They huddled on the red carpet, a gaggle of photographers with decades of experience shooting the industry’s most jaw-dropping stars.
Jenna Jameson and Jesse Jane. Jenna Haze and Gianna Dior. When you’ve been exposed to sheer, unparalleled beauty for so many years, you become somewhat numb to it. Or, at the very least, much more difficult to wow.
That’s why it was rather amusing to watch the porn paparazzi’s reaction when Stella Luxx stepped through the velvet ropes and into their path at last week’s XBIZ nomination party at Sound Nightclub in Hollywood. With wavy auburn hair cascading past her waist—and a smile powerful enough to change someone’s day—the 5-foot-9 former fashion model didn’t just walk the red carpet.
She owned it.
After the final photo was snapped and Luxx disappeared into the venue, the photographers lowered their cameras and glanced at one another with raised eyebrows.
“Jesus!” one of them said. “Who the fuck was that?”
Thousands of others—industry types and fans—are asking that same question these days.
As 2024 comes to a close, few performers, if any, are ascending at a faster pace than Luxx, the 22-year-old newcomer from San Diego who is simply too stunning to ignore. Thanks in part to last week’s nominations parties—and the photos that surfaced from them—Luxx is suddenly one of the hottest things in porn. Figuratively, without question.
And some would say literally, too.
“There’s no one else like her in the business,” says Tiffany Ray, Luxx’s agent with InVision Models. “She’s the total package.”
It’s not as if Luxx was a virtual unknown before she dazzled on the red carpet last week. For much of the past year, she’s been turning out high-level scenes—many of the anal variety—for A-list studios such as BANG!, Team Skeet, and Evil Angel.
Still, with much of her best work still unreleased, it took a handful of industry-wide gatherings for Luxx’s star quality to be recognized by the porn community at large.
One night after the XBIZ party, the recently-named AVN Trophy Girl took the stage before a standing-room-only crowd at Avalon Nightclub and performed a series of skits at the organization’s pre-awards gala.
Less than a year into her career, Luxx clutched the microphone and spoke with a veteran’s confidence, coasting through her dialogue without a single stutter, all the while sparkling in a brilliant golden dress just short enough to expose a pair of long, tan legs that left the crowd abuzz.
Even though it was her first time in front of an audience that large, Luxx was far from nervous as she stood behind the lectern. If anything, she embraced the moment. During a break backstage, show producer Gary Miller asked Luxx how she was feeling.
“I’m loving this!” she told him. “I can’t wait to go back on stage.”
Anyone familiar with Luxx’s past would hardly be surprised to see her flourishing in the limelight. Voted “Most Likely to Become Famous” by her high school senior class, Luxx had been preparing for such a moment since childhood.
Following a trip to SeaWorld in elementary school, Luxx was determined to become a dolphin handler like the one she saw perform with Shamu. A few years later she wanted to be a professional dancer—or maybe a motivational speaker, as she excelled in speech class in high school. By age 15, when she grew to 5-foot-9, her friends were pegging her as a future model.
No matter the career, the theme remained the same. Luxx, in some form or fashion, wanted to be in front of a crowd. She wanted to become what she is now.
The girl everyone is talking about.
***
Stella Luxs’s favorite movie growing up was “Pretty Woman”—mainly because she idolized Vivian Ward, the character played by Julia Roberts.”
Luxx watched the movie multiple times throughout her childhood and dreamed about her future unfolding in the same fashion—transitioning, almost overnight, from an obscure girl who hardly turns heads to a bombshell who is showered with expensive gifts, dinners, and shopping trips. Luxx said she also related to Olivia Newton-John’s character Sandy in “Grease.”
“I was just like them, a shy little girl who never received attention from boys,” Luxx says. “Then all of a sudden, they become the ‘it’ girl, and that’s what I wanted. I’d always think, ‘I just want to turn 18 and become this gorgeous, elegant woman who goes shopping on Rodeo Drive.'”
Raised in San Diego alongside four siblings, Luxx’s parents divorced when she was young. Her mother was a waitress at a local diner, and it was there she met the man Luxx would come to call her father.
“He was the DJ there,” Luxx, who doesn’t have a relationship with her biological dad, says. “The first time he saw my mom, the music just stopped. He was staring at her so hard that he forgot to put on another track. My mom is beautiful, with red hair and freckles all over her body, just like me. I definitely get my looks from her.”
Luxx wasn’t always confident in her appearance. She was insecure about her pale skin and freckles in her early teens, when she was noticeably skinny and dressed in “skater-girl” clothes. Luxx was a good student and a member of the Associated Student Body (ASB), helping plan activities at school.
“But I was not one of the popular girls,” she says. “I didn’t care about my appearance. Most people probably thought I was boring.”
The summer before her sophomore year, Luxx decided to make a change. Whether she was at the beach or her backyard pool, Luxx began tanning almost every day. She also experienced a growth spurt that saw her sprout to 5-foot-9, making Luxx one of the tallest females in her class.
Suddenly, the girl who never turned a head was being ogled by members of the football team as she walked through the halls in tube tops, skinny jeans and Vans. She’d get hit on in Spanish class by the same boys who’d ignored her for years, and she received invitations to parties almost every weekend.
