Don’t Call It A Comeback: Our Exclusive Interview With Wolf Hudson

Wolf Hudson is one of the most divisive figures in the gay porn world. With fans that are just as vocal as his detractors, Wolf has built a career around the unexpected. Never one to take the easy road, Wolf has sought to redefine the landscape of adult films by working in both gay and straight porn, and building up a solid fanbase in both worlds. Following a five year hiatus from performing in gay porn, it was announced last month that Wolf would be returning to gay porn, signing a contract to shoot with Nica Noelle at Icon Male, and becoming their first exclusive model. Through it all, Wolf has maintained an attitude of focus, determination, and a willingness to push boundaries and challenge conventional notions of sexuality. I had a chance to speak with him recently about his return to gay porn, his experience working with Bruce La Bruce, and what fans can expect from the older, wiser Wolf Hudson.

Vincent Thrice: There were probably so many factors for your return to the gay porn world, but what would you say is first in your mind when you think about why you’ve come back?

Wolf Hudson: The main one is that I just wanted to go back to something that I enjoy doing. I took a break from it in the very beginning, mostly because I had kind of gotten jaded and I was so saturated with it that I wanted to move on and do something else. Now I’m sort of becoming very saturated and jaded with the current stuff, and I want to reignite that spark. That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be doing both, it just means that I challenge myself to do something more creative, and Nica was the one that I thought of when I decided to come back because she is doing a lot of creative things, and I thought it would be really cool to try it. 

VT: So, what was it about Nica’s work that made you want to be in business with her? Was it something stylistic, or the atmosphere on her sets, or a combination of elements?

WH: It’s a combination of elements. I’ve followed Nica for many years and her stories are always very original, full of substance, there’s a lot of heart to them, and as a performer, I found that very challenging in a good way. I have to find something within myself to portray what she’s trying to tell. Also, her ethics in shooting and how she treats her models is completely different from a lot of the sets that I’ve been on. For instance, in traditional porn, you have to open up to the camera to show the reaction and the penetration, and with her you don’t do that, which is completely different from anything else. It’s just basically having real sex and for me, I found that not only shocking, but I found it really exciting because I got to portray myself in a very real manner and show people who I am, and how I actually have sex. So that’s something I’ve always appreciated about her, and on top of that she’s a good storyteller, she tells good stories. I just like her as an artist. 

VT: It seems like you’re joining the Icon Male team at a really pivotal time in their history. What does it mean to you personally to be their first exclusive model?

WH: That was pretty shocking, I had no idea that that was the case. I don’t keep up with those kind of trends, at this point in my life I’m not really into the game, so when I found out about that I thought, “That’s pretty interesting, but it’s also kind of awesome.” It’s very exciting, and I think that what they’re doing now is pretty amazing, and that they’re only just now at the tip of the iceberg, they haven’t gone deep, deep yet. They’re gonna be around for a long time, or for however long Nica decides to do this, and I hope that I can help them get to that next level and really push the envelope in sex and storytelling. My main objective is just to turn people on, first and foremost. I love entertaining, I love turning people on, and I love knowing that people are experimenting and taking their sexualities to new levels that they never knew they could because of my films. So if I can accomplish that with Icon that would be great. 

VT: Will this contract be structured in a similar way as your CockyBoys contract, allowing you to do straight porn as well, or are you solely focusing your attention on your work with Icon?

WH: I’m gonna be free to do the other stuff except for male on male, that’s gonna be strictly Icon. 

VT: You identify as a “Sexualist.” Can you elaborate on that term, I know it’s ChiChi LaRue’s term and not yours, but what does it mean to you? 

WH: It’s basically a term that I use to describe being in the middle between straight and bi. There’s that very traditional thing where it’s, I’m either this way or that way, and a lot of people take issue with that, and I understand that because if you don’t understand something, you can be a little bit irritated by it. For me, it’s very simple. My attraction is more toward women in my day to day life, I live a very heterosexual life, but clearly I’m definitely not straight, so it goes more toward bisexual because I’ve had encounters with men on film. So I’m in-between because I’m not bisexual in that I don’t find myself equally attracted to men and women at the same time, and there is no term for an in-between, so I just say that I’m a sexualist or open.

VT: You really embrace the fluidity of sexuality and how sexuality doesn’t have to be such a concrete thing. How do you think that meshes with what fans of porn expect of performers, which tends to be much more concrete? 

WH: To be perfectly honest with you, I’ve never understood how… and this is specifically in porn, if you look at mainstream films when they portray homosexuality and different lifestyles, people seem to accept it, especially with straight performers. They accept it and it’s like, okay, they’re just acting. But when it comes to porn, for some reason it really touches a nerve, and I think it has to do with a lot of the taboos that people have brought with them and all of the stigmas around sexuality and the minute that you start bringing more truth to porn, the more people take issue with it. People would like to keep it a fantasy, but they also would like the truth of the person’s sexuality or their orientation.

