In 2022, a veteran actor who rose from “pretty boy” status to become the biggest male star in the industry had a very, very good year. A meticulous, intense, hyperfocused eternal student of his craft, he has also successfully branched off into producing with the same zeal, devotion and self-assured vision.
But enough about Tom Cruise. We are here to talk about reigning XBIZ Male Performer of the Year, Seth Gamble.
To be sure, Gamble and Cruise share a certain aura, a palpable electric buzz of determination and endlessly self-fueling drive. “Intense” is the obvious adjective, though in both cases, repeated successes have garnered a level of respect among peers and colleagues that might make “undeniable” a more fitting epithet.
And in 2022, Seth Gamble was indeed undeniable.
His recent XBIZ nominations tell only part of the story: Male Performer of the Year, Feature Director of the Year, Best Screenplay (for Wicked’s “Deranged”), Best Lead Acting (for Wicked’s “Spideypool XXX: An Axel Braun Parody”) and Best Supporting Acting (three times over, for Deeper’s “Drift,” Lust Cinema’s “Going Up” and Adult Time’s “Stars”) — plus a whopping 16 noms for Best Sex Scene in the Feature, Gonzo, All-Sex, Featurette and Career First categories.
Add to that the fact that not only did Gamble’s acting prowess and leading-man looks anchor four out the 10 Feature Movie of the Year contenders (the aforementioned “Drift,” “Going Up,” “Stars” and “Spideypool XXX”), but he was also fully creatively responsible for a fifth, “Deranged.” In other words, Gamble was instrumental for an untouchable 50% of the top movies of the year.
As we said: undeniable.
The only comparable “annus mirabilis” in recent years was 2019, when Angela White dominated awards season with a full slate of high-profile projects for virtually every top studio and genre.
“I think me and her are probably the only two people to ever really have a whole year turn out that way,” Gamble tells us over coffee in Sherman Oaks. We are meeting up just a few weeks after his triumphant night at the Hollywood Palladium, which he left carrying an armful of well-deserved trophies and grinning ear to ear.
“I didn’t plan to have such a packed year,” he confesses. “The stars aligned, and it happened.”
Gamble’s banner 2022 came on the heels of the pandemic-warped weirdness of the prior two years, a time that saw him move out to Hawaii for a period of reflection and re-centering.
“In 2021, I chose to move away,” he explains. “And I would only come in for work. I was really inaccessible.”
This being Gambleworld, a “slow” year meant that he only flew in to work on a couple of super-high-profile features (Wicked’s “Gods and Sinners,” Axel Braun’s “Black Widow”), what he calls “a few things here and there” and, oh yes, his directorial debut with Wicked, “The Red Room.”
“I felt like I needed a break from everything,” he continues. “I had never taken a break in my whole career, so I wanted to — not walk away, but kind of take a step back and recalibrate what I wanted for my career.”
Gamble believes that his 2021 semi-disappearing act resulted in directors and fellow talent perhaps thinking, “Where is Seth?” which in turn led to increased demand for his services once he returned to the mainland.
There is another obvious factor, however, that cannot be discounted when assessing what keeps Seth Gamble so much in demand. Namely: he is one of a precious few active performers with his specific profile when it comes to looks, age, acting range, career length, fan base and general star voltage.
In an industry full of “new guys” and “elder statesmen,” the lucrative sweet spot of “man in his prime” was there for the taking. As his older colleagues and mentors transition to “daddy” standing, Gamble, who just turned 35 and is in the best physical shape of his life, has become, without seeking it, porn’s idealized everyman.
“No, I’m it,” he laughs, self-effacingly but not really. “You want a good-looking guy in his prime? As a leading man, there’s limited options. I don’t mean that to discredit anyone. I believe there are tons of guys that have the potential ability. But you’ve got to remember something: a lot of the guys in the business around my age, they generally start at 28, 29. I got into this business when I was 18. So when I get to the age that I am today, my brand is so long-standing, and my veteran status is so long. I’ve created such an insanely long career.”
Gamble’s lifetime commitment to an entertainment career began almost two decades ago, when he decamped to California from Florida and became, as he reminds us, not only the young guy, but “like the best young guy” of the early 2010s.
“I have fans who have been around for my whole entire career,” he points out. “I have a brand and a fan base that’s been there for so long.”
Yet while his looks, talent and work ethic have all clearly contributed to his unparalleled winning streak, Gamble still feels lucky.
“I’m just humbled and grateful that I’m capable of working with a lot of great people,” he says. “I try to go in there and act like it’s my last job every single time I go to work.”
Returning to the Angela White comparison, Gamble enthuses about his “Perspective” co-star.
“To even be in the same conversation with someone like Angela White is kind of insane,” he says. “I’m just a male performer. And she’s in my opinion the one who sets the bar for branding, performing, acting, every facet of a performer. If the bar has been set, it has been set by Angela White.”
The unspoken implication being, naturally, that Gamble has now set the bar for ambitious male talents.
