The Golden Age of Porn started around the late s and lasted until the mid s. Around this time, the first major adult film stars or pornstars began to emerge. At the height of their careers, some of these pornstars became so famous that they were able to cross over into mainstream success. Some of them had very short careers and distanced themselves from the porn industry, while others thoroughly enjoyed their careers as pornstars and were active for several decades. Most of them starred in some of the most iconic adult films, which has earned them a permanent place in popular culture. He is a major household name and has appeared in a number of mainstream films and movies.
Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinct pornographic subgenres and attempt to present a sexual fantasy and the actors selected for a particular role are primarily selected on their ability to create or fit that fantasy. Pornographic videos are characterized as either " softcore ", which does not contain depictions of sexual penetration or "extreme fetishism " and " hardcore ", which can contain depictions of penetration or extreme fetishism, or both. The genres and sexual intensity of videos is mainly determined by demand. Depending on the genre of the film, the on-screen appearance, age, and physical features of the main actors and their ability to create the sexual mood of the video is of critical importance.
Fame in the adult entertainment industry is a fickle thing. Many performers leave the industry before anyone knows their name. Some experience a meteoric rise, only to fall in the course of a few months.
There's always an ebb and flow when it comes to the popularity of the stars in front of the camera, but it's starting to look like a new generation of porn stars is beginning to take charge of the industry - or at least command the attentions of fans and trade publications. With the industry's annual expo in Las Vegas running from January , we've once again assembled a list of the most popular porn stars, as we do every year. This time, however, there are a number of newcomers to the list - and some performers who are long-time veterans of these rankings have dropped off. Whether that's an aberration or a shift in star power likely won't be clear for another year or so, but it's a notable change all the same.