Stephanie Swift talks about her boyfriend, her minor plastic surgery, and what it's like to be "in the business."

The girl, now a woman of 31, is Stephanie Swift, the self-proclaimed “nerd” who used sheer persistence to become one of the top stars in the adult industry. She approaches the majority of her life in that simple, hardworking way, and finds pleasure in the ordinary.

If you need her when she’s off-duty, for instance, you might find her at the Olive Garden, eating Zuppa Toscana and the all-you-can-eat salad with ranch dressing. Or if it’s a little later on in the evening, prowling the local Rite-Aid for midnight snacks or other emergency supplies. Bars? She can’t stand the smoke, though that’s no longer a problem in California. And anyway, she doesn’t really drink, unless it tastes like candy. More than likely, if she’s not working, Stephanie will be home with her boyfriend of three and a half years and her dogs.

But then again, she’s always working. SexHerald caught up with her at Wicked Studios.

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SexHerald: So you’re in California right now. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

STEPHANIE: Brazil. (Sighs) Have you been to Brazil?

SH: No, I know that you did some work in Brazil.

STEPHANIE:The American dollar is worth almost four times as much in Brazil. And, for almost every pretty girl walking around, there’s another pretty girl walking around – and that’s her girlfriend. I notice lot of girls out there like girls.

SH: Well that’s always refreshing.

STEPHANIE: (Laughs) It’s very nice, plus they’re gorgeous. They’re very sexual, just very open, and very comfortable with themselves. I produced and directed my first two movies out there, in Brazil, this year.

SH: Wow. So you found that people were really free there, more so than here, about sexuality?

STEPHANIE: I wouldn’t [say that]. It’s hard to compare how people are; it’s just different cultures. It’s just that people are very comfortable, it’s not so much a business-oriented thing. It’s very warm, you know, almost passionate. Things go on before the camera starts – I mean that happens all the time, people start messing around before the camera starts– but there it’s like a way of life; people are very, very comfortable.

SH: So the filming must get quite hot.

STEPHANIE: It was, once we got over the language barrier.

SH: Do you know any Portuguese?

STEPHANIE: Sure. Que é seu nome is “What’s your name,” foda-me is “fuck me.”

SH: Certain phrases need to be learned before others. (Laughter) Have you found the business to be fairly male-dominated?

STEPHANIE: Yeah, I mean I think it’s probably going to even out as more time goes by. I think the girls just get so busy in front of the camera and get caught up with doing the movies, they forget that oh wait a minute, I can do that too! It’s just more fun because you get to be put in makeup and do all the promotions and things like that. It’s fun to become something else at times, you know, become a character. Just disappear for a couple of days.

SH: But have you seen any change since you entered the adult film industry?

STEPHANIE: Yeah, I started in October of ‘94, and I think definitely. That’s the main reason I ‘m staying in – I wanted to guide the girls the right way. I want to make sure that they’re handled right, that they don’t get taken advantage of, and that they feel good about the films, doing the movies, that they don’t regret it, you know?

SH: What would you say to young people who are interested in entering the industry?

STEPHANIE: Understand that it doesn’t go away, that it will follow you around for the rest of your life, and if there is anything else at all you want to do, do that first. If you really want to do this—try it, but realize that it’s going to change your life. You will always be treated differently, and you have to be able to handle it – don’t feel bad about it. If you’re going to do it, do it all the way. But understand there are consequences.

SH: What kind of consequences would you say that there are? Like for you – what do you think has changed about your life since you decided to do this rather than something else?

STEPHANIE: Well, I’ve had opportunities to go back to school but I’ve always been nervous about it because I get recognized a lot. You know, people tend to have a misunderstanding about people in this industry, they think that they are one thing or another, and you know everyone judges everything, but for the most part this has been judged as kind of on the dark side.

SH: If you did decide to go back to school, what would you study?

STEPHANIE: I want to take on a few classes, maybe some voice classes – I wouldn’t want to go back to get any degrees or anything, I don’t have time for that. But I love being in school, just like being in the classroom and reading the books and taking the tests, and bettering myself. That’s one thing I’ve noticed about being in this industry, being out of school…my vocabulary isn’t as wide as it used to be. (Sighs) And um, now that I’m just focusing on my site, and mainly fan club and not doing as many movies, even my ability to do movies as strongly and sharply as I used to has gone down a little bit. You have to exercise yourself. Everything about you is a muscle, whether it’s your brain or your body.

SH: I understand that you were a dental assistant while you were in school?

STEPHANIE: I was a dental assistant when I first started the business. I was going to go to dental school but I changed my mind because I got pretty busy at this business and I was enjoying myself. I realized I didn’t want to be a dentist, because I did a little bit of research and the suicide rate for dentists is very high. Because people don’t want to go to the dentist, and it didn’t sound very fun to me. Nobody’s happy to see you.

