L.A. Woman: Vicki Chase on Performing, Self-Discovery & Success

This is the cover story of the February issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition. LOS ANGELES—Vicki Chase remembers having show business on her mind at a young age. “I’ve always wanted to be a star,” Chase says. “As I was growing up my mom was really into listening to Madonna and Prince and all those cool, kind of racy artists. And I remember just looking at them as a little girl thinking ‘I want to be like that. I want to be raw—like Madonna.’ “I think one of the videos I saw that really made an impact was the ‘Justify My Love’ video." Fueled by its suggestive lyrics, the single rocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 eight weeks after its release in November 1990. But the video accompanying the song was banned by MTV due to its sexualized imagery. Now 10 years after leaving her job as a bank teller at Chase, the first-generation Mexican-American performer from the Boyle Heights neighborhood east of Los Angeles has attained her own status as a sex symbol—and she has the awards and international following to back it up. “I'm still not done,” Chase says with a smile. “I still want to discover more about myself… Porn is a good vehicle for that.” That’s great news for Chase’s fans, untold thousands of whom have been supporting her throughout the many different phases of her career that saw her go from promising newcomer to blowjob princess to bona fide anal queen. The self-styled “L.A. Woman”—who was the July 2017 Vixen Angel and now is a four-time AVN Award-winner—enters 2021 with more than 500 performing credits, 728,000-plus followers on Twitter and tens of thousands more across her other content platforms. Without question, the humble A-lister, who worked at McDonald’s when she was 16, has become one of the most successful porn stars ever to hail from the City of Angels. “I'm very much from L.A., very proud,” Chase tells AVN. “My parents were brought over when they were younger. I was the first born in the U.S. on my mom's side of the family. I was actually born where Marilyn Monroe was born. That still is mind boggling to me that Marilyn was from here." Chase recalls how at the start of her adult career she didn’t want to have a high profile. “Just out of respect for my family and my friends, but word still gets out,” she says. “And you want to be successful, you want to show that you are successful and you are somebody in the industry. “So for the longest time I battled that. I was just like hmm, I don't want to be popular. I don't want to be that successful because I don't want to rub it in my parents’ faces. But it's out there and the people that really, really love you and are down with you, they're going to respect you and love you anyway. That's what I have. “I'm so grateful for my family and friends that still love me just like I am. “… And I’m very proud of L.A. I live in downtown. I have now for 10 years and I still go to Boyle Heights all the time.” On the heels of an unusual year in which she turned much of her focus to creating her own content, Chase admits she missed the excitement of a day on the set. “I missed the allure, the mystery of what a porn star does in her everyday,” Chase says. “I miss going to set and being the star, being raw—going to work and then leaving it there.” Vicki likes to maintain a distinct separation between work and home life even though the pandemic caused those lines to blur when studio productions ground to a halt for extended stretches. “And there's a lot of girls who I am so in awe that they're just so raw with their everyday. They're not afraid to just let it all hang out. And I applaud them. I'm just like, more power to you. I wish I could be like that more,” Chase adds. “But I have to respect who I am, which is also a very private person. “I’m a shy person, believe it or not. It's crazy, because people are like, ‘What do you mean you're shy? You do porn, you're out there.’ That's why being on set was such a safety zone for me, because I could be that and then come back, retreat and just be my shy, private self.” She continues, “I used to be so shy in my teen years, when I first started being sexual, that blowjobs to me were just boring. But there's something about when the camera’s on you. At least for me, I want to perform. I want to put my best energy out there and do the best job that I can do. I become a beast. And it's crazy to me. It really is.” It’s not crazy to AVN Hall of Fame director Jonni Darkko, who knows Chase’s performing prowess as well as anyone.Darkko helmed Chase’s signature movie, V for Vicki, the 2015 AVN Award-winning Best Star Showcase distributed by Evil Angel. Chase performed in all four scenes that included a DP with Mick Blue and Chris Strokes; an all-girl four-way with Ash Hollywood, Dani Daniels and Skin Diamond; a six-man blow-bang with Alex Jones, Chad White, Evan Stone, Marco Banderas, Steve Holmes and Strokes; and an anal scene with Darkko himself. “We’ve been talking about doing another showcase, which I’m down for and hopefully we can make that happen,” Darkko tells AVN. “The technology has changed with the cameras and I can make it look a thousand times better.  “Vicki just keeps growing… She’s unbelievable. I just shot a DP with her that was just fire from the start to the end. It went on for over an hour, just intense. I think she looks the best she’s ever looked right now and her performances—bar none—are some of the best.” Just a few days after this interview in December Chase collided with Jax Slayher and Rob Piper for a double-stuffing that will be part of Darkko’s upcoming movie Double Penetration Fixation 2, which will be released in April. “She is an amazing talent,” Darkko continues. “I think the word would be vivacious. When she’s on set, she wants it. She’s not fucking around and it’s not a put on. She is not there just to get paid. She is there to rock. “She loves her job and when guys are with her, they love her. It’s like they’ve been ‘Chased.’ She’s a willing temptress and she just sucks you in.” Rising newcomer Anton Harden agrees. The new contract stud at BlackedRaw broke into adult last year through meeting—and then proving himself—to none other than Chase. They first connected on social media—Harden is not ashamed to admit he was an admirer before he ever met her. He followed Chase on Twitter and got her attention by sending her his photos. “I'm very happy about his success right now,” Vicki says. “He's just starting but yeah, he's going to be really good.” The 2015 AVN Award-winner for Best Oral Sex Scene for Let Me Suck You 6 (Elegant Angel) recalls how she and Harden struck up a conversation. “He was a fan of mine that I started talking to,” Chase says. “We were DM’ing on Twitter. And he was sending pictures of his member and I'm just like, ‘Wow, is this real?’ For like a year we had this back and forth trying to get together. And finally this year [in 2020] I made it happen.” Chase instructed Harden to get tested because she was coming to Atlanta, “and I'm going to try you out.” “‘This is going to be for my OnlyFans and no pressure,’” Chase says she told him. “‘Let's just have fun.’” Harden needed no further convincing. He rose to the occasion, acing his “audition” with Chase at an upscale Atlanta hotel room. In fact Harden made enough of an impression on Vicki that she connected him with Frat Models, which is the same agency that discovered Jason Luv, who won the 2019 AVN Award for Best Male Newcomer. “It was awesome auditioning with her,” Harden tells AVN. “We got some great footage. Then my agency got my footage over to Blacked and Vixen and I assume they loved it because I’m here and contract signed now. So about 60 percent of that I owe to Vicki Chase. “They say it’s not what you know, it’s who you know and Vicki—she’s OG for me. I call her my ‘OG’ in my phone contacts.” “He’s just been killing it," Vicki says. "I really wish him the best. He's a really sweet kid.” A college student who was studying computer science while also working at a Lenscrafters warehouse, Harden says he was “throwing my pictures out there everywhere" prior to getting a reply from Chase. “Performing has always been a pipe dream for me,” he says. His interaction with Chase could not have gone much better. “Obviously, she’s sexy as hell," he says. "Other than that she’s got a really awesome personality. She’s super laid back and chill. We went out for drinks and something to eat before we even shot the scene." The 25-year-old native of Charlotte, N.C., who moved to Atlanta before his junior year of high school, also worked at Chik-fil-A for more than two years before adult. Now that he has several scenes recorded for Vixen Media Group's BlackedRaw imprint with many more on the way, Harden says so far, "I’m loving it." “I’m loving the lifestyle, the people… The directors," he says. "Shoutout Derek Dozer, shoutout Chef. They make you just love the job. And it pays great. Yeah, I can’t complain.” Chase’s talent when the lights come on extends beyond sexual performance. She proved it as co-host of the official AVN Awards Nomination Party at Avalon nightclub in Hollywood in November 2015 and as the Red Carpet Host of the 2020 AVN Awards Show last January at the former Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. She also has appeared in several AVN Awards Show comedy bits, not to mention starred with Penny Pax in an entertaining 2020 segment in which she gave viewers an unexpected tour of the Adult Entertainment Expo show floor in the form of a “Sex Act Connect 5” game. For Chase, hosting comes with her job as an entertainer. “I love it,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong, I'm a nervous wreck up until then. But preparing some notes really helps. But it's just another way to shine. “I've always wanted to be an actress. I still have that dream of being in a soap opera. I want to be in a soap opera. I don't know why, I grew up watching them.” Chase draws inspiration from Latina icons such as Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. "I read how they just made it happen despite all the no’s and people not believing in them,” she says. Chase admits she was “a rebellious teenager in a way.” “I just always was wanting to do my own thing. And my mom was like, ‘Well, if you're not bringing in good grades, then you need to get a job because I'm not going to reward you. You're not going to buy whatever you want.’” So she took part-time jobs at McDonalds, Victoria’s Secret, Levi’s and in the downtown L.A. Fashion District, where she steamed clothes ahead of big clothing conventions and once assisted at a fashion show. “I actually thought I was going to do something with that and I still might,” Chase says. “Boutiques are more online now but for the longest time I wanted to have my own store that you actually could go into.” Chase also did shifts as a secretary at an insurance company for a brief stint before arriving at the bank.  That work ethic has translated to her growth in the industry, where even when she isn’t on the set she likely is working on self-improvement—whether it’s staying fit with Zumba, reading or watching makeup tutorials. “I really enjoy learning,” she says.  She also loves music and dancing. “I've been trying to learn TikTok,” Chase jokes. “I’m a little too shy to put it out there but I've been working on it. I love working out. It’s part of my job as well. I have to stay in shape. I like to do Zumba a lot. It's good cardio. “And I love movies. But I can't go to theaters now. I had to watch Mulan at home. I was like, ‘Damn, Disney, take my money.’” Chase says someday she may consider writing a book about her experiences. “I definitely would like to put some of my secrets out there,” she teases. “I feel like my story does have something to say because I am somebody that's Latin and there's a lot of misconceptions when it comes to being in this industry with being Latin and what is acceptable—and I've had to live through that. “So I feel like my story of being in this industry is unique. So I would like to put that out there for the world. Latinas don’t have to be ashamed or afraid. You can be successful, you can be happy.” She’s learned a lot from her decade-plus in adult, such as “to never judge the book by its cover.” “Obviously, growing up I believed porn was crazy. Like who could ever? That's just so wrong. But then finding myself succeeding and being able to have a career, a lifestyle…I mean, it's allowed me so much,” Chase says. “I learned that you just can't discount yourself. … Sex is positive and women are very powerful. We definitely should own our power. It’s very encouraging to keep going and have pride for what you do. “So I learned that for me I need to remain focused and open to trying different things because I feel like that also helps with staying young. You don't want to be like somebody that's just naysaying, and you don't even know. Don’t knock it till you try it… “So I think that definitely keeps my spirit light—and I like that. I learned that I am who I am. I'm sexy. I'm powerful. I’m a woman.” Photography by Keith Ryan