Jack Manly
Interviews..


JR Matthews
Get to know one of the hottest newcomers from 2009 whose star continues to rise...
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Race Cooper
Meet one of the hottest & most versatile stars who not only performs but has started his own site Edger 9..
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Samuel Colt
 Meet Jack Manly's Man of the Year 2009 and learn all about this sexy performner whose star is still on the rise...
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RJ Danvers
 Meet the youngest
Raging Stallion exclusive who became a superstar almost overnight...
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Steve Cruz
Meet the sexy Raging Stallion exclusive whose talents including acting, writing AND directing...
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Jett Blakk
Meet the award-winning director-writer-producer-editor & videographer whose classic gay adult films pack a punch...
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Drake Rock
The owner of Male Perfection & Rock Hard Jocks tells all about his sites from concept to execution..
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Aaron Savvy
Meet the sexy fitness model, personal trainer and up and coming reality star as he discusses his life and future...
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Matthew Rush
Meet the superstar and Falcon exclusive and learn all about his bodybuilding, his status as legend in male erotica and what's in store forthe future.
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Patrick Fillion
 Our chat with erotic artist and Class Comics publisher. Learn all about his work and his plans to expand his company to include a wide array of international gay artists and writers.
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AND...watch our brief video interviews with  Reese Rideout, Cody Cummings, Breion Diamond,  Scott Tanner, Damian Rios, Ben Leon, and Ricky Sinz...

ALL at the 
Jack Manly Videos page and at our Jack Manly YouTube channel..

Conner Habib 
Award-winning porn star


  Presenting our first interview of 2011 with porn star Conner Habib. Conner has been one of the sexiest & one of the most unique & talented stars to come along in the last few years. In 2010 he was honored (deservedly so) with the GAYVN Best Newcomer Award after a spectacular year of some of the hottest scenes in the biz. In this very candid & revealing interview you'll learn much more about the star and the man inside and find out what's next for this handsome star...

Jack Manly: First thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

Conner Habib: No problem, I’m a big Jack Manly fan!

JM: Thanks...a mutual admirtion interview! We always ask our interview subjects this question: How did you get into porn? Was it an option that you entertained at all before getting involved?

CH: Waaaay before. I’ve been wanting to do porn since I was twelve or so. In fact in my sixth grade yearbook a friend signed, “Good luck being a porn star!” Porn has always fascinated me.

JM: So, when did you first come out?

CH: Coming out wasn’t a moment for me, it was a series of moments. I told my friends, my sister, my mom, and so on, all at different times. So I never had the, “I’ve got something to tell you all” moment that happens with the whole family gathered in the living room. The same thing has happened with being in porn. That’s also a coming out process. Recently, my sister outed me to the entire family at Thanksgiving. I couldn’t show up, but my well-meaning sister couldn’t keep it in. She told everyone what I did for a living. My seventy year-old aunt said, “The key word here is star!” Hilarious.



JM: If you've wanted to do porn since 12 then we guess you've been watching porn for awhile?

CH: Yes, definitely - I saw my first straight porn when I was seven after my parents got divorced. My dad got a cable cheater box and almost too-perfectly, the remote control battery died as my father was flipping through the channels to see which ones were which - it stopped on the porn channel (which my sister and I would refer to in ominous voices as “Channel 27”). Of course I wasn’t all that interested in it then, but as I got older and went through puberty, I visited Channel 27 again and again.
  I saw my first gay porn much later, when I was nineteen. I lived in small-town Pennsylvania, and it was like a revelation: “Wow, guys do this everywhere! And they like it! And it’s a good thing!” That’s a much-neglected aspect of porn that should be played up more - If we want, it can give the world a very positive view of sex. That’s a big deal especially for gay teens in conservative areas of the world who feel alone and ashamed of sex.

JM: Never thought of it like that. Having watched others in videos and gotten off what's it like then to know now that somewhere there's someone watching you on video & getting off on you?

CH: I absolutely love it. To be completely frank, I’m not sure how healthy it is to be in love with the thought of guys around the world masturbating to you. It’s can be good and it also has a shadow. The good is that I’m able to offer people some intense and pleasurable moments and maybe even instruction - as well as the sex-positive idea I mentioned above. On the other hand, it can be dangerous - as a porn performer, if you fixate on it too much, you can get dragged into wanting to make porn for the sexual validation and approval of others. So I love it, but loving it requires some vigilance.

JM: Good idea. You also seem to have such a natural "on camera" ability. Was it that way from the beginning?

CH: Yes. No question about it. I loved it from the get-go.



JM: Which person and/or company was the most help in getting your career going?

