Q: When you were contacted through MySpace about doing the lead role in a Steven Soderbergh film, did you think it was crazy?

SASHA: I thought it was a sick joke. I got a message on MySpace from one of Steven’s writers and I was like, “Yeah, right, Steven Soderbergh wants to cast me.” I got this email and I was like, “How am I supposed to believe you?,” and he said, “I’ll have Steven leave you a voicemail.” So I got home one day and checked my voicemail and there was a message from Steven, so I thought, “Shit, this is real!” We had a meeting and he talked about the film and what direction he wanted to take it in, and compared it to the experimental shooting style of “Bubble,” and that was about it. A year and a half later we shot the film.

Q: What was your first meeting with Steven like?

SASHA: My first meeting was still really exciting, and I felt like a bumbling little kid. It was just a 45-minute meeting at the Warner Bros. office. It wasn’t a traditional audition or casting session, or anything like that. We just talked about “The Girlfriend Experience” and where he wanted to go with it, and that was pretty much it.

Q: Were you nervous about working with an Academy Award winning director?

SASHA: Not just because it was him, but because it was not an adult film, and I wasn’t quite used to that. I wanted to do good, and I wanted people to like this. I would be on set and do something, and then go back to the hotel and be like, “F***, I wish I would have done this instead.” It was definitely a challenge and I was nervous, but in a positive way because I wanted everything to be as good as it could be.

Q: Was he always open to your input into the character?

SASHA: Yeah. About a month to two months before we started shooting, I started writing character bios, and I sent condensed versions to Steven. I said, “This is what I’m thinking. Are you okay with this?” He wanted such a natural quality to this person, but I was coming from an acting standpoint, and he also didn’t want me to act. I wanted to prepare for each and every scene. It’s this weird fusion of the two. But, he was really open and worked with me on that.

Q: Did you talk to any high-end escorts, prior to filming?

SASHA: Steven and the writers met about eight women, and I met two. But, interestingly enough, the real-life tendencies of the two women that I met, heavily played into the film. One of the women we met really does screen her clients with personology charts. The fact that Christine, or Chelsea, buys pre-paid phones came from one of these women, who was very, very paranoid. She doesn’t take her ID or personal information with her, and she buys pre-paid phones. The whole thing about writing in a diary about what the date was like, came from one of the women. Her whole idea behind that was that, if she’s really supposed to care about these guys, but she has a long list of them, she has to remember what their dogs’ names are and what their favorite color is because those are the little things that your girlfriend would know.

Q: Because this wasn’t a traditional script, what were you given to work with?

SASHA: It was a 15-page outline that I got the day before we started shooting. I would say each scene was there, but it was really described. It might say: “Sex scene with Client B,” but there’s no sex in the film. We would get to set, look at that outline and, sometimes, we would pick up the daily newspaper and if there was something that jumped out to us, especially because we started shooting, literally the day before the economy crashed, we would pick things from current events that we felt related to our characters. Or sometimes Steven would say something to one person, and then tell the other character in the scene the exact opposite.

Q: Working on a film like this, how much of what you did was just a total surprise to you?

SASHA: For me, it was that struggle of trying to create a character with a limited amount of information. I would go to my hotel room every night and think, “Okay, there’s these 10 probabilities, and it’s going to be one of these,” and I’d prepare in my head, “This is what I’ll do. This is what I’ll say. This is how I’ll react.” And then, you’d get to set and Steven would come up with the eleventh probability that you wouldn’t have thought of, in a million years. He’s a mad genius and he’s so methodical in what he does. You could see the wheels spinning inside of his head, on the set. So it was a surprise, every day. It was a struggle, creating this character and also giving those honest reactions.

Q: It’s surprising that there isn’t actually a sex scene in this movie. Was that something that was intentional? And, were you relieved to not have to do that, in this film?

SASHA: Steven never really said whether there would be a sex scene or not, but in the outline I think it did say, for three different scenes, Sex Scene with Chris, Sex Scene with Client B, Sex Scene with the hobbyist. I never really knew. But by the fifth day of shooting, I was like, “I really don’t think there’s gonna be sex in this ’cause I think, if there was, it would have happened by now.” But, if there was to be one, I trusted Steven, so I knew he would do it so the sex scene itself would be in context of the story. It wouldn’t just be sex for the sake of sex. Was I relieved that there wasn’t one? Yes and no. Again, because it was Steven, it would have been done well. If somebody would have approached me that doesn’t have his resume and said, “You’re going to play an escort in this movie, and you’re going to have five sex scenes,” I probably would have said no.

Q: How did you feel about getting to play a lead role that was emotionally demanding?

SASHA: It goes back to the whole notion of, do I want to just stay in adult, or do I want to do both, and I go back to the fact that there has been very few women to do both, at the same time. They usually quit and say, “I’m a redeemed sinner. It’s okay that I hate porn now. You can all accept me.” I think that’s bulls***.

