Lady in Red: Holly Hendrix Reflects on Best New Starlet Triumph

LOS ANGELES—Holly Hendrix tells AVN she found her stunning red dress on the day of the AVN Awards Show. She discovered it in her hotel room. It was rolled up into a ball, hidden under the curtain in her suite at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. “There’s a story behind my dress,” the newly crowned AVN Best New Starlet revealed Wednesday. “I got a nice dress. I bought it for 800-900 dollars—it was really nice, a little too big, but it wasn’t as nice as I wanted it. “When me and Mandy [Muse] woke up in the morning on Saturday we said, ‘whose dress is this?’ She said it wasn’t hers. And it wasn’t mine. I found it on the floor in my room—whoever was staying in the hotel room before me left it there. The maids just didn’t see it. “Mandy said ‘it’s beautiful, you should wear it.’ There were stains all over the dress and me and the makeup artist cleaned it. I used some safety pins and I stuffed my bra. I felt like it was destiny. It was meant to happen, like god gave me that dress.” Not only was the elegant, form-fitting gown part of her destiny Saturday, so was the highest individual honor bestowed on a new girl in the adult business, as she accepted the coveted Best New Starlet statuette in front of the sold-out crowd at The Joint. The 19-year-old performer, who was moved to tears during her acceptance speech on the AVN Awards stage and then again in the interview room, said even four days later it hardly seems real. “I still can’t believe everything,” Hendrix admitted. “I look at the pictures and say that’s not me, this is not real. I felt kind of embarrassed, because I was crying when I got off the stage and my makeup was messed up. I don’t want to look crazy. I don’t want to look stupid.” In hopes of winning, she had actually drafted a few versions of an acceptance speech before the show, but then tossed them in the trash because she thought, “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to even say this because in reality I probably am not even gonna win, so why am I wasting all this time?" “So everything just came out naturally because I was very, very shocked," Hendrix recalled. When she got to the microphone she did manage to thank her agent John O’Byrne from East Coast Talent, director Jonni Darkko, who helmed her scalding showcase title Holly Hendrix’s Anal Experience (Darkko/Evil Angel), and “all her favorite directors." She said she also thanked fellow starlets Gina Valentina, Tiffany Watson and Amara Romani. On Wednesday Hendrix told AVN Valentina gave her “huge motivation and encouragement” during the past year and that she loves her.  When the awards show ended, Hendrix remembers calling O'Byrne and good friends Piper Perri, Kristi Ann and Alexander Ace to express her gratitude. Then she made another video thanking everyone she could think of. “All I could focus on was everyone, all the people that I didn't thank on stage. I was more worried about all my friends,” Hendrix said. “And then at 5 or 6 a.m. I decided I wanted to go out." She slapped on pasties and a mini-skirt and hit three different clubs in old town Vegas to continue her celebration. “I got kicked out of one place because of my nipples,” Hendrix joked. She said picking up her second award for Most Outrageous Sex Scene for her three-way with Adriana Chechik, the reigning Female Performer of the Year, and Markus Dupree in Anal Experience, made the night extra special. “Being awarded Most Outrageous is a really big deal for me because it’s one of my favorite words ever. 'Outrageous' is the best word to describe me. Like I told you guys, you haven’t seen anything yet. There is so much I plan on doing, so much I plan on showing off,” Hendrix said. In addition to already being booked solid through the end of March, she said one of her top priorities is to launch an official website with the help of Darkko. But first this week she is in the midst of packing and moving permanently to Los Angeles. She had been commuting back and forth to her hometown of Savannah, Georgia, since the beginning of her career in May 2015. Then about a month-and-a-half ago she began renting an apartment in the San Fernando Valley, but was still holding onto her place in Savannah. “I’m definitely moving on to Cali. I feel like things are going up from here. Now that I won Starlet I’m moving to California full time,” she said. Hendrix just got back to Georgia Tuesday after missing her flight out of Vegas Monday night because she fell asleep at the airport and woke up 20 minutes too late. “I’ve never missed a flight before ever and I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “A big sweetheart who said he was Ron Jeremy’s therapist helped me catch another flight." Meanwhile, Hendrix still has the dress she originally purchased for the AVN Awards. “I’ll wear it one day,” Hendrix said. “It was black with a slit down both sides and sparkly sequins. But I’m so glad I ended up wearing the red one.” Photo by JFK of FubarWebmasters