SH: So how did you finally decide to do this rather than anything else – I guess the question is more, what did you want to be when you grew up? How did you get to this point?

STEPHANIE: Ever since I can remember, I always wanted to be a model or a teacher. When I was four I found my grandpa’s Playboy magazines underneath the bed and I used to look at them ever since I remember. I had a very big appreciation for the female body. I didn’t know I was attracted to it, I just thought it was pretty. And I wanted to look like that, so I always wanted to be a model, and I really liked school, so I always wanted to be a teacher. When I was 18, I was working full time in a dental office, going to school full time, and also dancing to supplement my income. I started dancing because I had a boyfriend when I was 18, and he brought home a picture of himself with a naked girl. He said, ‘oh, you would never do anything like that, cause you’re such a prude and such a nerd.’ And I was. I was very much a nerd. Glasses, no makeup. My boyfriend in high school didn’t want me to wear makeup. I had skirts down to my ankles, jeans, and sweaters – covered, all the time. So I think I’m a product of people telling me all the time, ‘you’re not pretty, you’re not cute, and you’re just a nerd.’ I got tired of it, you know, I got really tired of it.

SH: So you rebelled, in the most public way imaginable!

STEPHANIE: I actually didn’t do movies until I was 23. From 19 – 23 I was doing these pictures for these little photo club things, and there are also contests and I would always get first or second prize. And during the same time I actually did a few movies, and it was all the same to me - it’s all taking your clothes off. Sex is a natural thing, and the people in the business are very nice, so it didn’t bother me, at all. And I actually showed up, didn’t have any problems, learned the lines, could do the dialogue – I actually got a lot of work that way. But I didn’t get any box covers, I actually put on the modeling release that I didn’t want a box cover, because I didn’t want anyone to know.

SH: You didn’t want people to know what you were doing at first? Have you ever gotten a negative reaction from people because of what you do?

STEPHANIE: Oh yeah. Definitely. Sometimes Bible-beaters show up to signings, and they say you know, ‘you really should find the Lord, you should really start reading the Bible.’ I say, ‘I don’t need to find anything. This is where God wants me to be.’ And they look at you, like you’re just going to go to hell, but I really don’t feel like I’m doing anything against the Bible. I’m not doing anything that’s hurting anyone. I’m just expressing myself in a different way. Yes, our bodies are sacred, I agree – but you’re made as a person of choice, and I’ve actually helped a lot of people get off of drugs, and a lot of girls whose boyfriends have beaten them up over the years – and this is since I was 19, dancing in a club. I have a lot to offer, and I’m not a person that has had problems and who got in the business to make easy money and to get more problems – I just enjoy myself. I’m an actress and a model, and now a producer and director, and just an overall very caring person. The dental assisting business is a very caring business, and I think this is too.

SH: So you’ve helped some people through the times who’ve sort of fallen into the wrong habits.

STEPHANIE: Yes. I’ll meet girls on the road who seem to be having a hard time, and I’ll get to know them, and I’m like, y’know, if you want to come to California and dance out here, you’re welcome to stay at my house. I think that’s what I’m focusing on are the girls that come in and they have the possibility of either being taken advantage of or being guided to the right place.

SH: Sounds like a good job; where do I sign up? (Laughter) You obviously interact within the industry a lot. Do you find that you still have social circles of people who are completely outside the industry?

STEPHANIE: I don’t really socialize with anybody – I work all the time. I have the people that I see every day here at Wicked, and I have my personal assistant, she’s one of my best friends, and that’s really the basis of all my friends, the people I see every day. Besides a few people that I went to high school with, and keep in touch with.

SH: And do you see anybody regularly, romantically?

STEPHANIE: I’ve been with someone a little over 3 1/2 years.

SH: Can I get a little more?

STEPHANIE: He is 10 years younger than me, and I met him when he was a senior in high school, and I think the whole idea that he wasn’t, really, didn’t care who I was, was what got me on him. (Pause) That’s a whole other story. That’s a whole interview all on its own.

SH: Come on, what’s the story? Give me a bit.

STEPHANIE: The fact that I’m in the industry and the fact that he’s younger and he’s still pretty wild and enjoys himself – I mean he’s beautiful, he’s always not had a problem with girls. I appreciate the fact that he loves women just as [much as] I do, and we share girls and we keep our relationship interesting and fresh, but I think whether I was in the business or not I’d still be that way, though. It definitely makes it easier for someone when they’re not in the business to accept and be able to handle their girlfriend or their wife or significant other actually having sex with other people. Because other than the business, I’m monogamous.

SH: But you said you and your boyfriend share girls – do you consider yourself bisexual even outside the business?

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