Just like Vivian Ward and Sandy, Luxx had become the “it” girl almost overnight.
“I remember my friends from middle school saying, ‘She’s changed so much,’” Luxx says. “But inside I was being the girl I always wanted to be.”
Luxx also experienced a sense of sexual liberation in high school. For the first time, she felt as if she could talk about her fixation on sex without being shamed.
She took an online quiz online about BDSM and then sent the link to her friends. Male students would tell Luxx about their sexual experiences with other girls and then ask for advice. And Luxx routinely encouraged people to go to Planned Parenthood to get tested for STDs.
“There was basically a competition between my friends and I to see who would lose their virginity first,” Luxx chuckles. “I’d always been a sexual person, and now I didn’t have to hide it anymore. I could be a total freak and people actually thought I was cool because of it.”
Multiple times, Luxx’s friends joked that she was destined to become a porn star.
“I’d laugh in their face,” she says.
Still, even though Luxx was receiving attention, she wasn’t viewed in the same light as the other pretty girls at her school. Guys would hit up Luxx to have sex, but they didn’t want to date her. Luxx wasn’t asked to Homecoming as a junior or senior, and she didn’t go to prom.
“It’s honestly kinda sad to look back on it,” Luxx says. “The guys at my high school were terrible. My memories from that time are more bad than good.”
As her senior year approached, Luxx’s plan was to attend UCLA and live the life of a normal college student. She had a 4.2 grade point average and was excited at the prospect starting somewhere fresh, surrounded by new people.
But a trip to the San Diego County Fair changed everything.
As she strolled through the fairgrounds with friends, Luxx was approached by a scout from a modeling agency. A showcase event for aspiring talent was scheduled for later that summer. The woman handed Luxx her business card and encouraged her to attend.
“Why not?” Luxx thought to herself.
A few weeks later, with representatives from IMG, Elite, and other top modeling agencies looking on, 17-year-old Stella Luxx strutted across the runway and immediately commanded attention. Even more impressive were her digital photos. Even with zero experience, multiple agencies labeled Luxx a natural and offered her a spot on their roster. After weighing her options, Luxx signed with Dragon Fly out of Los Angeles.
Luxx spent much of her senior year juggling school with photo shoots and fashion shows. She appeared on a billboard on Ventura Blvd for Harmless Harvest coconut water and spent three months modeling in Italy.
“I realized that being in front of the camera was one of my favorite things,” Luxx says. “I can look into a camera like it’s the love of my life. I can fall in love with it.
“The very first shoot I did at age 17, the photographer was like, ‘You already know how to pose. Most girls just stand still the first time, but you’ve got a knack for this.’ That’s what did it for me. Every time I was on set, I was the photographer’s favorite.”
However, the executives at Luxx’s agency weren’t always as thrilled. She was repeatedly reprimanded for posting racy photos on her Instagram and was instructed to take them down. Luxx was also frustrated by the mediocre pay she received for high-profile events. Despite working for two designers, she says she earned $300-$400 for most fashion shows and only netted $700 during LA Fashion Week.
“Everyone thinks runway modeling pays so much, but it pays terribly,” Luxx says. “But the biggest problem is that I wasn’t being my true self. I had to hide who I was and pretend to be this preppy girl, and I didn’t like that. I’d get home and be exhausted.”
In August of 2023, Luxx spoke with a friend who was having success on OnlyFans and suggested she give it a try. Luxx stepped away from modeling, launched an account and began shooting boy-girl content along with solo videos featuring toys. By October she was bringing in $15,000 per month—an impressive number for a new talent without a significant social media following.
When a collab partner suggested she transition into studio porn, Luxx was intrigued. A few days earlier she’d watched Emily Ratajkowski’s “High Low” podcast, and the guest was Lana Rhoades.
“Even though Lana was talking negatively about the industry, I was starstruck,” Luxx says. “It made me want to do it.”
Luxx got online and filled out an application for InVision Models. After looking at just one photo, agents Kristen Kaye and Tiffany Ray knew they had to set up a zoom call.
“We both knew within five minutes that she had something special,” Ray says. “Her personality, her confidence, her smile … she just jumped through the screen. Once she told us about what a sexual person she was we knew it would be a good fit.”
After receiving her father’s blessing and talking with other mentors, Luxx accepted an offer to join InVision’s roster and enter the porn industry.
“I was so nervous,” Luxx says. “I was like, ‘This could either be really good for me, or really terrible. But we’re about to find out.’”
***
As if her physical appearance wasn’t enough, Stella Luxx found another way to command attention when she arrived on her first Evil Angel set last summer.
“Anal - Absolutely Need A Lobotomy,” her t-shirt read.
Director Pat Myne and male talent Zac Wild immediately started cackling.
“Oh my God!” Myne said. “You’re really excited for this!”
Myne had booked Luxx after seeing her captivating red carpet photos—are you seeing the trend here?—from the XRCO Awards in May. The event is known more for being a party than a legitimate awards show (a 32-year-old was nominated for “Best Teen Performer”) but Luxx viewed the evening as a business opportunity.