CH: I don’t mean to be coy, but they’ve all offered something different. Raging Stallion definitely kick-started my career with The Trap (my scene was with Ricky Sinz and RJ Danvers). They weren’t the first company to hire me, but they got me much more visibility; and they hired me a lot after that as well. Mustang/Falcon (as well as Massive, a smaller branch of that studio) and Hot House all brought me into a wider market and a more diverse fan base. Chi Chi Larue at Channel 1 showed me a deep and intense appreciation for the art of making porn (I know that sounds a little grandiose, but many of his movies and his process of making them is really artful). So they’ve all done so much for me, and I’m happy to have brought fans to them as well.

JM: What do you think that you bring to a video or movie that sets you apart from others?
If you were to stand back and look at you & your work objectively what would your perceptions be?

CH: I think one of the things that people like about me is also one of the things I receive criticism for: I’m not a big buff guy or a totally skinny twink. I don’t have a big dick. Sometimes I’m in better shape than other times. I’m not like a porn star, exactly. I’m a guy in relatively decent shape who’s blessed enough to be handsome and who loves sex.
When I look at comments on blogs and fanmails, it’s a perfect mirror of the positive and negative - I’m hailed for being a “normal” guy and teased or insulted for the same thing.
But I think I came along at the exact right time - People’s ideas of beauty and sex were finally fading out of the 1990s model of perfectly cut, perfectly ripped guys, mostly because of the internet. Body started becoming less important and intense and real sex - which could be found in amateur porn - became more and more exciting. Of course, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Some lucky bastards are great performers and have kickass bodies. But the former is harder to come by than the latter.
   I think, also, that people have begun to step outside the framed moment of just watching the porn. Instead, arousal has extended into the porn performer’s personality. Happily, I have one of those! Twitter, my blog, and public appearances are all part of my pornographic life now.
   I’m glad to be a part of and motivator of this changing tide - Studios seem to be noticing this and leaving the boundaries of the typical porn look. They’re looking not just for muscular bodies, but bodies, faces, and personalities that express some sort of vitality and enthusiasm and character.


JM: We can also add something else. We've noticed is that no matter what the role or movie you seem to be having fun. How important do you think this is for porn actors & performers? And what other factors are important for other stars?

CH: I once did a shoot where the director had to literally turn my scene partner’s head to the side and tell him “you keep blocking the camera - there’s a difference between having sex and being in porn!” There’s so much more to think of when you’re in front of the camera than sex. If you can’t be aware and lose yourself in the act at the same time, you might be really hot, but you’re not a great performer. Awareness, not just of yourself, but of the camera and what the viewer will be seeing afterward, is key. And enthusiasm - If you can’t have great, enthusiastic sex, even with someone you’re not physically into, it will definitely show.
  Finally, there’s something to be said for having that indefinable quality that gets people to just pay attention. If I think of the porn stars who are truly memorable - the ones that people know even after they retire, or the ones currently working but that everyone, even straight people, seems to know (like Matthew Rush, Johnny Hazzard) - I see that they’ve all got an ineffable something that distinguishes them from everyone else. I’m not sure if that’s something you can create. I think it just has to be there.



JM: What do you prefer to watch & be involved in: unscripted porn? a full-on story? or something in between like improv? It seems you do it all equally well.

CH: I like having lines - not because it’s extra camera time, but because it gives me a chance to get into the role play of it all. Whenever I get to engage in porn cliche - fucking in an auto mechanic garage, sucking dick in an army barracks, etc. - I get to role play. Uniforms, sets, the feel of the place... So having lines helps me ease into that role even more, which can really charge the performance. Plus, I show up horny and have to wait a little longer. As for watching, I like all of them for different reasons. But I do think a good script and good directing can really intensify the experience. A lot of people have the idea that when you watch porn you skip to the “good parts,” but that’s because a good script is hard to come by. I wish there were more and that studios were working with more scripted material.

JM: Obviously you bring something of yourself into movies but how much of the "real" Conner Habib do we see on camera?

CH: People ask me this a lot. But I don’t really get the question. It’s all me. Even if I’m performing, it’s me that’s performing.

JM: Fair enough, although we can think of of few other stars where this isn't the case. Speaking of other scene partners have there been any instances when being in a porn was more work than usual due to lack of chemistry or good direction? And how did you overcome this?

CH:  There have been a few times where the chemistry just wasn’t there or the other guy was out of it. I just worked twice as hard, I guess - trying to make the scene exciting. I always try to consider the viewer as my sex partner, just as much as the guy I’m doing the scene with. After all, the viewer’s cumming, too! With that in mind, I try to go over the top to make up for whatever’s not there. It’s not as good as having great on-set chemistry, but it does the trick.