Like White, Gamble currently approaches his work with surgical strategizing. “I’m selective about what I do in my career at this point,” he confesses. “I’m a very analytical person, so I always like to look at the scope of things. I feel like my goal should be to have the ability to say, ‘Hey, anytime I do something, I want it to have impact.’”
Gamble himself looks for inspirational role models way beyond the adult industry. Trying to come up with an off-the-cuff example of career impact, his mind pole-vaults straight to the top tier of Hollywood excellence, focus and determination.
“Take Daniel Day-Lewis, for example,” he says. “He is one of the greatest actors of any generation. Anytime he does a movie, you don’t feel like you’re watching Daniel Day-Lewis, you literally feel like you’re watching whoever he’s playing, whether it’s Lincoln, or ‘Gangs of New York’…”
Realizing that his lofty comparison might seem jarring, Gamble catches himself, gives his signature puckish grin and lowers the stakes a bit.
“Don’t get me wrong! I’ll still do scenes such as the gonzos and stuff like that, especially if I feel like there’s some form of art to it, as a performer. I’ve always liked doing that. It’s still part of what I’ve always found to be great about this business.”
By his own account, which is backed up by his voluminous credits, Gamble has “done it all” in the business.
“I’ve been the guy that worked 30-to-40 scenes a month, I’ve been the guy that took every job possible. I’ve been the guy that wasn’t specific on who I worked with and what I did, it didn’t matter. So I’ve gone down all those roads,” he adds.
In fact, he says, his wonder year of 2022 wasn’t particularly prolific, compared to other 12-month periods during his scene-grind era.
“The difference is that last year I did so many things that I felt were high-quality, visible and great, and the experts and voters noticed because of that. It wasn’t that I did so much — it’s just that I did so many things that those people wanted to see, or were interested in.”
The Miracle of Sobriety
Gamble’s current career heights, he strongly believes, are attributable to a dramatic life change six years ago.
Asked to divide his years in the business into eras, he reflects and says, “There’s Florida. There’s the beginning of LA, which I would say was up to about 2012. And I would say then 2012 to 2015. And then 2015 to 2017.”
His face stiffens at the recollection of a tough period.
“And then,” calm returning to his visage, “2017 to now is a line going up and up.”
February 2017 was the epiphanic moment when, Gamble says, he hit bottom.
“I admitted to myself that I was an alcoholic and a drug addict,” he says. “And I got help.”
Like many people in recovery, he credits this with completely changing his perspective on life.
“From the beginning, there had been this ongoing thing about me where I was known as a huge partier,” he admits. “I took care of myself only in waves. If I had a bigger project coming up, I’d be like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna clean my act up for a while.’”
In 2017 this all changed. “I started working a 12-step program, and when I had to make amends, my way of making amends to my industry was that I split my rate by half for a year, no matter who the producer was. I felt I needed to re-earn my stripes, for myself. So I went back in there and worked for anybody, without any thought or irritation about whatever they were doing. I just wanted to prove to myself and show my industry with my actions that I’m different. That I’ve grown up a little bit, things have changed and I have a different perspective.”
After about a year, the industry started taking notice. Axel Braun entrusted Gamble with lead roles in both the “Deadpool XXX” parody and the director’s auteurial dream project, the stylish “The Possession and Mrs. Hyde.”
“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunities Axel Braun has given me since very early on, with ‘Star Wars XXX,’” Gamble says, acknowledging one of his longest-standing industry relationships. “He also believed in me, not only as an actor and performer, but in my vision as a director, and he gave me the opportunity with Gamma to cultivate that. And without him, that would not have happened.”
Juggling the widely divergent roles of zany Deadpool and sinister Edward Hyde, shooting simultaneously, Gamble started rebuilding his post-sobriety confidence.
“There was this fear of getting sober,” he says. “I truly believed I had this ability to be where I am today, but if I got sober, what excuse would I have if I did not really live up to what I believed I’m capable of? If I’m sober and I fail, what if I fail? What if I don’t have the ability I think that I have? These are all these fears that go through my head. They’re not reality. They’re just what you tell yourself, especially when you’re coming out of that type of dark spot in your life.”
Thinking back to the period immediately before early 2017, Gamble admits he was borderline suicidal.
“I had serious mental health issues. I didn’t love myself, I didn’t care about myself, I didn’t know how to do that. I felt shitty, I felt like I hurt myself and because I felt so dark inside, I was hurting people who did love me.”
Walking the path of sobriety alongside Gamble was his longtime partner and fellow performer, Kenzie Taylor, now his wife.
“I’m very proud of the growth and the success of my partner, Kenzie,” he says. “And we have helped each other become better people. We have helped support each other in all aspects of our lives.”
With sobriety came a shift toward taking his life seriously, which he calls “a miracle.”
“I’m not a religious guy,” Gamble says. “My ethnicity is Jewish, but I don’t follow any specific religion. I would consider myself a spiritual person, and I believe that something more powerful than me decided that somehow a thing in my brain had to click and for some reason, I’ve been able to maintain this for six years, and going strong.”
Doubling Down and Taking Charge
Turning 35 has also had the effect of refueling Gamble’s ambitions.
