, always keep myself busy.

 

My father works really hard all the time. My son works really hard all the time. I guess that’s something, maybe, in my genes or something like that. My relatives had all been really, really hard working people so I think it’s really important to keep busy all the time.

 

Stay tuned for part 2 of this 4 part Orgasm News Interview on Monday, November 26, 2012. Bartholet can be reached via twitter @jamesbartholet and  via twitter @jamesbartholet; on his personal site: www.jamesbartholet.net.

 

Check out his popular radio show Inside the Industry every Wednesday. For more information go to: Inside the Industry