Fresh Faces: Tana Lea

Tana Lea thinks of herself as entering porn “in reverse.” That’s because “I’ve been selling my own stuff online for about three years.” First through Snapchat, and then on her own website through Only Fans. “I’ve kind of built my fan base. My fans are loyal, they’ve been with me.” She didn’t start working on sets until April 2017. “I went to AVN [in January], met with a few people, talked to some other porn star girls. They were relatable but like pros in the business ... and they kind of helped me answer questions about porn. And from there everything kind of fell into place.” Caldwell, Texas, her hometown, is “in between College Station and Houston. Real country town, not a lot goin’ on. I left when I was 23, after I got divorced. I did the whole married thing, hometown thing, worked at a prison there, the whole shebang, had a husband, got divorced. And then I moved to Austin, Texas, in 2013. And then from there I moved to L.A.” She says she never watched porn before she got into it. “So I never had heard of anyone. The only people I heard of were Xander [Corvus] and James Deen cuz they’re the most talked about, normal people, pretty average American guys that you might pick up at the bar. So I heard about them, and then my first scene was with James Deen. [“Tana Lea Cums Hard for James Deen,” JamesDeen.com.] This is the coolest thing ever! So I’m pretty spoiled since then.” She has shot for a variety of companies: Kelly Madison, Devil’s Film, ArchAngel, Brazzers, Burning Angel, Zero Tolerance. “I did a girl/girl scene before I came up here. With Savana Styles. It was me, her and Brad Knight. Two redheads and Brad.” Her favorite pastimes are “watching shitty reality TV” (Teen Mom and The Bachelor are among her faves), eating—and man-eating. “I like to go out on dates with guys. I have less sex now that I’m in porn than before, but I do go on more dates ... It’s a week straight with love and then I’m kind of over it and on to another thing. So all my friends say I’m a man-eater.” She’s got over “30-something” tattoos, mostly on her arms and left leg. “I started off getting the traditional black and white scripts, then when I moved to Austin that’s where I started noticing color and the traditional stuff, and I started building from there. Nothing on my chest. I don’t want to take away from my boobs.” Tana revealed, “I’m naturally blonde. Which is really weird cuz I have dark eyebrows, but I’m naturally dirty blonde. I’ve been blonde, I’ve been purple. But red is my favorite cuz red is a hard color to pull off. I have like orange-y skin tones so the red goes with it good.” She maintains a home in Austin where she cools down after working in Porn Valley. “L.A. is the place I get things done, Austin is the leisurely relaxed place.” She feels right at home in the XXX industry. “It’s different. Every day’s different, different places, different people, for the most part. Different scenes. Different dicks. Usually I go home, shower, eat and go to sleep. It’s like a pretty fulfilling day.” To book Tana Lea, contact OC Modeling. Find her on Twitter: @thetanalea. This article originally ran in the January 2018 issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition. Photo by Rick Garcia. For more images of Tana Lea taken at AVN's Talent Night, click here.