It’s a very interesting thing that I’ve found, and that I still to this day don’t understand. For me, I just really don’t care about what people think of me, how people view me. I’ve always been very true to myself. Have I made mistakes? Absolutely. Have I said things that were stupid? Absolutely, I’m still a human being. But in terms of how I portray myself on film, to me I’m portraying what I feel is necessary to make something awesome. I don’t think that it’s ever been an issue for me, what people are going to think. How people view me and what I do sexually is not my problem, that’s something they have to work on. I’m doing it, I’m comfortable with it, and that’s the most important thing, I have to be comfortable with it, and that’s it. And if I don’t like then I won’t do it, but I have no regrets and I make no qualms about it. I would just hope that people who are watching porn could escape within the film or within the scene and not have to know what that person is doing in their personal life. Does it really matter? When you have your hand on your cock or your vagina, does it really matter what that person’s doing behind closed doors?

VT: I agree 100% and I’ve never understood that. It is a fantasy that they’re selling, and I don’t understand why people feel this need to know and have to have some sort of basis in reality for it to be a turn-on. So, I’m with you on that.

WH: Right, but it’s gonna continue to be that way. They still want the fantasy, but they want the fantasy to be real, and for it to be real, they have to know. It’s like the term “gay for pay,” which they like to label me, and I don’t like that term, but I accept it. I mean, if you think about it, every performer is gay for pay. You’re being paid to be gay and a lot of people who complain about being “gay for pay,” they don’t realize that there are a lot of gay performers who really would rather be somewhere else than on set. I, for instance, have never had one problem on set, being on a gay porn set. I’ve always enjoyed all of my partners, the directors, and crew, and I’ve never promoted my sexuality. My main objective was to be professional, do what I had to do, and turn people on. That was it. You’ll never find anybody who would say anything negative about me in those regards, but obviously people take the one issue that does not relate to them and that they find offense to and I think it’s just crazy.

VT: Yeah, I agree. So, back in 2010 you worked with Bruce LaBruce. What was that experience like for you, working with someone of such legendary status in the industry?

WH: Well, to be honest, I actually didn’t know who Bruce was, which a lot of people find like, Oh my god?! He’s so very prolific and such an iconic director, and even before I worked with him, I told people, “I’m gonna be working with Bruce La Bruce,” and people would gasp, You’re working with Bruce? I studied him in college. (Both laugh) But he was very exceptional, and very eccentric. He’s a very quiet man, he’s not very flamboyant, which I thought he would be. He knew what he wanted and was very detailed about his process and so it was like a form of navigation, which is totally up my alley. I like working with people who are perfectionists, and I like to go with them and see if I can enhance what they do, so he was a pleasure to work with. 

We were shooting all around L.A., we shot at the L.A. River, and I liked it because we didn’t really have a permit for it, so we were doing it kind of guerrilla style. It was amazing, he was very exciting to work with, you never felt like this was just a regular porn shoot, we were actually making something that was interesting.

VT: And I guess in retrospect it was probably almost a good thing that you didn’t have this fan view of him. You weren’t going to set saying, I’m gonna go work with this guy I love and admire, and that really didn’t interfere with what you were doing. So it might have actually worked to your advantage. 

WH: No, I totally agree. I didn’t feel the pressure of trying to impress him. I mean, I’m always gonna try to impress whomever I’m working for because, you know, I want to do a good job for them, but I didn’t have  that extra level of, Oh my god it’s Bruce La Bruce, so it allowed me to be a little more free with it. But then afterwards, I looked him up and I looked at his work and I had a newfound appreciation for him and I had a lot more respect for him, more so than I did before, because I was able to appreciate the level of work that he’s done throughout his career, which is pretty amazing. 

VT: Of the performers who have entered the fray during your absence, are there any that you’re really looking forward to or hoping to work with?

WH: I can’t really think of anyone who’s entered the world after me, but I would say that Christian Wilde is someone I’d love to work with. We’ve talked about it for a while and it’s just finding the right opportunity. Before when we had talked about working together it was primarily through Nica, and I think that it’ll still happen, we just have to find the right project for it. He’s the only one I can think of off the top of my head, and that doesn’t mean that there’s nobody else that I’d like to work with, it’s just that I don’t really know a lot of people in the industry.

VT: Can you give us any teases about your first scene back with Connor Maguire?

WH: He was an amazing person to work with, there was no trouble whatsoever, there were no hangups. Just from the very get-go when we first met, we had instant chemistry. He likes to joke and he loves to laugh, which for me is awesome because I love making people laugh, and we had a really good time. As far as any teases go, you’ll definitely see a new side of me. It’s different in terms of performance, it’s obviously the first that I’ve done for Nica, coming back after five years, so you’ll definitely see an evolution in my level of performance. When I first started, it was more mechanical and I would say I was a little more awkward, and you know, you’re just getting to know the ropes and learning how to do things. And now, I have more confidence, I’m secure with myself, and it’s very effortless now, I believe, and you’ll see a completely new energy, and it comes across with how I respond to Connor and his reaction toward me. You’ll see moments where, and I saw it while I was filming, he was taken aback by how I came across and it totally changed his mood in a more positive way. I think that’s a better sneak peek more so than the substance and the concept of the film. You’re going to see a very different Wolf Hudson than anybody’s ever seen.  

VT: Is there anything else you’d like your fans to know? 

WH: I just want my fans to know that I’m coming back to make great movies. I hope that I can entertain them all, and I hope to continue to have their support in my new endeavors, and I’m looking forward to making a lot of really great films in 2015.