Q: You got into the adult industry once you turned 18, and you’ve said that you did quite a bit of research, but was there something that prompted the initial decision?

SASHA: I was watching a lot of porn. I was going to school, working and watching a lot of porn, and I just saw a big opportunity for myself to be able to continue to explore my sexuality in a safe and controlled environment, but at the same time, challenge this industry because I saw such a lack of creativity. In the adult business, I’ve always been really passionate about challenging that and challenging what porn is supposed to be. Why can’t it be many things? We shouldn’t have to just follow this [one standard] formula. One of the very positive things about this business is that you don’t have to look just one way. That’s a good thing. There’s a niche and a home for everybody in this business and for the consumer as well.

Q: Even though you started in the adult industry at the age of 18, you have been very ambitious with your career. Did you always have a career plan, or has that developed over time?

SASHA: A lot of it has developed, along the way, but I knew I wanted to direct and I knew I wanted to be in the business for a long time. But, that’s something you have to play by ear, especially when it’s a brand new thing that you don’t know everything about. A lot of it is trial and error.

Q: Were you looking to cross over into the mainstream, or did that happen because of the attention that you got from working in adult?

SASHA: I wasn’t looking to pursue it. I did that article for Los Angeles Magazine that I thought would get me some fans and help people find out about me, and it was literally a domino effect. That led to TV’s “The Insider” which led to Tyra Banks, and it also led to my casting in “The Girlfriend Experience.” All of those things happened very quickly, within the first year of my career. I don’t think anybody could have foreseen that happening.

Q: Do you have any further comments about your 2007 appearance on The Tyra Banks Show and how the show portrayed you?

SASHA: That little video I did was kind of a joke within itself. Obviously, there were a million things I had wrong with that show. It’s just funny how people still don’t get how the media works. It’s like, “No, they have five cameras and they edit? No! They changed your clothes? Then why did you do it?” They wanted to use me, and I wanted to use them. I was okay with that. I was still pissed off, but I got what I wanted out of it. Did Tyra run up to her producers and ask what to say because she was stumped by an 18-year-old? Yeah. I did have somebody from AVN, which is our trade magazine in the adult industry, with me who told it how it was. But, had I known, in the green room, they had a live feed on the TV, so I could have brought a video camera and taped what really happened. I kind of kicked myself in the ass for not knowing that, but what can you do?

Q: How much are you like your porn star persona, and how much of that do you leave on the set, when you go about your real life?

SASHA: I’d say only about 10% is left for me, and that’s more for personal safety reasons. I’m a very opinionated, vocal person because I like to inspire people. I don’t want to go home, at the end of the night, and be like, “I’m hanging up Sasha Grey.” I try not to separate the two. It’s my life and I try to embody it as one thing, and that’s that. The part of that that would be separate is having to censor yourself. There’s times where you just want to say, “Fuck you, and fuck you!” That’s what I would have done when I was 13. So at the end of the day, I can go home and complain. I don’t have to worry about someone writing down everything I say and posting it on the Internet, and tear apart every nook and cranny of what I say.

Q: In this film, your character doesn’t really have anyone that she can go to when she’s unhappy with her job or her life. Do you have someone that you can go to, during those times, in your own life?

SASHA: Definitely. I have a wonderful fiancé and a wonderful manager. I get emotional and intellectual conversations from them. They’ll be like, “Okay, calm down. Just forget about it.” I have those two people that I’m definitely very thankful for.

Q: Your character isn’t able to make her relationship work and her job eventually comes between her and her boyfriend. How have you been able to maintain a long-term relationship in your own life, in an industry like this, without having those same issues?

SASHA: At the end of the day, we’re all human beings and we all have relationships. What’s a relationship like with a doctor and a housewife? All relationships are challenging. The first three months of our relationship was probably the hardest because it was like, “You know I’m not going to be home at 5 o’clock and we’re not going to have dinner at 6 o’clock because that’s not the way this business works.” Entertainment business, in general, it just doesn’t work like that. But all relationships are challenging. Unlike Chelsea, or Christine in the film, I don’t have to pretend to care about the people I’m having sex with on camera. We all know why we’re there. There’s no facade of, “I have to go out to dinner with you, when I’m done because I just had sex with you.” There’s not that false sense of relationship, which Chelsea has in the film. That can create emotions that you maybe don’t want to be there. I don’t face those same conflicts, in the adult industry. It’s guilt free.

Q: With this film, are you going to transition out of the porn industry and concentrate on mainstream?

SASHA: Right now, I want to do both. I think it’s unprecedented that a woman from the adult industry has been able to really juggle both at the same time, and play a non-eponymous character, in more than just one film. I think the climate is right, and I think that, if people enjoy what I do outside of adult films, there is room for growth and opportunity. I’m locked to shoot a film in August, where I have the lead role and I don’t play a sex worker. I also have two other scripts I was just offered. They’re not in pre-production yet, but they’re looking for casting. They’re in the very beginning stages. Again, they’re both very challenging, different roles, which I’m really excited about. That’s the next obvious evolutionary step.

