Cast System: Finding Stars for Lesbian Porn

'Girl-Girl'Is Not the Same as Lesbian, says Casting Director.

by Marcy Sheiner

This just in from the Southland: in a last-ditch desperate measure, San
Francisco butches will be exported to Los Angeles to star in Lesbian Welders,
an X-rated video scripted and directed by Susie Bright.

Popular San Francisco femme and butch aficionado Shar Rednour, who cut her
film-casting teeth auditioning actresses for Fatale Video's Safe Is Desire, was
called down to Jim South's World Modeling Agency (the only acting agency that
specializes in porn stars) to interview prospective actresses for the film.

Sharon Mitchell has already been cast in the part of Head Butch -the welding
school teacher. The script calls for three more butches and three femmes, and
while the latter were in plentiful supply among the long-haired,
silicone-breasted women who answered the cattle call, butches were, well,
elusive.

' "The producers [Video Team] thought that butch just meant short hair," says
Rednour, who opened each of her interviews by stressing the lesbian content of
the film.

"Great," all the actresses responded. "I can do girl-girl."

"No, not girl-girl," insisted Rednour, who says that 'girl-girl' porn is just
an excuse to showcase two women's bodies, while the point of lesbian porn is to
see two women actually having sex together. "We're talking major dyke here,"
she told her interviewees. "Butch-femme."

"I can be bitch-femme!" several of the women said enthusiastically.

"Butch!" Rednour explained. Drawing blank looks, she grasped an analogy they
seemed to understand. "As in Butch Cassidy," she said.

Hopeful interviewees fell into three general categories: those who just needed
the work; bisexual women who stressed the macho nature of their day jobs, such
as floor sanders; and women who leaned over to whisper in her ear, "I'm really
a lesbian. I live with a woman." Rednour says that she "trusted the bisexuals
the most. They talked the most openly about sex, even sharing their fantasies."

During auditions, Rednour watched with the sharply honed eye of a dedicated
butch-loving femme for clues as to whether an actress would be able to cut the
mustard. Posing for a photo with her rear end thrust back invitingly, for
instance, was a dead giveaway that the lady had no potential for, as Rednour
put it, "strapping on dicks and wielding power tools."

Accustomed to working in straight porn where the male orgasm is central and the
woman's faked or nonexistent, the actresses were pleasantly stunned to learn
that for Lesbian Welders they'd be granted whatever time, space, and sex toys
they required to have a genuine orgasm. This is reflective of Susie Bright's
credo: her first criteria for appreciating a dirty movie is an affirmative
answer to the question "Does the woman come?"

Video Team hired Bright precisely because they wanted Lesbian Welders to be
authentically lesbian; she in turn hired Rednour to insure that the actresses
would be authentically butch and femme. Alas, despite Rednour's best efforts,
the parts of two butches remained unfilled at the end of a grueling three
hours, although she did cast some dedicated femmes. Still, she found the
experience educational. "People think these actresses will do anything for
money," she says, "but it's not true." Many, for instance, said that they won't
perform anal sex, and resumes list what they expect to be paid for specific
acts. "I loved it," says Rednour, "when they realized that I wanted them to
come and that I cared about them. I loved it' when they took off their fake
smiles."