Interview: The Year of Eva Lin

This article originally ran in the April issue of AVN magazine. Click here to see the online digital edition. So far, 2014 is looking good for TS star Eva Lin. In January, she was named TS Performer of the Year at the 2014 AVN Awards Show. And in March she became the first exclusive contract performer for Trans500, a studio created by director Josh Stone. "We here at Trans500 are excited to work with Eva and see how she can help our studio and brand grow," said Stone. "Her fans can expect some amazing new shoots and opportunities to get to know Eva." Lin will have monthly updates on the site and will be very active with social media. She will make her first appearance as Trans500’s contract girl at Atlantic City Exxxotica in April, followed by a stop at the Fort Lauderale Exxxotica in May. We grabbed a few moments with Eva Lin when she came by the AVN office to pick up a diamond tennis bracelet—a gift from ImLive.com that she would have received had she been present at the 2014 AVN Awards Show to accept her award for TS Performer of the Year. Lin took some time to talk about how she got into the business, what she likes about being an adult performer, and just where the heck she was during the awards show.  “I was in Vegas, and I was in the building. But I wasn’t happy with what I was wearing,” Lin confessed. Though she had recently moved to Las Vegas, she didn’t have time to go back home and change. Besides, she added, “I really was not expecting that win, so I was just at the casino, mingling and talking to people, and I just got this text message from one of my friends that said, ‘Oh my god, congratulations.’ And I’m like, for what? And at first it didn’t click—I thought, won what? What category? I was totally oblivious.” The previous year, Lin allowed, she had been much more intensely aware of the AVN Awards. “I worked so hard that year,” Lin said. After coming home empty-handed after the 2013 awards, this year, Lin thought to herself, “I’m not going to win.” But it just goes to show you can never tell what will happen. Perhaps one of the reasons she triumphed this year was her work in Secret Desires, directed by Nica Noelle and released by Transromantic. Because it had a storyline, Lin got to show off her acting chops as well. “I really like how Nica does her movies as well because it’s more romantic and passionate. The woman’s side of me really appreciates that. A lot of movies I do from other directors, they’re just really hardcore. With her it was a good change of pace.” But Lin also likes to work on the hardcore side. “I really like a lot of the Jay Sin movies from Evil Angel,” Lin said. “Because he’s always really creative with his movies and how he directs things. And he’s fun to work with.” By now, three years into her career in adult, Lin has worked with “pretty much everyone in this genre of adult films.” She prefers performing with men, and when pressed to reveal her favorites, she admits, “I really love working with Wolf Hudson just because he’s really professional, he’s funny. And I just have a good chemistry with him.” Lin’s first adult movie was in May of 2011. “I shot for Grooby,” Lin recalled. “They call it the transsexual tree, because everybody starts out there and the fruits fall from the tree and roll their own ways. I shot my first solo for them, and I shot my first hardcore with Kink.com.” When asked how she got into the business, Lin explained that she was working in a bar in San Francisco and got to know veteran TS performer Yasmine Lee, who frequented the spot when she shot for Kink.com. She asked Lee about working in the biz, and the veteran performer cautioned against it. “But I really wanted to do it,” Lin said. “I’ve always been a really sexual person and I’ve always been into voyeurism and exhibitionism.” So Lin headed to Los Angeles and did some modeling. “My photographer introduced me to Buddy Wood—he’s a director for Grooby—and I just kind of threw it out there, and the next thing you know I’m shooting for a solo film,” she said. Born in the Philippines, Lin came to the United States with her sister when she was 9 years old. “My grandparents raised us. I pretty much grew up in San Francisco, or the Bay Area. That’s my home. I do miss it.” We asked Lin about whether she found life easier in San Francisco, considered to be one of the most culturally liberal cities in the U.S. Surprisingly, she explained that was not the case. “What’s really weird about that and kind of ironic is that I experienced more difficulties in San Francisco than in any other city. And it’s because San Francisco is such a gay-concentrated city, and it doesn’t focus enough on the trans community. It’s two different communities, two totally different things. Polar opposites. When someone’s gay it’s more of a sexual preference. Whens someone’s trans it’s more of an identity that someone has to face.” Perhaps part of the tension came from her own background. “My family’s Catholic, and very traditional, old-fashioned, conservative. So it was kind of hard for them to accept me as trans, but they did accept me eventually.” But other pressures came from the community at large. “I’ve always been independent, and just having to look for jobs in San Francisco and constantly have that struggle of being a trans woman, and just walking down the street and people yelling, screaming at me telling that I’m not who I think I am. … people yelling, ‘You’re a man, you’re not a woman.’ “But now I don’t go through that,” Lin said, talking about her experiences in her new hometown. “Maybe because it’s because I’m more deep into my transition and I’m almost finished and I’m totally feminized now, and hardly anyone can tell. But before it was really hard.” In addition her own transition, there have also been shifts in cultural attitudes. Lin said she’s seen a lot of changes since she got into the business—“and not just in adult entertainment but also in mainstream media. We’re really moving forward as a community. And I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding within people, in society in general, about trans people and that’s slowly coming into light. … There’s a lot of acceptance that’s coming about in this day and age, and I think that’s really beautiful.” When asked about what she enjoys most about her career, Lin spoke decisively. “What I like best is, I get fan mail, and this may sound clichéd but it just really touches me when my fans are willing to do anything for me and I think that’s really beautiful. Because I feel like I’m a celebrity to a certain extent and I have a lot of guys who contact me—and sometimes there’s women, and other trans women—and say, you really touched my heart, or you changed my life, because I never knew I liked something like this. You’ve opened up something about my sexuality.” She summed up, “I just appreciate all my fans. I webcam as well through Streamate and ImLive. I keep in touch with my fans. That means so much to me.” For more information about Lin’s new studio, go to Trans500.com. And follow her on Twitter: EvaXXXLin.