“Someone was like, ‘Everyone just goes there and gets fucked up,’” Luxx says. “But why would I get trashed, with all of those directors and cameras there? I only had a few drinks and took some amazing photos. It pays off when you’re professional in social settings and not doing drugs in the bathroom.”
Yes, after persevering through a brief party phase last winter—a normal obstacle for any industry newcomer—Luxx is operating like a seasoned veteran away from the camera. Her performances, however, have been high-level from the get-go.
Her very first batch of shoots last November (for Exploited College Girls) included an anal scene and a double-penetration. So much for easing into the business. In the past year she’s worked with A-list talent such as Wild, Isiah Maxwell, Parker Ambrose and Codey Steele. And she recently shot a scene for Jules Jordan which has yet to be released.
“Anyone who has spent years doing this can recognize those ‘special’ talents really early,” Steele, who has worked with Luxx multiple times, said. “There’s an air about them, a presence, that separates them from the others, and you can tell right away that they have what it takes to get really big.
“Stella is one of those people. She has the potential to go as far as she wants.”
One of Luxx’s favorite genres to shoot is Virtual Reality (VR). While some performers struggle with looking into the lens and connecting with their audience, Luxx embraces it. She can’t get enough.
“You have to form a connection with the camera; you have to fall in love with it,” Luxx says. “I can get this look in my eyes where it seems like I’m looking directly through a man’s soul.
“I feel like I have a separation from a lot of the other girls. I have a classier, elegant look to me. Not that the other girls aren’t pretty, but I look different than most of the women in the industry. I’ve been told, ‘Your porn looks different,” and I like hearing that. In modeling I didn’t really stand out, but in this industry I do.”
As fitting as the word “elegant” may be, Luxx is certainly capable of getting down and dirty.
Luxx has made her most notable mark in anal scenes. While some agents advise newcomers to wait a few years before opening their backdoor in hopes of scoring a lucrative “first anal” rate, Luxx didn’t see the need.
She says she became obsessed with anal after trying it for the first time (with no lube) at age 19. Lately she has stopped doing anal in her personal life because civilians don’t have the same skills as the professionals she works with on set.
“That is a sacred space for me,” Luxx says, “but I love it. I can orgasm from it and it feels amazing.”
Luxx’s Evil Angel shoot with Wild went so well that Wild told her he’d be nominating for Best Anal Scene next awards season.
“She was a total monster the whole way through,” Wild says. “Her and I have a great connection, but she also has an understanding of the role we each play. She trusts me to be dominant and put her in the right positions.”
Wild has worked with Luxx multiple times. He said some of his favorite moments with her are the chats they have before and after scenes, and during breaks. While some newcomers are shy and timid, Luxx has a level of depth and maturity that is rare for a porn rookie.
“She has a well-developed frontal lobe,” Wild says with a laugh. “She’s got a good sense of awareness and she’s quite articulate. She can hold a good conversation.”
Plenty of others agree.
Ray said directors such as Myne, Jim Powers and Mason have raved about Luxx in texts after shooting her in recent months. “This girl is SMOKING hot!” one of them wrote. “Fucking amazing!” texted another.
At last week’s XBIZ nominations party, male talent Vince Karter approached Ray to offer his stamp of approval.
“You’ve got something really special there,” Karter told Ray. “She is a star!”
Ray appreciated the feedback—but she wasn’t surprised.
“Every male performer, every female performer, and every director loves Stella Luxx,” Ray says. “She’s got everything. The smile, the tan lines, the freckles, the posture she has from modeling, and that hair … there’s nothing not to like.”
Ah, yes, the hair.
The only setback Luxx has experienced in the past year came in March when she decided to dye her locks blonde. Ray saw the photos and immediately contacted Luxx and asked the reason for the switch—and then advised her to go back to red.
Luxx chuckles about it now.
“I was about to go, like, Anna Nicole Smith blonde, so I’m glad Tiffany said something,” Luxx says. “I didn’t know that being a redhead was so rare. But Tiffany was like, ‘Trust me, with your green eyes and your tan lines and your freckles and your red hair … it makes you really unique.’ So I went back to extensions, and now it’s my thing. Everyone talks about my hair.”
Ray is hopeful that multiple appearances in the spotlight over the next few months will lead to acting and feature roles for Luxx during the spring and summer. Luxx is confident she would excel at acting, and she’s also an accomplished singer who takes weekly dance classes.
“It’s good to be versatile,” she said. “You’ve got to have something that sets you apart.”
Still, as much as she’d love those opportunities, Lux isn’t losing sight of why she got into the industry.
“I just love to have sex on camera,” she says. “I’m not doing this for the money. I’m not doing this for fame. I got into this solely because I like to have sex. I’m a freaky girl.”
Fanfests.
Award shows.
A slew of industry parties and red carpets.
January is one of the most hectic—and thrilling—months in porn. Luxx is excited about all of it, but one thing is certain:
She won’t be able to surprise anyone anymore.
“She’s settled into the business nicely,” Ray says. “Her feet are planted firmly on the ground. No one is going to ask “Who’s that girl?’ anymore.
“Everyone knows who Stella Luxx is now.”
