Back to Basics: Chi Chi LaRue Eyes a Return to His Roots

This article originally appeared in the May 2016 issue of AVN magazine. Click here to see a copy of the digital edition. Fresh from last month’s Phoenix Forum, Chi Chi LaRue is energized—and reminded of a valuable lesson he learned that weekend. “I hosted a wet underwear contest at the pool at the host hotel sponsored by all the different porn companies. They all entered a model and Levi Karter from CockyBoys won,” he recalls. “It was really fun, but I will know not to wear black to a pool-hosting event in the Arizona sun ever again.” But it was worth the sweat. The iconic director is dipping his stilettos into a variety of projects, including potential involvement with a new gay dating app. “I had some really productive meetings with Douglas Richter of GUYZ, and meetings with other great people. I also met some people that I had never heard of, like GayCowboyRanch.com. Now I’m a fan and I think that they’re the coolest guys. Hopefully I’ll be doing some stuff with them, and just talking about some future projects all around,” he said. “I don’t really want to say too much, but I think that I’m going to be going back to my roots a little bit … and doing some stuff for … somebody.” Having mastered the art of the tease many years ago, that’s the most you’ll pry out of LaRue at the moment. But if recent projects are any indication, the future is exciting. LaRue recently collaborated with CockyBoys on a current smash project and some other scenes he directed for the “it” studio. “It was really nice, directing for them. I just did some scenes, and then we did an amazing movie called One Erection which is gonna be a pretty ambitious project. While filming was happening, we were doing some dialogue with a few performers, and I just said, ‘Say the name of your song is Sticky Face!’ And it turned out that everybody loved that so much that all of the boys that are in the mockumentary band New Direction, they went into the studio and recorded a song called ‘Sticky Face’ for the movie! It’s a really good song, and it was done by the guy who has worked with RuPaul recently on her last two albums. That’s gonna be a really good project.” Fresh from shooting in Montreal for the studio, LaRue was thrilled—as was CockyBoys director Jake Jaxson—with the opportunity to collaborate. “He makes just the most amazing stuff,” says LaRue. “I’m so not used to the way they work, because they make a movie over sometimes the span of a year! And they’ve got so many irons in the fire right now, and all of them are masterpieces … they’re really creative and they think out of the box, and I kind of consider myself someone that thinks out of the box. It was nice going up and just being in that kind of atmosphere with really super creative people that just didn’t want to get a porno movie in the can, you know? They also just shot off the cuff a lot of times, and some of that stuff was some of the best stuff that we got. The boys are brilliant, and it’s such a team effort with everybody … and they worked around my Starbucks schedule.” LaRue’s recent Montreal shoot resulted in a scene between Wesley Woods and Dustin Holloway. “I love Dustin Holloway because he had no idea who I was. He doesn’t have a Twitter account, he’s just this normal guy who’s unaffected and couldn’t care less about the gossip and the drama of the gay porn world. It was awesome. And I’ve become really, really close with Wesley, so that’s really been nice. He reminds me a lot of my friendship with Dean Monroe.” The director has also been working with another friend, Trenton Ducati. “I love his Gentleman’s Closet site. I’ve done a couple scenes for that, and I love to direct for it. I did a scene with Angel Cruz and JJ Knight that was so good, and I did a solo with Phenix Saint, and Jack Hunter. Trenton has helped me out, he’s always there. He’s in my corner, so that’s nice to have.” Back at his own Channel 1, LaRue directed a new movie with Woods, Hunter, Bruce Beckham, Spencer Whitman, Brendan Patrick and Tex Davidson (aka “the one with the big dick”). He plans to direct three movies over the summer, and is also excited about a new film from Dirk Yates, and more material from William Higgins. “Our toys are doing really well, and the store is doing really well. It started off really slow once we did the move. People were used to it being on one side of the street, and now it’s moved across the street into a very high populated area,” LaRue says of his West Hollywood boutique. “People were kind of afraid to walk in there at first, but now it’s picked up, and it’s such a beautiful store.” Channel 1 recently announced the launch of Boneyard Toys, featuring “high-end, cutting-edge designs” and led by a new line of cock rings. The store Chi Chi LaRue’s reopened in January, bolstered by a special area called the XR Dungeon (sponsored by XR Brands). “That dungeon is awesome! It’s really gorgeous.” LaRue is gearing up for a busy season, starting with the Grabby Awards. Also on tap is a trip to Miami Pride and appearances in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., where he was set to DJ while models Woods and Hunter danced. But when he has some down time, LaRue says you’ll find him more in Minnesota now than in West Hollywood. The change in location has allowed him to clear his mind and focus on what he wants to do next. “I have so many ideas, just chomping at the bit to create. Directing for CockyBoys has given me a little bit of that, but I’ve got stuff I really want to do. I would really like to do Heaven to Hell Part 2 for Falcon, I’d like to do another Link movie for my own company,” he says of two of his many iconic works. “I would love to take over a brand at Falcon Studios Group, like maybe if they would give me a line like the Hot House brand or the Jocks brand. That’s just a pipe dream, though. I’m hoping that one day maybe something will transpire.” Meanwhile, LaRue is back to his roots: hunting for models, the excitement in his voice clear when he talks about it. “I haven’t done that for so long, but I’m finding the urge to find new guys instead of just relying on agents. I’m out there trying to find the next fresh face, which is what I was the best at before. I was the queen of finding new faces! It’s a lot different now, because there is a porn director or producer lurking behind every dust bunny at every club. But I’m really lucky, blessed and grateful for the fact that I’ve got this platform that is Chi Chi LaRue, this big drag monster that gets to go places. Like in Massachusetts, I’ll be DJing at this club that is all nude dancers. There’s gotta be somebody there, right?!”