PornCrush: Rissa, start by telling us what it was like to see your name among the 15 finalists for AVN’s Female Performer of the Year award.

Rissa: I was honestly so surprised, to be honest. I was just really happy and stoked. That's one of the big nominations. I was just like, holy shit. I work hard. Sometimes I feel like it goes unrecognized. Seeing that made me feel really special.

PC: Yeah. Especially when you look at some of the names that you're up there with, whether it's Angela White or Anna Claire Clouds or some of the other icons of the industry.

Rissa: Yeah, right. A lot of the girls are ones I look up to and stuff.

PC: Who is someone that's been a mentor to you, or someone you've really tried to model your career after in terms of how you work?

Rissa: There are so many girls, but Angela White is definitely a big one. I've done two scenes with her, and she's a huge name, but she's so sweet and humble, and I feel like she's just very unproblematic. I try to stay out of any drama and stuff, just like her. She's just a hard worker. I love her work.

She's so good at dirty talking. So I try to take some of her tips when it comes to that. And yeah, everything seems to come with ease to her. Her scenes don't seem forced or anything. She's just having a great time. So I try to do that in my scenes and stuff. But there's also a lot of other girls out there. Even my best friend, Penelope Woods, she's a great performer. I see her performances, and I'm like, ‘I wanna be like that.’

PC: Absolutely. Penelope is fantastic—one of the most underrated performers in the industry. One more thing about Angela White … you got a chance to work with her a couple of times this year. What's she like once the cameras come on, just in terms of having sex with her? What was that experience like?

Rissa: She's just so good. She's so confident that it almost made me kinda nervous. I feel like I'm pretty good once the camera turns on. I get all confident. But she's just so confident and so sexual that I just got kinda shy. She's definitely easy to work with, for sure.

PC: Well, I'm sure those are great collabs.

Moving on … Rissa, you were 18 when you entered the industry, and I remember how hard you worked right off the bat, shooting over 100 scenes in your first year. I know it kinda wore you, and you needed to take a step back and slow down a bit. But this year, you still shot, if I'm counting right, more than 80 scenes. What's the key to maintaining your physical and mental health while shooting such a large number of scenes?

Rissa: I just try to prioritize taking breaks and stuff. I remember earlier this year, I actually took a whole month off because I just needed it and stuff. I try to take more breaks and make time for myself and just do normal things outside of porn. My whole life doesn't have to revolve around my work, so I try to do things that make me happy outside of work.

PC: What are some of those things?

Rissa: I love hanging out with my friends. That's probably my favorite thing to do. I just love chilling with the girls, watching movies, and doing normal girly things. I love taking walks. I like going to see my family. That kind of stuff.

PC: We mentioned your Female Performer of the Year nomination, which is the biggest category of all. But you were also nominated in two really high-profile categories: Best Anal Sex Scene for your shoot with Zac Wild. And then best Girl-Girl Sex Scene with Melody Marks. Anything particular that you're proud of from the last year, you know, whether it's a nomination or a certain scene that stands out to you, whether it was nominated or not.

Rissa: Well, yeah, both of those scenes. I believe I pre-nommed them, so I was definitely proud of them. But especially that anal scene with Zac. I love working with him. He's a great performer, and every scene I do with him, I feel like it’s top-notch.

I mean, there are so many scenes that I could say that I'm very proud of. This one was shot too late in the year to be nominated, but I just got to work for Kink recently, which was pretty huge for me. It was one of my dream companies, for sure. So I was super stoked for that. All of the Vixen stuff I've done is great. I did a scene with Angel Youngs and (Eva Angelina). It was a great scene.

PC: You mentioned the kink scene that's not out yet, but I did see some of the BTS on your Twitter. I've never seen you in that kind of mode, Rissa, where you were kind of being, I don't know, dominated like that. What was that like? That had been a whole new experience for you.

Rissa: Well, I’m very submissive. I love that type of stuff, although I might not shoot a lot of it because I have that girl-next-door look, and companies don’t think I’m super hardcore, but I'm pretty hardcore. I like to be beaten up and slapped around. So it was really amazing. I loved it.

PC: Yeah, I knew you liked the rough stuff, but I guess seeing you tied up and kind of tortured and tickled and restrained like that was something new that I hadn't seen before.

Rissa: Yeah, I haven't done too much of the bondage, which I’ve been wanting to do.  I just haven't really had a chance.

PC: What keeps you going, Rissa? What motivates you? This is an industry where girls often get in for a couple of years, then they've had enough and move on. What keeps you going so strong?

Rissa: I think I just really enjoy it. Other girls, maybe they don't enjoy it so much. I think you actually have to want to do this in order to have a strong career. I enjoy having sex with all these amazing people and, as I said, I take my breaks when I need them. That's what burns a lot of people out—they don't take breaks, and they push themselves, and then they're like, ‘I don't want to do this anymore.’

PC: Right, I think your point about enjoying it is good. If you look at that performer of the year list, with pretty much everyone on that list, it really comes through in their scenes that they like what they're doing and they're enjoying it. That passion is what can turn a good scene into a great one.

OK, Rissa, I know you're going home to Michigan for the holidays and some cold weather, but then you’ll come back, and January is a huge month. Before the AVN Awards, there's the AVN Fan Expo. You've got some experience now, having done that for the last two years. What do you like about getting to meet all your fans? What's that like for you?

Rissa: It’s super cool. Sometimes it's hard for me to process that I even have fans. And then I actually get to meet them, and they're like, “My God, I love your work!” And I'm like, “Wow, you like me?” So it's really cool, I guess, to meet them and get to interact with them.

PC: Has there ever been a memorable interaction where someone brought you a gift or said something that made you feel a certain way?

Rissa: A lot of them have been pretty normal. I mean, some guys are really shy. I’ve had a few experiences where they'll come up to me and just look at me and not say anything. And I'm just like, “Hey!” And they're just looking at me. I'm like, “Don't be shy. I'm super nice. I don't bite.”

Last year, some guys brought me birthday gifts, you know, because my birthday is right before AVN. So yeah, that's really nice. I enjoy that.

PC: That’s right! You’re turning the big 2-1 on January 14th. Do you have big plans?

Rissa: Yes, I'm so excited. And I don't know, I’ve been trying to decide. I might go to Florida for a day or two. I don't know, though. I’ve got to plan it really fast. I’m definitely going out.

PC: Yeah, you’ve gotta celebrate that in style, no question. Well, besides the big 21st birthday, what's in store for 2026 for you? Do you set goals for yourself? Do you have anything you wanna accomplish? What’s next?

Rissa: I've been thinking about it a lot. A lot of fans have been asking me to do a DP, and I keep thinking about it. Like, I want to, but I also don't want to go too fast. Some girls wait years to do it, so I'm still deciding on that. So if you're a fan listening to this, don't get your hopes up too much.

PC: Right. She's gotta save something, guys.

Rissa: Yeah, so maybe, I don't know, maybe a DP. I'm just now getting into the whole boy-boy-girl, I did my first one recently for that. So more of that for sure. Maybe a blow-bang, I wanna do some sort of “first.”

PC: Well, before all of that are the award shows. You've got six nominations. And I know none will mean as much as the 2024 PornCrush of the Year award—or winning the wet t-shirt contest at the PornCrush pool party. (laughing).

Seriously, though, we’re going to be rooting for you. And we appreciate you representing PornCrush so well and making us look good for picking you as Crush of the Year last year. We're excited to see you in January.

Rissa: Yes! Thank you.