Kayla Kayden on Renewed Focus, What Drives Her & Going Big

A version of this feature appears in the February issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition. When Kayla Kayden signed with OC Modeling last year, she was asked what type of scenes she’d like to shoot. “They handed me a list,” Kayden said, “and I literally checked every box.” Gang-bangs and blow-bangs? Definitely. Double penetration and squirting? Duh … of course. Double vaginal—and even double anal? Hell yes! Bring it! “I literally want to do everything,” Kayden said. “I’m ready to try it all.” In some ways Kayden is making up for lost time. A former Playboy model, Kayden has been regarded as one of the most beautiful girls in porn since entering the industry in 2014. “God was kind to her,” Sandra McCarthy, Kayden’s agent, said. “Every time I’m with her, I think ‘My gosh, you’re so gorgeous I can’t even look at you.’” Still, the most-compelling narrative surrounding Kayden isn’t about the star she already is. It’s about the icon she could become. Kayden has never shot more than 27 scenes in a single year. Every time she appeared to be on the path to mega-stardom, her momentum was squelched by a jealous boyfriend. It wasn’t unusual for Kayden to take three- and four-month-long breaks from shooting because of the problems her job caused in her personal life. “I was dating someone outside the industry, and my home life was miserable,” Kayden said. “It eventually became unbearable.” Things changed in 2018 when Kayden ended the relationship and became romantically involved with longtime performer and director Toni Ribas. The couple had a child together in August of 2019 and were married this past October. After being away from the business for nearly two years, Kayden made her return last summer and ended up with 13 credits in 2020. Kayden, 32, said she’s entering 2021 with more drive and determination than ever before. She said the encouragement she receives from Ribas, an AVN Hall of Famer, has had a huge impact on her confidence. The couple shoots regular content for her OnlyFans site. “Being in a relationship where my career is supported … I’ve never felt like that before,” she said. “Now I feel like I can do anything that I want. After I had my kid I had this huge boost of energy. This whole year, I want to push myself to go as hard as possible. I want to do all the things I never got to do before.” Kayden, who grew up near Syracuse, New York, said there were plenty of signs during her youth that she was destined for the adult industry. She recalls the awkward moments of silence among her high school friends when she’d make inappropriate jokes. “I was super-interested in dicks,” said Kayden, adding that she routinely looked up pornographic images on myspace.com and cut out sex-related articles from magazines. Kayden even gave her former boyfriend a copy of the legendary adult film Pirates on his 19th birthday. Her friends told her she was “overly-sexed.” “Everyone was like, ‘You’re going to be a porn star one day,” Kayden chuckles, “and I was like, ‘No I’m nooottt!” By the time she was 18 Kayden had moved with her family to Arizona. Not long after she began doing mainstream shoots for the lingerie company Yandy, Kayden’s mother informed her that Playboy was holding open auditions in her town. “I thought, ‘My gosh, is my mom suggesting I do Playboy?’” Kayden said. “Knowing she was OK with it … it made me completely comfortable. I didn’t mind being naked in front of people.” Kayden went to the casting and ended filming a show for Playboy TV that very same day. It was the first of many appearances on the channel for Kayden, who was then hired to work as a hostess at parties at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy mansion wearing nothing but body paint. All the while, though, Kayden continued to think about taking the next step and transitioning into porn. She said she began web-camming about 10 years and also started recording her encounters with men. “I thought they were all going to stay private,” Kayden said, “but instead they ended up online for the whole world to see. At that point I figured, ‘Well, now that all these videos are out there, I might as well make good ones.’” Kayden shot her first professional scene with Keiran Lee in 2014 for Brazzers and ended up with a 10-scene contract for its parent company, Mindgeek. A second contract followed for five scenes, and then Kayden inked a deal with Naughty America. “From the very first scene, I’ve never felt uncomfortable shooting porn,” Kayden said. “I’d been waiting a long time for that moment, so when it came, I was ready.” Also a highly-sought-after feature dancer and gentlemen’s clubs across the country, Kayden said she was lucky to have her younger sister to lean on for support. Kendall Kayden is also an adult star and has even appeared in a BBGG scene with Kayla in the 2020 Elegant Angel film Sister Sister. “We have each other’s back,” Kayden said. “We used to motivate each other. We’d drive to LA together in the beginning, and it was always interesting to hear what each other had to say. She’s going to start shooting again, so I’ll be working with her more.” Indeed, Kayden has big things planned for 2021, and she vows that nothing will slow her down. She said she and her husband have become masters at juggling parenting duties with their career. Trips to LA to shoot always include a return flight to Kayden’s hometown of Vegas that same night so she can be with her child. “When you’re striving to be with somebody and create a family, it’s nice to be able to go home and say, ‘I had a tough day on set’ or ‘My flight got delayed’ and have them understand,” Kayden said. “Other people won’t want to hear it. Toni and I have that communication. “He sees how much I want it and how motivated I am. He’s the kind of person that will support someone who has dreams and strives to be in the industry. He has his own goals, too. I’m always there to support him.” Kayden said she’s also putting an emphasis on staying in a good place both physically and mentally. The two go hand-in-hand. “Sleeping right and eating right are both so important,” she said. “I try to make sure that, every morning, I wake up super positive. That way I walk around happy and motivated. Seeing my trainer and talking to people regularly are big things for me. I’ve noticed that when I’m alone and not talking to anyone, I’m not as motivated to be the best person I can be. But when I communicate with people and talk to people and hear other people’s ideas, it always motivates me to be a better person. "I want to branch out and have more friends in the industry. I want to talk to more people and understand their jobs and how they got there. If you talk to more people, you build yourself and strengthen yourself. You become wiser.” Kayden has already shot scenes for two different showcases that will be released by Elegant Angel in the coming months. McCarthy, her agent, said the feedback she’s received from directors about Kayden has been off the charts. “The industry needs more people like Kayla,” McCarthy said. “Unfortunately we get a lot of girls and guys who are in porn just because it’s a paycheck to them. But it’s not just a paycheck to her. It really means something to her, so she puts 100 percent of everything she has into it. “She has a good head on her shoulders. She’s not here to party. She’s more mature than everyone else and she knows what she wants. That’s why she’s going to be one of the top girls in 2021. Just wait and see.”