JM: Are there any specific performers you want to work with?

CH: I love this question because it gives me a chance to give a big “Let’s fuck!” shout out to guys I haven’t done scenes with yet. Brad Star, new Cocksure guy Mitch Vaughn, Adam Champ, Trent Deisel. I’m nuts for Blu Kennedy. (We actually were supposed to do a scene but there was a mix up and I couldn’t do it.) My buddies Max Sinclair and Junior Stellano, as well as a bunch of guys across the pond at MenAtPlay - Marco Wilson, etc.
Also there are some newer, younger guys that I really like - I really get hard over Josh Harris who lives in Australia and has done Bentley Race and World of Men. I’d also really love to do a scene with Perry Pierce, who was in the first season of So You Think You Can Fuck. The list goes on and on, seriously. I just love love this life!
  Finally I want to say that there are some guys I could work with a hundred times and never get tired of it. Mostly because they’re great guys. So for example, if anyone wants to put me and my buddies Girth Brooks and Heath Jordan in a scene together, it’s a good idea.

JM: Okay, studios & directors take note of that list!
 So, on the same topic have you ever worked with or wanted to work with guys that you might have watched as younger man & had the hots for? Directors? Studios?

CH: When I first started out, I was lucky to work with Josh West - that was huge for me. There’s a funny moment in that scene (which is available on The Men of Massive Studio Volume 6) where I get this big smile on my face and laugh a little. And it’s because I’m thinking, “I’m having sex with Josh West!” Also, getting to work with Dillon Buck while I was in London was amazing. Now that I think of it, those guys both have gigantic dicks. Hmm. (JM--really we hadn't noticed <g>) As for directors, Chi Chi, definitely. His porn changed my life, so what an honor to be a part of what he’s doing

JM: We read in another interview that you haven't dated anyone in porn not because you wouldn't do that but because it's never happened. Have you changed your thoughts on that? What about just plain old sex dates? Do you rule those out too?

CH: Still the same. Although I confess to giving advice to a friend of mine who’s a well-known porn star: “You need to date someone who’s not in porn!” It’s tough because guys who aren’t in it sometimes have trouble understanding the attention or the sex we’re getting. On the other hand, it’s really good to have grounding outside of the business. If you’re surrounded by it at all times it can narrow your worldview. But that’s true of anything. I don’t think it’s a great idea to date within the office. Of course, there are certain porn stars who I wouldn’t turn down a date with. And plain old sex dates? Bring ’em on!

JM: Truthfully what is the physical quality you are most attracted to in a guy? What other qualities attract you?

CH: Physically I have a huge range. There are certain features I find myself attracted to again and again - ears that stick out, light brown/dark blonde hair, big pecs, big dicks. But those don’t determine whether or not I’m attracted to someone. I’m just drawn to those things. What makes it or not, really, is personality. The guy has got to be able to make me laugh and to have intelligent and deep conversation. I’m so blessed, I get to have sex with hot guys for a living! So smarts and wit are much much more important.

JM: As one person commented once you aren't an intelligent porn star but rather an intelligent man that happens to do porn. What ARE your other interests & activities?

CH: I appreciate the compliment and feel happy to read it, but - and I don’t mean any disrespect here - I feel like I need to correct that comment too. Porn isn’t secondary. It’s as much a part of my personality and life as anything else. Even when I hadn’t yet done porn, I had a very pornographic personality. I loved sex (even if it was just with one person) and was open about my sex life and sexuality.
  Of course, I love others things too - I love reading and exercise. I love learning. I love cooking and going to restaurants and talking and exploring my city and meditating. But those things, like porn are all inside me - they’re all bound up in the frame of my life. I’m not always sure how they connect, but I’ve always got my eye out for those connections.

JM: Speaking of reading you are also among a very few stars who are forthcoming about the fact that you are well-read, you write, and have a variety of so-called intellectual interests. What book or books do you think have shaped you & your thoughts & outlook on life?
 