Q: What was it like to make the horror film Smash Cut?

SASHA: When Lee Demarbre, the director, approached me, he gave me the script and I read it and was like, “I don’t know. This could be really bad.” I couldn’t really tell, so I asked him to send me some of his films so that I could get a feel for his tone and what he was like as a director. Then, he also sent me some Herschell Gordon Lewis films because that’s his inspiration. Smash Cut was actually originally supposed to be a remake of Color Me Blood Red. So, I watched that and I watched some of Lee’s films, and I was like, “Okay, I totally get this now.” It’s quintessential Canadian humor.

Q: How different was the experience of making that film?

SASHA: The experience was a lot different from that of “The Girlfriend Experience.” The crew was different. The way we shot it was different. It was script. Everybody went out to drink at the pub, every night. We shot in Ottawa, which is a small town in Canada. So, it was such a different experience. It was completely different from “The Girlfriend Experience,” but they were both very positive and great experiences.

Q: Being a big film fan, what is your cinematic background?

SASHA: I studied acting from the age of 12 to 18, and one of my most influential theater teachers said, “You should be watching one film per week, minimum.” I said, “Okay, what film am I supposed to watch, f***in’ Street Fighter?” And, he said, “No, that’s not gonna build your character or hone your craft, as an actor.” I was like, “Well, you’re telling me to watch these films, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.” So, he’d give me a list of films and I’d go and hunt those down. I lived in Sacramento, so there was really only one store, Tower, that’s closed now, that had any really great films. But, also, from a very young age, I was always into movies. Then, later, it progressed into more than just the meat and potatoes, I guess you could say.

Q: Which directors do you admire? Whom would you like to work with one day?

SASHA: Obviously, Jean-Luc Godard, but everybody knows that. I don’t know if I’d like to work with Godard. Sometimes, the mystery is better than the truth. In the case of Steven, it was all good, so I was lucky to get that opportunity. Out of all people, and this is kind of left field, but I have a weird obsession with John Carpenter. I think it would be really fun to work with him. And David Gordon Green.

Q: Has it been hard for you to cross over, or are you finding people to be accepting of your career swings?

SASHA: I’ve been taking it in baby steps, right now. My manager and I agreed that we should wait for the film to actually come out before we go knocking on people’s doors, so that process will start very soon. But, from a level of people just offering me stuff, I think people have been very accepting of it, just because they hear Sasha Grey alongside Steven Soderbergh. They’re like, “Okay, if he took this chance on her, then maybe we can.” But, I’m sure that’s out there, and I don’t think I’ll be cast as Zac Efron’s girlfriend in his next movie! I’m not going to be in a teen movie, and I’m okay with that.

Q: Why was now the right time to start your own production company Grey Art?

SASHA: I’ve been wanting to do it for so long, but I had to do it all in baby steps. For me, it comes down to creative control. Every avenue I’ve explored, up until now, gave me one thing, but might not have given me something else. I know that, if I want to stay in this industry and I want to be happy doing what I’m doing, I probably have to do it myself. I met (producer/director) Oren Cohen and we share a lot of the same ideals, when it comes to making adult films, and we’re on the same path. We both just want to do what we want to do, in this business, and be able to get it out there and let people enjoy it. It’s definitely a great partnership, and something we both really wanted and need.

Q: Are you looking to do both mainstream and adult with your production company?

SASHA: I’d like to do both. It really hasn’t been done, to the fullest potential. I enjoy the challenge of people saying no to me and me proving people wrong. That’s just my natural personality. So if I continue to get opportunities – like the one Steven gave me – to not just be Sasha Grey and have a cameo in a film, then that will be a wonderful thing.

Q: What’s going on with the script you’re currently writing?

SASHA: I am shooting my directorial debut, inside of the adult world, in a week and a half, so I’m finishing that up right now. It’s called “F@%k Junkie” but I can’t tell you what it’s about!

Q: Is the experience of directing anything like what you expected it to be?

SASHA: Kind of, but I think that’s because I’ve dreamt about it so much. I planned it all, very methodically. It’s pretty similar to what I thought it would be. There’s always going to be a learning curve, and I think it will take awhile to be 100% confident in it, but that’s part of the fun as well.

Q: Do you think your role in “The Girlfriend Experience” is going to bring adult more into the mainstream, seeing as you are the lead?

SASHA: I don’t think it’s just this role. The mainstream, and the media, is very fascinated by the adult industry. So, whether it’s because I got a legitimate role, or because putting a porn star on a talk show gets ratings, people want to see it. We don’t want to talk about it, but we want to see it and listen and spy and vilify it. So, it’s not just this. It’s just the plain and simple fact that people are fascinated by the adult industry.

"The Girlfriend Experience" is now playing in limited release