Sasha Grey Set to Arouse Entourage

Porn actress Sasha Grey, in her latest crossover role, joins the cast of HBO's Entourage, playing herself, as Vincent Chase's girlfriend tonight.

With Grey's introduction on Entourage, it is clear that never before have the lines between mainstream Hollywood and the porn industry been this blurred.

For about three decades, the porn industry was confined to movies shown in seedy movie theaters in the wrong area of town. Then in the 1980's the VCR was widely available and the adult industry exploded as no longer were people were required to go to sit near others in public to watch the adult entertainment. Now, with Porn 2.0 websites making porn more affordable and easier to find than ever, it seems that not only has the taboo once inherent to any participation in porn disappeared, but porn films and their actresses are a hot crossover commodity.

Grey joins Entourage just as the HBO series seems in need of a fresh injection of life, excitement, and, yes, sex appeal. To even its hardest core fans, Entourage lately has seemed a bit stale and out of 'juice'. To see an actual porn star, particularly one as cutting edge as Sasha Grey, playing herself on the show and dating the lead character might just give it a bit of a jump start. Grey, recently married, has made a career out of extreme porn. Her looks, which are sexy in a very non-typical porn star way, have made her stand out.

Grey is not bleach blond and has not had breast enhancements. Her attitude and performance are that of the 'anything goes' variety in that her sex acts and willingness to do anything, really, have belied in some ways the widely held notion that she is the 'thinking man's porn star'.

What's really remarkable about Sasha Grey's role on a hit show such as Entourage is that it is likely to be little more than a footnote to her career in the long run. Her first major role was in Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, in which she garnered great reviews.

Grey even has a foot in the music industry. With her band aTelecine, Grey released an album in April called A Cassette Tape Culture.

Once upon a time, mainstream television and movie enterprises would take a risk on having a porn star join its cast, such as when Traci Lords joined Melrose Place in the mid 1990's. Today, however, there is really no risk and only upside for a series. The porn star, in fact, might be taking more of a risk than the series itself. Sasha Grey's participation in The Girlfriend Experience and now Entourage are two examples of this.

Source: Darrah Le Montre, "Adult Film Star Sasha Grey Joins Piven and Grenier on 'Entourage'", hollywoodtoday.net