Over the Moon: Inside the Fantastic Journey of Luna Star

This is the cover story of the June issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition. LOS ANGELES—When Luna Star first opened her coffee shop she came in every day. She did the serving, the cooking and the cleaning—whatever was needed for three months straight in 2017—at Espresso Cubano in the Coral Gables neighborhood of Miami. “I did everything because I wanted to know everything in it,” Star says. “And it was so funny because people would be like, ‘You’re so pretty, what are you doing working here?’” Not unlike anything else she puts her mind to, Luna wants the experience of coming to her charming establishment to be the best it can be. Whether it’s competitive swimming, selling cigars, running her cafe or performing in adult movies, she goes all out. “What I try to do, I try to do it 100 percent. If not, I don’t do it,” Star tells AVN. “I give my all to everything that I’m focused on. “And I always try to see the good point and the good part about everything. I don’t like nothing that brings me down. I’m a very optimistic person… So I think that’s what helps a lot to grow bigger and faster as a person.” It’s that kind of attitude matched with work ethic that not only have propelled Star’s coffee business, but also her adult entertainment career in the past 10 years. Now her mom manages Espresso Cubano—they talk every day—and she comes in a lot less but will still do whatever it takes to help her shop succeed and take care of her employees. The vivacious superstar tells AVN she loves the life she’s built, thanking her legions of fans for their support along the way. “I’m very grateful for it,” Star says. “You know like everybody that starts this career, you don’t know how long you’re going to do it for. And you know, we have ups and downs. “But ever since I’ve been with [agent Mark] Spiegler it’s been amazing and I always say—because I don’t really need the money—I do love this industry. I love being a performer. I love being an actress. I always tell Spiegler and everybody I probably would do this until they don’t call me anymore. Because this industry makes you feel so good.” Star joined the ranks of the Spiegler Girls in 2016, raising her profile each year and earning a reputation for being a consummate pro. She tells AVN she never wanted to be famous. “I’ve always been very humble,” Star says. “It never mattered to me.”But nowadays fanfare comes with the territory—some of her supporters patronize her coffee shop, while others ask for photos at the airport. The performer at press time had amassed 7.8 million followers on her main Instagram and another 588,000-plus on her backup page to go with 788,000-something on Twitter. “She’s great in every which way,” Spiegler, who has represented eight of the past 10 winners of the AVN Female Performer of the Year award, tells AVN. “She’s really nice and also she’s one of the most professional people that we’ve ever dealt with.” Spiegler continues, “She comes from a humble background and she really appreciates America. She’s always been a hustler from Day 1. She’s always trying to better her position in life. She’s always moving.” *** An exclusive contract girl for Brazzers since 2019, Star has racked up 118 scenes for ZZ alone, including dozens before she signed her performance deal. And with more than 780 credits overall since her porn debut in October 2012, Luna is without question one of the most prolific performers of the past decade. “Luna has been such a powerhouse in the industry and embodies just about every element we look for in a Brazzers contract talent,” a Brazzers rep tells AVN. “We have been lucky enough to work exclusively with Luna for a number of years and she has undoubtedly proven herself as one of most talented performers in the business. “Her look, her attitude and the unbridled energy she brings to each performance has elevated her into the stratosphere of top talent working today. “We are excited to take things next level with her on Brazzers in 2023.” Luna credits longtime Brazzers exclusive Abella Danger with helping her secure her deal with ZZ. “They always love me but they actually give me the opportunity because of Abella Danger,” Star explains. “She was contract with them first and then she spoke to them about me. “And ever since then they helped grow my career. I think they have a big name and they do really good promo for us. They treat the girls really nice. I’m very happy to be with them. I’d probably stay contract with them as much as they want me to.” Abella tells AVN that her friendship with Luna has “blossomed naturally over time with trust, compassion and love.” “I would say my friendship with Luna is a genuine one,” Danger says. “We have known each other for so many years now and I have so many good memories with her. I can open up to her about anything in the world and that is not an easy thing for me to do! But it’s easy with such a kind soul like hers. “Her smile always warms my heart.” Abella continues, “Luna should definitely credit herself with landing her Brazzers contract. Because in reality she is the sole reason she got it. Her sex drive is raw. She doesn’t fake it. She isn’t thinking about it or being calculated, she just has sex the way she would at home. Pair that with her amazing work ethic and good-hearted, vibrant personality and that encapsulates the perfect ZZ contract star.” *** From the day of her first professional scene in south Florida, Star recalls saying to herself, “I think that I’m meant for this.” “It sounds bad but I kind of like always knew what to do,” Luna says with a laugh. “I remember the producers told me the first day, ‘Are you sure you never done this?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, it’s my first day, I promise.’ “I was just always very sexual and very entertainment. I always think about what people want to see when they see me. So I go and do it.” She sometimes would watch porn with ex-boyfriends before she got into the industry. “We’d watch motel porn, horrible porn—and I remember telling him, ‘Like I don’t mind you watch porn. What I don’t like is I’m giving you this Cirque du Soleil here and you’re watching this boring-ass porn!’” Star says. Luna became curious about trying porn herself when her roommate at the time started looking into it. “And I heard her talking to another girl and they were gonna go to casting. They were paying like 500 dollars to show your tits and I’m like, I’m showing my tits every weekend in Miami Beach,” Luna cracks. “I just wanted to see it and I remember it was like a big production for Reality Kings.” Star participated as an extra in a party scene—the main cast members that day that were having sex were two girls and a veteran guy, but Luna noticed their performance lacked energy. “And it was the most horrible threesome I ever saw in my life,” Luna continues. “The two girls were just laying down on the couch. And I remember telling the camera guy, ‘What is happening? Why they are not doing anything? Why they not jumping into each other?’ “And he was like, ‘Oh, you think you can do it better?’ I didn’t say that, but I was like, ‘I would’ve been doing more other things.’” The next day Star booked her first scenes with BangBros and Reality Kings and the rest is porn history. “I just always knew the entertain part of like showing off on camera,” Luna admits. “Like I would never do like that in my personal life. Somehow, but not in that way. “It always felt very natural and I never had to think it twice or never feel bad about it. “Every time I would go to a scene I would feel so liberated after—so free.” *** Born and raised in Havana, Cuba, Luna grew up in a poor community. But despite her circumstances, she was happy. “We never had anything,” Luna says. “And all my friends, we were all poor. And they would all complain about it and I remember I would never complain about anything.” One time on her birthday, Star says she made a cake out of mud. “And everybody was laughing,” she continues. “I was so happy because I was in my little world. And I remember to this day that I got so into my world that I even bite the cake.” She excelled in swimming as a kid, training twice a day and winning dozens medals and trophies at various swim meets. “Butterfly used to be the one I was really good at,” Star says. “I used to be No. 1 in butterfly—50 and 100 meters. And freestyle. … I took my swimming very seriously.” She arrived in Miami when she was 16, breaking records in the pool during her junior and senior years of high school. But she struggled with her language skills. “I graduated with like a high GPA but I didn’t speak English,” Luna says. “It took me a long, long time to speak English, I don’t know why. I used to cry every day for like months.” Undeterred, Star went to college for two years—doing all her homework and always taking on extra-credit assignments to help her grades—but still she had to drop out twice because of her English. Then she got a job in customer service at a medical center for the elderly. “And I used to love it. I went all the way to be a manager,” Luna says. “Because I’m very sweet and I would talk to these old people and I used to know all of them and I used to love that. “So I stayed there until I started the industry. And then I went to a cigar shop and I had that as part time while I was doing the videos. Because you never know how this would turn out.” *** Star explains that it was while she worked at the cigar shop that she learned how to speak better English. “I was a really good salesperson so in three months I sold so much they put me as the manager,” Luna recalls. “I worked seven days a week, 10 hours a day. “It was really good—they paid me really well. Every single customer, we’d become friends, so they would come and teach me English or bring me food. “Some of them would laugh [at my English]. I would laugh with them and I would say, ‘Since you know so much, why don’t you teach me?’ And in two years I learned how to speak proper English better than in school. It’s crazy.” She later became a U.S. citizen, receiving her passport in 2019 and by December of that year she had traveled to six different countries.  “I try to go somewhere new every time,” Luna says. “But my most beautiful place in the whole world is the Maldives. When I’m there I always get with the locals…” An “island girl” at heart, Star says she loves the Maldivian people. “The other place I’ve been that I was very impressed with was Saudi Arabia,” she says. “They have the Red Sea and I’m really into scuba diving. “This year I want to go to Africa and I want to go to Madagascar. I went to Australia before but I didn’t do the scuba diving back then because they say Australia has the biggest reef in the world. So I definitely have that on my bucket list.” One of Star’s favorite hobbies is scuba diving—in fact after she earned her certification one of the first things she would look for in a travel destination was whether she could scuba dive there. “I like the water. I was a swimmer. I feel like that’s the only moment in life that you’re not thinking about nothing else, just seeing your surroundings. It’s beautiful,” she says. Star also is a snowboarder who used to go big with jumps until she started getting injured. “Now I do it more for the fun of it,” she says. The athletic stunner also is learning to play tennis and is getting better at golf. “I really like it,” she says. “Every week I try to find a new sport to do.” *** She reveals that her active lifestyle will be a focal point of her upcoming star showcase for Brazzers that will begin shooting this summer in Miami. “Because I’ve been in features before but I have never had my own feature,” Luna says. “So I’m very happy about it. We’re doing 007 style, Miami style. Cars, motorcycles, I may jump out of a plane… “We’re going to do some crazy things.” A Brazzers rep confirms that principal photography will begin on the yet-to-be-titled showcase sometime in the next two months. “Luna’s upcoming showcase is the result of her wanting to show off her wild side,” the ZZ rep tells AVN. “What many fans may not know is how Luna can push the envelope to the extreme in her personal life—skydiving, parasailing and jet skis are all par for the course. “Her upcoming showcase is the result of a direct collaboration with Luna and working with her to give fans a glimpse of the bold side of her jet-set lifestyle.”  