PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL MOSS
We’ve been a fan of Max Ryder since we first saw a photo of him on Tumblr about a year ago. We then found out at the time he was the latest exclusive model for Cockyboys—the Brooklyn based arty porn company. We finally got to chat with Max and take a couple of pics. It’s often weird meeting porn stars in person, there’s a level of visual intimacy that is absolutely one sided and can lead to all parties feeling a bit awkward. However Max is so shy and polite and sweet that you can’t help but like him—he has no ego and put everyone at ease. He’s also super cute and unfailingly forthcoming as you’ll see from our conversation.
Where do you live? Currently I live in a suitcase, but when I’m back in New York I live in Williamsburg.
Why in a suitcase? Work has me all over the place doing appearances, it’s gay porn award season, filming, etc etc.
Where have you been filming? I just spent all of January filming my newest project ‘Road Strip‘ in Palm Springs and LA!
Where did you grow up? A small town in Connecticut. Full of tractors, trees, and cows.
When and why did you decide to do porn? Actually it will be exactly a year on my birthday, March 16th. It was actually very unplanned. Right place, right time.
Tell us more? Well I don’t think anyone ever plans to do porn and if they say they did they are full of shit. I was at the Standard hotel and I met Jake Jackson (who is now my boss) in the lobby… He gave me his card, I did some research and that weekend I ended up shooting my first solo. To be honest it was for the money. NYC isn’t cheap.
Did you come up with your name Max Ryder? Lol, no all credit goes to my boss. He is a marketing genius.
What did you do before you got into porn? Well I worked as a cashier at H&M and was an intern at Interview Russia, as well as a freelance stylist for Armani Exchange Online and Esquire Magazine.
Back to your name max ryder…. you didn’t have anything to do with the name? Did you have any input? I didn’t, I was clueless to how this whole porn thing worked. Obviously if a name was proposed that I didn’t feel was ‘me’ I had the final say. Fun fact, my porn name was ACTUALLY was supposed to be “Max Hayden”… But we changed it before the press release.
Haha, Ryder is better. There’s a lot of steps to picking a porn name believe it or not!
There is? Yes, you have to Google it to make sure no one has that name or that no other porn stars use it. If you accidentally use a name someone else has, lets just say it can get ugly. Someone recently tried to use Max Ryder in a porn take on the Twilight Saga. Lawyers got involved.
Had you heard about Cocky Boys before you started? NEVER! Honestly, I wasn’t a big porn watcher. My family only had one computer as a kid so I was always afraid I’d get caught watching it…
How long do you want to do porn for? What’s your plans for the future? I signed on for 2 years… So I have one more year and I’ll see where I’m at then before making any quick decisions. But, Believe it or not, A LOT of other opportunities are coming out of this… Book deals, features in Fashion magazines, traveling etc… I plan on taking advantage of all of these while I can. I want to be the first porn star besides Brent Corrigan to successfully make the transition out of porn and still be respected as more than just a porn performer. I’ve always been a fan of the fashion world, so I’d definitely like to make my mark there afterwards. Maybe on an upcoming season of The Real World…wait and see.
Who’s your favorite porn star? I hate this question. I’m very bad with naming other porn stars, but I’ll choose one I’ve already worked with, Bel Ami‘s Jack Harrer!
What do you like about him? He’s Hungarian, uncut, and foreign. Enough said.
What’s the hottest scene you have done so far? Hmm… Well I was part of a model exchange between Cocky Boys and Bel Ami and I did a scene with all 4 of the Kinky Angels! I haven’t walked straight since.
Do you make a lot of money doing it? Lets just say for a 20-year-old living in NYC… Doing porn supports me financially more than enough.
Do your family know you do it? They are my biggest supporters. Their obvious concerns are just that I’m safe and happy.
Do you ever use Viagra? I have used it. Sometimes the pressure of having all these lights and people watching you for 4 hours plus can get intimidating! But, being a teenage boy my testosterone does the trick 99% of the time!
So you have no trouble cumming? NEVER. I can cum right now if you’d like!
Yes please…kidding.
Do you have a boyfriend? Dating has always been the hardest thing about my job. Most guys either have bad intentions or just aren’t supportive. But, I’m single.
Do you watch porn now? Not my own! But yes, usually only straight porn though!
Why straight porn? Something about the masculine men in them REALLY turns me on!
Do your fans hit on you a lot? Lol daily. But, I wouldn’t have a job without them!
Have they ever offered you money to sleep with them? Yes!
What’s the most you’ve been offered? Sometimes outrageous amounts! But, it’s very dangerous so I decline.
Tell us about your experience working with Bel Ami? Insane! I mean being able to work with two of the biggest studios make my experience that much more worth it. I got to travel half the world in less than a year because of the exchange so I’m very happy I took part in it! Besides the fact those guys are ridiculously attractive.
How does the director instruct you to do certain things in a scene without ruining the moment? Scenes are never directed to the point where you can’t perform on your on willingness. At CB Jake respects us enough to let us have some say on who we work with and what we do. So it’s all natural chemistry. And attraction.
Would you do porn if that wasn’t the case? If a director made you do things you don’t want to do? If I didn’t have any say, I would not be doing porn. I don’t always handle being told what to do well. Especially doing something that could jeopardize my image.
Well thanks for chatting with us Max. Hope it was everything you wanted!
Well not everything ha ha ha…
