Catching Up with Jesse Jackman

28 Mar 2016

Catching Up with Jesse Jackman

Thanks for speaking to us today! We’re really excited about your new Titan movie, “OUT!”. Can you tell us a bit about it and when we can see?

I’m really excited too! The film is about a fictional hall-of-fame baseball coach named A.J. Benson who comes out during a live TV interview. It was directed by TitanMen lead director Jasun Mark and stars no less than five TitanMen exclusives (Dallas Steele, Nick Prescott, Diesel Washington, Eric Nero, and me), plus hottie Luke Adams and my fiancé, Dirk Caber. I co-wrote the screenplay with TitanMen VP Keith Webb and play A.J. in two scenes, one with Nick and one with Dallas. (Both are flip scenes, by the way.) OUT! was announced on February 29, the first scene went live on March 2 at TitanMen.com, and an additional scene was released every Wednesday up until the big finale on March 23.

OUT! is a really hot film -- it has over three hours of super-sweaty hardcore action -- butwhat I’m most proud of is the interview segment, which you can watch for free atOutBaseball.com. We shot it last July with Dallas playing the interviewer (he has over 20 years of real-world experience as a newscaster). It covers topics like the difficulties of growing up as a closeted gay athlete, the challenges of being gay in professional sports, and the ways that LGBT public figures can be encouraging to the fans who look up to them. Dallas and I even discuss the little-mentioned economic deterrent of coming out in professional sports, something I wrote about in a recent Huffington Post article. When the emotional interview is over, Dallas’s character confesses that he’s always had a crush on A.J., leading to our scene (which, by the way, was my first ever four-position flip fuck scene). It was an amazing day on set, believe me!

What other exciting projects have you been involved in since we last spoke in November 2013?

There's been so much great stuff going on! In the last couple of years I’ve filmed a dozen more scenes with Titan, including a couple of them with my hubby Dirk (in Foul Playand Sweat). Dirk and I performed live shows at HustlaBall in both London and Berlin, and we continued our association with a charity in upstate New York called PAWS that helps people living with HIV and AIDS care for their animal companions.

But beyond that, two things really stand out to me. The first is that, because of the incredible generosity of our fans, Dirk and I were able to buy a beautiful digital grand piano! Dirk is a professional composer, but his creativity really suffered when he moved away from New York six years ago and lost access to a piano -- a tool that’s absolutely vital to his craft. I hatched this crazy idea last year that we could start a GoFundMe campaign, offering people CDs of Dirk’s music, signed scores, and even original, custom-written compositions in exchange for a contribution towards the cost of the instrument. We thought we’d make a few hundred bucks at best, but to our utter shock we raised nearly $13,000... and with a bit of luck scouring the used market, we were able to acquire the piano of Dirk’s dreams. The outpouring of support completely blew us away, and we’re forever indebted to our fans for that. Dirk’s been composing up a storm, which I’ve gotta say is awe-inspiring to witness. We’re now working on getting his pieces recorded, so you can expect to hear some brand new music very soon! (In the meantime, you can listen to some of Dirk’s existing work on his SoundCloud page, soundcloud.com/dirkcaber.)

Then in June of last year, Dirk and I had the incredible opportunity to work with the Victorian AIDS Council in Australia. The VAC flew us to Melbourne to help host a week of events and seminars called Down an’ Dirty, where we talked about topics like safer sex, harm reduction, and building healthy relationships. We were even on the radio! Both of us were very impressed by the dedication of the VAC folks, and Melbourne quickly became one of our favorite cities in the world. We look forward to returning someday.

You’re still going strong with your husband Dirk Caber, right? What’s the secret to a successful partnership such as yours when you’re involved with so many other men?

I think the secret is that we don’t get jealous, and the key to that is making sure that neither one of us ever feels excluded from the other person’s life. We always share the details of our shoots, much the same way that any couple would say “Hey honey, how was work today?” And if either one of us wants to hook up with a hot guy away from a porn set, the other is always welcome to join in. In fact, we only have one rule in our relationship: “Never bring home anything you don’t want to share.” It works on all sorts of levels, from hook-ups to STDs to take-out pizza.

We’ve already talked in our previous interview about things you enjoy doing in your spare time, and you shared your blog and Huffington post column. Is there anything new to add? 