Star earlier this year landed a key role in another big feature for ZZ’s sister company Digital Playground, playing Daytona in the upcoming action epic Machine Gunner. Luna tells AVN her character fit her to a tee. “Their vision for this was the look of Lara Croft like a badass and normally that is how I dress and feel on my regular days, so I loved that I got to play her,” she says. Kira Noir stars as Nicole Ransom and Luna’s character is the second lead of the movie. “And I was playing the new bodyguard and personal killer of the main guy bad guy, Joe Riggs (Alex Jones),” Star continues. She studied her script for four months before arriving on set—which was Day 2 of the production. “I love every scene and I was already imagining how everything will come together, but when I got to set I was mind-blown,” Luna says. “I had this amazing scene when I was sneaking out and searching for Jimmy Cruz (Damon Dice) and Rena Locket (Kayley Gunner). Jimmy got me and I volunteered to come inside to figure out a way to get free again. “It turns into a sex scene with Damon and Kayley. We had amazing, rough scene, and I did some circus things with them. Me being me, I love that they let us have free sex while still in character. I always try to make new positions and more artistic ways to have sex!” Star calls Machine Gunner “one of the best experiences I’ve had in this industry.” “I want to thank everyone that was part of this production, because I know and I actually  saw how hard everyone worked on this and I know they will be so proud when it comes out. Definitely everyone need to watch it,” Luna adds. *** Star tells AVN her mom used to work at Walmart, managing the deli department for 15 years before she took over the day-to-day operations of Espresso Cubano. "And she used to get paid so bad. She used to get paid 600 dollars every two weeks,” Luna says. “And that’s the regular pay rate for those type of work so I kind of talked to her. She said she liked this industry. “So my idea was to open a small coffee shop. And where the kitchen is at I was gonna do a lounge for cigars. “But every single person who ever came into this store told me, ‘Where’s the Cuban food?’ So we started adding sandwiches and then basically like rice, beans. Everything we can make in our small kitchen, we make it.” Now the menu includes all-day breakfast items such as avocado toast and chocolate chip pancakes; tapas; and small bites such as empanadas, tequenos and patelitos. Fellow entrepreneur and adult star Dani Daniels visited Espresso Cubano for the first time in May. Soon Dani will begin selling her own DD Roasters-branded coffee at Luna’s shop. She and her husband Vic Cipolla launched DD Roasters in 2017. “We are in Miami and Luna invited us to the cafe for our first time. Virgins, so to speak,” Dani tells AVN. “We were blown away! It was an absolutely incredible experience from start to finish. “The food was out of this world, and the way they run their operation is simply amazing. My husband is still raving about how delicious the ropa vieja was—and personally, I had the best Cubano sandwich I've ever sunk my teeth into. “And the desserts and other menu items were equally mind-blowing. On top of the fantastic food, the restaurant is situated in a prime location and the staff couldn't have been friendlier.” Star reveals that Espresso Cubano features coffee with an Italian blend. “Because I just did like a coffee testing and the only thing I really like was this Italian which is very strong and you can mix it,” she says. Enter Daniels, who will be collaborating with Star on a new original blend created especially for Espresso Cubano. “We've got something exciting brewing!” Daniels says. “We’re currently in the process of sending Luna a selection of coffees that we think will be a perfect fit for her business. “These coffees are espresso roasts, specifically tailored to nail that delicious Cuban coffee experience. They pack a bold punch but are low in acid, ensuring a strong, flavorful taste without any unpleasant burn. Once Luna lets us know which ones tickle her fancy, we'll work our magic and fine-tune the blends to match her desired flavor profile." Daniels, who will be opening her own DD Roasters brick-and-mortar cafe in Florida this winter, tells AVN she’ll begin her collab with Espresso Cubano by selling her two most popular coffees there—the Breakfast in Bed and the BDSM blends.   ***A homeowner in Las Vegas, Luna moved back to Miami in January 2022. But she tells AVN that LA holds a special place in her heart. “I love LA so much,” she says. “After the pandemic it was never the same. But I love the weather, the food… Miami, I like the water. Today I may get an apartment near the water. I need to be by the water.” When she considers her future, Star says without question, “I want to keep growing.” “I want to keep being better,” she tells AVN. “I feel like every year I have been better and better.”Her plans may involve producing. “When I’m on set, you can ask anyone. … I’m the one saying, ‘Come on let’s go. Let’s put the light… What we doing?’ I’m very on point. I don’t like to waste anybody’s time or my time. I like directing people, imagining how to make it better,” she says. “I think directing is really hard when you have to take over so many things at once. But when it comes to the production part I love it. I love creating new things. I love creating sets. I love outfits. “I just never done it because I’ve always been in front of the camera but if everything happens well in this career at some point I would like to produce. I think that would be such a great thing. I think I would do good, too.” Star continues, “Let’s see what happens. I definitely want to stay in this industry as long as I can. I love it so much, I only talk good about it. I don’t think everybody should be in it. But definitely it is one of the greatest industries in the world, even if people don’t want to admit it.” Photography by Armando Del Vecchio and Luna Star Productions