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"Being an African- American model, 've gone above and beyond what I could have dreamed of doing," says porn star Jack Simmons. "I've done a lot that has never been done before."

Among his notable achievements, Simmons has graced several magazine covers, ranging from Black Inches to Unzipped. Additionally, the handsome six-foot-two hunk has worked for just about every major gay porn company, including Falcon Studios, Catalina Videos, All Worlds Videos, Centaur Films, and Titan Media.

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For Falcon Studios, Simmons appeared in The Freshmen, which also featured popular porn star Tyson Cane. "I don't think I'm all that, I never have," says Simmons modestly, "but I obviously have something going in my favor. Tyson Cane and I are the two top black models in the business and there's a reason for that, I guess. It was 15 years before us that a black model appeared in a Falcon movie, so we've got to have something going for us!"

Born and raised in Bakersfield, California ("a hick town"), Simmons came out at age 14. "I had a group of gay friends from school that I hung out with," he relates. "I got a hold of my first porno movie when I was 15. It was These Bases Are Loaded from Catalina. I knew I was hooked! I've been watching porno movies ever since."

While working other jobs, including waiting tables, Simmons toyed with the idea of strutting his stuff in front of the cameras. "I had to weigh all the pros and cons-- what's going to happen and who's going to see it. I was really worried that my mother was going to see it, but she has not yet seen anything as far as I know. My mother's the type who would say something; she'd call me up and scream at me!"

Does Mom know he's gay? "It's an unspoken thing, but I'm sure she knows. Mothers know everything. We just never talk about it."

Whether Mom knows it or not, her son is the talk of the adult entertainment industry; Simmons was recently nominated "Best Top" at the 1997 Gay Erotic Video Awards.

Simmons decided to take the plunge into porn in 1995. Using another nom de porn at the time, he made his X-rated debut in Marine Code of Silence (released in '96), paired with Rob Cryston.

"I was a fan beforehand, so when I finally got into the business it was weird to meet people that I had been watching in movies before, people I liked," he recalls. The first familiar face that Simmons spotted was porn veteran Rex Chandler, who was working on the set as the still photographer. "I was like, Wow! I loved Rex Chandler!" gushes the porn fan turned porn star.

Early in his career, Simmons made a conscious decision to avoid all-black or specifically interracially-themed movies. "I didn't want to get stuck in a specialty category," he explains. "Two of my first four movies were Black Heat and Zebra Love [billed under another name], and that wasn't the direction I wanted to go. At first people were saying to me, 'You can't be in a mainstream porno movie unless there's a reason for you to be there.' Hearing that made me want to work even harder to do something other than what has been done in the past. Now, I'm not thrown into the story because of anything; I'm just in it. I'm just a model like anybody else. I'm not the butler, or the driver, or the escaped convict, or whatever black stereotypes that have been presented in the past."

Simmons says he has achieved all of his goals as a model; now he's facing a new challenge as a porn director. His first directorial effort is The Corporate Ladder for SteamWorx. "I'm brand new at this, I have a lot to learn, but I've worked with the best directors-- I've worked with Chi Chi LaRue, John Rutherford, Jim Steele, Chip Daniels. Chip was a model and look where he is now, so I know it can be done." (Daniels directed Simmons in Hotter Than Hell, a recent Centaur Films release.) "I've seen how other people direct and I'm trying to take a little bit from all my experiences and develop my own style," he adds.

"It was funny to get all these calls from my fellow models, saying, 'Oh, I hear you're shooting a movie...,'" shares the budding director, who cast a number of his closest buddies including Dax Kelly, Doug Jeffries, Drew Andrews, and even his real-life beau John Ross. (Simmons and Ross performed together in Reform School Confidential.)

Simmons candidly admits "it was kind of disturbing" to direct his boyfriend in a scene with Sam Crocket. But, he adds, "I know Sam really well, and he and John worked together before, so I wasn't really too worried about it."

Simmons worry? It's unlikely. "I've had a very positive experience in this business; I don't have any complaints," says the personable porn player. "I've never really worked with anyone that I didn't like, anyone that I couldn't have a conversation with afterwards."

Author Profile:  Ed Karvoski, Jr.
Ed Karvoski Jr. is the author of All-Male: Quirky Quotes, Intimate Interviews, and Tantalizing Trivia from the Most Desired Men on Earth (Kensington Books)
Email:	edkarvoskijr@prodigy.net
Website:	www.edkarvoskijr.com