CH: Ha, I love when people ask me about books in a porn interview. There have been so many - so maybe if I stress certain thinkers: Susan Sontag was one of my favorites when I was in college. A big part of that was that she wrote about pop culture and high culture. She said something like, “In choosing between The Doors and Beethoven, We’d of course pick Beethoven, but why must we choose?” I’ve always had this push and pull between all the fun, ridiculous stuff and all the high-minded stuff. She definitely helped me resolve that by pulling it all together. We can augment pop culture by considering it seriously and thoughtfully, and we can enliven intellectual culture by having a sense of humor about it or by simply enjoying it. I was also reading a lot of anarchists in college and grad school, it was really freeing. Having that moment of thinking - I don’t have to be anything but what I want? - that’s a really changing moment.
  The other big guy is Rudolf Steiner - a mystic from the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. He was another multidisciplinarian - He invented new and profoundly effective systems of farming (biodynamic), education (Waldorf), beekeeping, architecture, medicine, dance, etc. He did it all using what he called “spiritual science.” I spend a lot of time with his words, which are mostly about love and freedom.
Since I’m finishing up a play, I’ve also been reading a lot of plays lately. I’m in love with Martin McDonough, David Mamet, Harold Pinter, and Jean Giraudoux.
I think the thread through all of them is that we’re all individuals and we’re all striving to experience love and freedom. I don’t think that has to be a hippie message - it can be one that’s totally intellectual and refined. If you’re in porn and you’re not all about freedom, I’m willing to guess you’ll be feeling lots of internal conflict. Come to think of it, if you’re anyone and not exploring those themes, you’ll probably be unhappy.

JM: Okay, if Amazon or iTunes gets a bump in the sales on books by these writers we'll know why! So, what about music? If you have an iPod what is always on your playlist? What is your essential music, your favorite genre?

CH: I don’t take music as seriously as I should. When I do, it tends to be more emotionally intense stuff. Recently, I’ve been listening to Sarah Jaffee a lot - she’s this country-ish musician from Texas with this lonesome and powerful voice. I also like Bats for Lashes a lot. Some fun music I’ve been listening to indie- and indie dance-type rock - Restless People, Mark Ronson, Broken Bells, Sleigh Bells, etc. I grew up listen to punk and indie rock, so it’ll always be a staple, but I’ve branched out. Of course I love the new Kanye, and when I just feel like smiling, Rhianna does the trick. Some old favorites of mine are Lungsfish, Karate, Dismemberment Plan, and anything Nina Persson (The Cardigans, A Camp, etc.) gets her hands on.



JM:  Do you watch movies and/or TV? And if so what are your faves?

CH: I haven’t had a proper TV for almost 15 years now. I have a television, but no cable. So it’s just for movies. Of course, like everyone, I watch TV on my computer or on DVDs/Blu-Ray from time to time. But I’m not really excited by much that’s on right now except (of course) 30 Rock and Parks & Rec. They’re both hilarious and have a sort of warmth to them that I really like. I don’t watch reality TV for the most part. I don’t get it. Well, except for some cooking/food shows, but that’s just because I’m like a black hole for food. I can eat it, talk about it, and watch shows about it without getting full.

JM: So do you consider yourself at all political or an activist?

CH: Susan Sontag said, “The more you know about history, the less you care about politics.” I totally agree. The more I learn about how things work and the patterns that govern our lives and cultures, the less I care about who’s running and what’s going on “politically” because the state of the world depends on so many other factors. In that sense, I don’t have a political bone in my body.

JM: Then what do you feel the most strongly about --in a non-political way? What is your passion? How if at all do these interests play a role in your porn life? Or do you consider political discussion to be a "boner killer?"

CH: On the flipside, I care very deeply about individual freedom and compassion for one another. But as soon as we begin to encase these basic human needs and responses in a political structure, they get totally obliterated. You can’t regulate or create freedom, it already exists. When you say you’re “giving” it to somebody, you’re actually limiting it and creating a power structure.
 I think people get so passionate about politics because it seems like the root from which all our lives stem. But is that true? Politics really is nothing more than economics at this point - all those seemingly great, amazing, hopeful congress people are just economists, nothing more. But economics is not the only governing condition of our daily lives. Would we really not have roads or schools or houses without politicians? How do we know? Are their precedents in history that show us we might? I think there’s lots of compelling evidence that we don’t need government or politics in the way we think we do to interact with one another lovingly and peacefully. So I try to study the structures - spiritual, psychological, environmental, biological, etc. that I believe run deeper than economics.
All that said, I try to live my life in the freest way possible. I think that’s “political” if you want to look at it that way.
  And as far as it being a boner killer - I don’t know. I don’t think it’s related. I’ve had hot sex with political guys. I’ve also had my fair share of good-natured, not-very-bright jock type guys. They didn’t give a shit about anything, and I still loved sucking their dicks.



JM: Do you think you have any special sway on any of these issues you've mentioned?