“I think I’m going to double down on everything,” he smiles. “I don’t have an off button. I feel like — with all humility — I have plans in the next five years to really bring an element to adult that is going to elevate what people are willing to pay for, from a producing, performing, directing and acting level.”
At this point, Gamble prefers to shroud some of his 2023 plans behind a veil of mystery, but he is ready to share that he foresees a continuation of the craftsmanship and storytelling he has brought to recent project, “Privilege,” and to his upcoming project, “Reckless.” He gets giddy in anticipation of the latter’s upcoming summer release.
“I am one of a small percentage of people — both directors and performers — in the industry who don’t just want to ‘run gun’ on set,” he teases. “People who want to do something special, and not just think about the hours it takes, but about the finished product. Obviously, I’m going to lean more towards those people when it comes to working with me, because I want to elevate what these people are doing and I want to be around people who want to elevate what we’re doing.”
Gamble singles out a like-minded collaborator, Delphine director Max Landers, for praise.
“We just finished a neo-horror movie, ‘Peepshow,’ and he told me it was his love story to adult film and horror mixed together. Max let me help with casting — I got Derrick Pierce to play my older brother — and he let me truly collaborate.”
Talking about this sense of the best of porn as a community of committed creatives animates Gamble more than anything else during the interview.
When “Reckless” comes out in June, he enthuses, “it will be the first time in adult history where a cinematic universe has been created with original stories. It’s also the first time that me and Tommy Pistol have acted together, ever! In general, from a casting perspective, ‘Reckless’ is pretty incomparable. I mean, we are talking Ivy Wolfe, Kenna James, Kenzie Anne, Nicole Doshi and August Sky. And myself, Mick Blue, Lexington Steele, Tommy… When it comes to the elements of storytelling, there’s a love story arc, there’s a crime arc, there’s a thriller, there are a lot of crossovers happening from my other movies. So I’m pretty, pretty excited.”
Again, Gamble cops to only top-echelon influences. “One of the ways that I write that feels very different,” he says, “is something that is very similar to how Aaron Sorkin writes — I don’t write a story first. I write a person, and I’m writing out full pages on these human beings and who they are. As soon as I finish my character development of who they are, I then write a world, and only then I figure out how all these people intertwine.”
Gamble’s visual approach is also inspired by world-class masters. “I love Sergio Leone,” he continues. “That’s the guy I look at as the top of directing. If I can mix Sergio Leone with Michael Bay, I would say that would be great because you have this amazing storytelling of Sergio Leone, and Michael Bay can do some wild shit with cinematography.”
Gamble’s signature visual move, deployed relentlessly throughout “Deranged,” is the use of the close close-up. Gamble credits veteran DP James Avalon, who lensed “Deranged,” as someone from whom he has learned much.
“I love close-ups,” he says. “How do you feel people? How do you invest in a person, if you can’t look into their soul? And on camera, the only way you can look into their soul is if you can see their eyes and their mouth and their expression super clear. I want to ignite the viewer to feel the characters.”
Gamble also takes special pleasure in creating his own worlds, and in being selective and deliberate about it.
“I don’t ever see myself as the guy that’s going to direct 100 or 200 scenes a year,” he says. “I see myself as a guy who would probably like to direct no more than a dozen films.”
The Gamble Legacy
Asked about what he hopes his legacy might be, Gamble stresses that he wants to be known for elevating the people around him.
“I feel like that is really what I bring to the table,” he elaborates. “Sure, I’m a performer who cares genuinely about my craft. I care about all aspects of it. I cared about learning all aspects of it — I even paid for my own acting classes and acting coaches to master certain roles. I don’t walk into anything thinking I already know everything. I plan on doing my job at the highest level humanly possible until I can’t anymore.”
But his real asset, he says, is his ability and desire to consistently “bring light” to the people around him.
“That’s truly my purpose,” he summarizes. “My success this year, and throughout my career, had to do with the fact that I was willing to give everything I had to make sure everybody else around me was better. I didn’t become successful just to be successful; it wasn’t a selfish act. Nothing I’ve done has been based on, ‘I want to be the most award-winning motherfucker on the planet,’ or the one that’s in every fucking movie. I want to be someone who helps and cultivates others, and I truly believe it happened.”
As for the lineup of recent XBIZ Awards crowding his mantel, he insists that his biggest joy was his part in the wins of others.
“I helped round off the cast of ‘Stars,’” he notes, “and Jane accomplished Best Actress. I was leading ‘Going Up’ and Casey won director and movie of the year. I conceptualized ‘Money,’ and Vanna was able to win an all-sex award on her way to Female Performer of the Year. And Maitland Ward won Best Sex Scene for a scene with me and Mick.”
What does Gamble hope for, at the end of the day?
“I just want to do cool shit,” he concludes. “This has always been about doing cool shit. And if there’s rewards at the end, whether it’s awards or great sales, that’s fantastic. And what I want to bring to the table is to make anybody who works with me, for me, around me, feel like they’re irreplaceable in their own way. I want to make them feel that way for the rest of my career.”