I’m happy to say that the scope of my writing has expanded a bit since we last spoke. In February, I wrote my first mainstream political article (not LGBT-focused, as was the case in my earlier articles) about the U.S. presidential election called “I’m Voting for Donald Trump… Here’s Why”, which got picked up by several major news outlets. (Please read the article before judging it by its headline!) I also wrote a follow-up articleabout the conservative media’s, shall we say, “creative” response to the first one. The pair of pieces generated a lot of discussion, and I was gratified to see the points I’d raised start to surface in more and more mainstream political discussions over the next several weeks. I’m no pundit, but now that I’ve gotten my feet wet, you may very well see more politically-themed articles from me in the future. 

You are passionate about a lot of things, which is particularly evident on your Twitter page. What would you say is the first and foremost thing that you are passionate about, besides Dirk?

That changes from week to week, month to month, and year to year. At the moment, it’s politics. I’m captivated by this year’s election cycle, and am always either glued to cable news or tracking the latest polls. The rise of Donald Trump is especially mesmerizing to me. While I despise the man’s character and nearly all of his positions, I find his popularity to be a fascinating reflection of the deeply divided psyche of this country. For me, watching the Republicans stumble their way toward a (likely) contested conventionin July is like watching a train wreck unfold in slow motion. I can’t keep my eyes off it. 

Who will you be working with in the future? Anything in particular that’s been lined up that you can share with us?

I filmed a scene easier this month with the really hunky Bruce Beckham, who’s making his return to porn after a nearly ten year absence. He’s a really great guy and we had a lot of fun on set! He looks amazingly hot and scruffy; scruff is a big turn-on for me, and I’m sure that my excitement comes through in the scene. I don’t know when it’ll be released yet, but I have a feeling the final edit is going to be great.

As for what’s next... in May, I’ve got a new fetish film coming out that looks like a live-action piece of Tom of Finland artwork, or something from Titan’s Fallen Angel series. I’ll be at International Mister Leather in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend promoting it. My co-star Diesel Washington is a legend in the industry, and it was awesome finally getting to work with him. What a sweetheart!

In the 3 years since we last caught up, a lot has changed. There’s been many newcomers, many leavers, and too many tragedies in the porn world. Who would you say you’re most excited to see come into the industry, and who will you miss the most?

I’m really happy for Dallas Steele. He made a big splash when he joined the Titan stable last year, and he’s already been nominated for two Cybersocket awards and several Grabbys. It was such a pleasure working with him in OUT!, and we quickly becamefriends. I thought he was great in Blue Collar Ballers and Cauke for President too, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

On the “departures” side, I’m a little sad that I never got to work with Tom Wolfe before he retired. I’ve met him in person a couple of times; he has this really great energy about him. Oh, what might have been!

Can we still see you exclusively signed to TitanMen for some time to come? We’re always in awe of the films you make with them.

Thanks! I’m having the time of my life. As long as it stays fun, and the Titan guys want to work with me, I’m in!

Are you looking forward to any particular events this year, and which?

Dirk and I are both really looking forward to IML in Chicago where I’ll be promoting the release of the new fetish film. And that weekend is also the Grabby Awards! It’s always a fun weekend, and a bunch of other Titan guys will be there with us. Other than that, Dirk and I will be celebrating our fifth anniversary as a couple in September, and every year we’ve returned to the scene of our first meeting: the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. It’s not set in stone yet, but I imagine we’ll go back again this year. It’s a guaranteed good time.

Finally, Jesse, can you tell us if “Loud and Nasty” is still your favourite scene to make, or if not, what came along to blow it out of the water?

Loud and Nasty will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first scene I ever filmed with Dirk. In addition to that, the two of us recently had the opportunity to film a four-way scene with a pair of Aussie studs who also happen to be great friends of ours -- Rogan Richards and Skippy Baxter -- for Rogan’s new website. The four of us together... I’m amazed we didn’t break the bed! It was intense, but also laid-back andreally fun. The scene was released on March 14... you can watch it at RoganRichards.com.

I have to say, though, that OUT! just might eclipse Loud and Nasty and the Aussie 4-wayas my favorite film yet. I really poured my heart into it, and even created the film’s official website OutBaseball.com. I’m so grateful to Keith Webb for trusting in me to help develop the concept and write the script, to all of the actors in the film for positivelynailing their roles, to the entire production team at Titan for really “hitting it out of the park,” so to speak... and especially to director Jasun Mark for working so hard on thislittle labor of love. I’m just so unbelievably proud to be a part of such an amazing team.After almost five years of working together, they really have become like family to me.

Thanks again for talking with GayDemon. We look forward to catching up with you again soon!

Always a pleasure. Until next time!