Marina Ann Hantzis , known professionally as Sasha Grey , [1] is an American actress, model, writer, musician, and former pornographic actress. After her feature film debut as the lead in Steven Soderbergh 's The Girlfriend Experience , she starred in independent films including Open Windows , the Canadian black comedy horror film Smash Cut and the horror film Would You Rather.
In , she played a fictionalized version of herself in the HBO comedy-drama series Entourage. Grey was a co-founder, singer, and writer of aTelecine , [6] an industrial music band. Grey was born in North Highlands, California , into a working-class family. Grey attended four high schools, including Highlands High in North Highlands, and was unhappy at each. Grey's first scene was an orgy with Rocco Siffredi for Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge by John Stagliano and helped Grey quickly make a name for herself in the adult film industry after she asked Siffredi to punch her in the stomach during the scene, an act she later stated was improvised.
There was speculation the show was heavily edited and had not included her defense of adult film as a career choice. The show was also criticized for editing the interview to increase its dramatic value. Factory Girls. Scott of The New York Times described Grey's pornography career as "distinguished both by the extremity of what she is willing to do and an unusual degree of intellectual seriousness about doing it".
In , CNBC named Grey as one of the 12 most popular stars in adult films and noted that her mainstream roles had kept interest in her earlier adult film work high and that several companies continued to release compilations from her films.
Grey was named Penthouse ' s Pet of the Month for July and was photographed by fashion photographer Terry Richardson. Grey has modeled for various clients, [2] [55] including Max Azria 's line Manoukian, [56] American Apparel , [57] and Flaunt. And Six Dark Hours Pass album. In director Steven Soderbergh 's film The Girlfriend Experience , Grey played the lead role of Chelsea, an escort who is paid to act as her clients' girlfriend.