CH: You know, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Where can I bring all the experience with porn to effectiveness? Lots of porn stars work on the HIV or gay marriage angle. I think the spirit of what they’re doing is awesome, but it’s taken care of by so many others (and others who are probably more experienced with and thoughtful about those issues than I am) that I’m not sure my participation is as necessary. What could I do that would be different?
   I think something that’s interesting is that when you’re a porn star, you’re a bit of an outcast, so any group you enter into, you enter into as an outsider. That said, which groups need outsiders, particularly when it comes to attitudes about sex and compassion? I’m working all of this out.

JM: How do you think the public perceives you? And are there misconceptions that you'd want to correct if you could?

CH: Haha, you’d be better answering the first question than me! As for the second, I don’t perceive any misconceptions. There are bound to be some even if I try to publicly correct them.

JM: Obviously you enjoy being on camera but do you have interest in directing or producing or writing porn?

CH: Yes, definitely. I have one idea that I’m going to develop a bit more and then pitch to a studio to co-direct. When it comes out, you can reference this interview haha (yay-JM). I’d also like to write some porn scripts, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I think I haven’t done much in either of those yet because most of my porn life revolves around performing. Once that cools down a bit, I’ll start getting more involved in other aspects. I have so many other non-porn projects I’m working on that porn only gets a piece of my life. If I start writing and directing porn too, porn gets all of it and the other stuff gets eaten up. If that happened, I don’t think I’d be content. So once I start performing a bit more infrequently, I get to it.

JM:  With this inmind, is there anything that you'd like to be in or see done that hasn't really been done in gay porn before or often ?

CH: I’ve said this before, but I often wonder why gay porn doesn’t just go crazy. People are watching it no matter what - so we should feel more free to experiment with what’s happening in it. I’m particularly bored by the constant use of violence and violent fucking and dark red-and-black dungeon aesthetic. It’s not that I’m against those things at all - but I think it’s troublesome that certain themes are so prevalent and at the same time the range of themes is extremely limited.  Why don’t we just go apeshit? In the 1970s, there were pornos that took place on the Moon with shitty cardboard spacesuits. I want more stuff like that that allows a chance for humor and a sort of...playful opening of our sexuality. I think we should be appropriating the lessons from the psychedelic era of pornography a bit more and get out of the MTV 1990s shit some movies still seem stuck in.

JM: Having done movies & online videos you've pretty much seen a lot of ways that porn is made. What do you think is the future of porn with constantly changing formats & outets? Where would like to see the biz go?

CH: Again, a radical shift is needed. I’ve actually been working on a model for a new porn company with my best friend, who is a video game designer and understands deeply the importance of the interaction between user and the medium of entertainment. We’re not going to start our own studio, but we hope to sell the model to a preexisting one.
With the Internet Problem, the general response has been, “Hey, why aren’t our DVDs selling? Shit! Um, uh, let’s put it all online!” That, of course is the first step. But what else can be done to reevaluate why people are drawn to porn and how they view it at this moment in time?
  An easy example: People used to watch entire movies in movie theaters or at home on their VCRs. They might skip past scenes, but they didn’t have the instant “surf” ability internet users do now. What people are doing now is - they’re going from site to site taking in snippets of porn from different pages. They’re watching bits of clips and then moving on to the next until they find that perfect clip to cum to (then, if they like that clip, they’ll incorporate it into their next round). In other words - it’s not just that people are watching porn on the internet - the entire way they interact with porn is different now. While most studios have taken the internet into account, virtually none have taking the changes in interactivity into account. We need to start accommodating this as well to be successful and innovative.

JM: What about YOUR future in porn? Have you given any thought to what direction you'd like your career to go?

CH: No exclusive contract in the works or anything, if that’s what you mean. I’d love to sign a deal with a company, but that slows down how much you can do. One thing I do like about 1990s porn - some of those guys made 200 + movies! Paul Carrigan, for example (a favorite of mine). They became more than porn stars - they were almost like representatives for gay sex. I’d love if they could have done more with that sort of identity in our community. I’m going to make sure that happens for me. So if someone could offer me a deal for lots and lots of movies, I’d do it.
  Paradoxically I suppose, the beginning of this year has been intentionally quiet for me; I’ve had to turn down a few things, which was a bummer, but I’m regrouping a bit and figuring out the right balance of porn to the rest of my life. I’m finally finishing up a play I’ve been working on for a long time, I’m writing a book, I’m keeping the blog going, creating some merchandise, and I’m building up a holistic health education and figuring out how to best offer it to my community. I’m also always writing essays on non-porn topics (recently, I published an essay on time here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/emit_time .
So to sum it up, more of everything!

JM: Again many thanks for taking the time out to chat

CH: No problem, and anytime! Thanks for inviting me. I feel manly now.