Last year saw the release of James Franco’s new film King Cobra – based on the life of Brent Corrigan. But four years ago, when Loverboy was just a little blog named The Back Building, we got the inside scoop on what really happened from the man himself…Ever since he first exploded on to the porn scene, Sean Paul Lockhart (aka Brent Corrigan) has been one of the industry’s most successful performers but also one of the most talked about.
After his boyfriend sent a film of him sleeping naked to producers, Sean signed to Cobra Studios and went on to star in four hugely successful bareback movies. He then admitted 12 months later that he had in fact been underage all along, adding that he tried to warn the studio but producers hinted heavily that this would be a bad idea. He was subsequently slapped with a $1 million lawsuit by Cobra, who claimed they also owned his name ‘Brent Corrigan’. Around the same time, Bryan Kocis, owner of Cobra, was murdered by two rival producers – one theory being that they killed him with a view to signing Sean themselves.
But now Sean has left the drama behind him, setting up his own site, moving behind the camera to direct, acting in more mainstream films, writing about his experiences and even talking about the dangers of unsafe sex.
What made you want to get involved in porn?
Originally I started as a means to support myself. As a young person I never watched porn thinking ‘I’m going to do that one day.’ For the longest I didn’t even think anyone would want to see me in that kind of media. I was introduced to my first Producer through my then-boyfriend. However, I didn’t decide to make it a career choice until I launched my first company at age 19. By then I’d been working in the industry only a short time but I’d been on the wrong end of a very nasty producer who abused his position in the industry.
I wanted to prove that work could be produced without damaging or hurting the models and that it could be done responsibly without risk to the them.
Why the name Brent Corrigan?
Brent is a Scottish name, and Corrigan is Irish. I’m Scots-Irish and I wanted something in line with my heritage. It worked out because even in the early days, I was the only Brent Corrigan around. Search the name ‘Brent Corrigan’ on Google today and you still only come up with my face (and other things, haha). But even seven years ago when I first started I was practically the only one. Except for a principal of a high school. That poor man. I don’t spend as much time figuring out the difference between Sean and Brent today.
How does Brent differ to Sean?
I will admit the real me today has so much to do with the social life of Brent. Socially, I’m accessible and friendly. I’ve learned to be patient and to be polite to everyone no matter who they are. While that is true, I’m not invariably sweet-natured. Fuck with me, embarrass me, or speak harshly toward me and I’ll match you at your level. If I’m a bit quiet and withdrawn when I meet people it’s usually because I’m not feeling up to being ‘on’. That takes quite a bit of energy and truthfully sometimes you just want to be out for a beer, or to lift your weights in the gym, without prying eyes or overt interest.
Brent smiles a lot more; sometimes almost goofily. Sean is very serious. I don’t take myself too seriously, but I am a serious person. I’ve always been a more stoic type of person anyway. The more time I put between me and my active work as an adult model the harder it is to have a distinction.
Do you have a Porn Daddy as Drag Queens have a Drag Mother?
I’ve had guiding hands in my life but none from a fellow performer or producer. The first company I developed was with my then-partner, who was 20 years older than me. He was more of a protector than anything and he guided me as best as anyone could through some seriously tumultuous times.
I think the problem with this type of relationship and why it doesn’t really work for young men is that they think they already know everything. They don’t like to listen. And porn types tend me to be the rebellious sorts already as it is!
You starred in The Velvet Mafia about two rival porn companies. Did any parts of this film ring true to your life?
I still think it’s interesting how people love to talk about this one. It was probably the worst film of my career. The scenes were very awkward to film. I agreed to do the project for Falcon if they promised to promote me under my name, Brent Corrigan. Falcon got what they wanted out of me but bowed to BS claims from Cobra Video that Cobra owned the rights to my name. (Falcon credited him as Fox Ryder)
Even to this day it amazes me how a company as big as Falcon could cower to a little bitty, bullshit company like Cobra Video – but they did. Then again, where is Falcon now? Practically archived for good. I guess in retrospect they had been making a whole lot of poor business choices for a long time.
As far as the rivalry, if you’re trying to draw connections with Cobra Video and the porn company Boy Batter run by Harlow Cuadra and Joe Kerekes, the men who killed the owner of Cobra, then I think you’re reaching there.
‘Velvet Mafia’ was a cheesy, poorly created porno film. Good production value, crap clothes, and weird acting (myself included, I was coached and looking back I CRINGE when I see the B-roll scenes). There was nothing dark or realistic about it.
What happened to Cobra Video and the sole owner of that company was very real for everyone involved. People believed for nearly two years that I had something to do with Bryan’s death and by the time it had been announced that I was a witness and nothing more in Harlow Cuadra’s murder trial, everyone had moved on and stopped caring. And so did I.
I sat on the stand, substantiated the evidence the investigators had uncovered and moved on. Harlow and Joe went to jail for life for the crime they committed on their own accord. Old news.
You filmed with Erik Rhodes, who passed away last year, in The Velvet Mafia. What are your memories of him?
I didn’t know him very well. Isn’t that funny? How you could have sex for hours with someone and not really know them. I remember when I first saw him. I was checking into an Extended Stay America in the valley outside of Los Angeles, where so much of porn used to be filmed. He was walking out of the lobby and I was walking in. I remember he was very grumpy and even though I knew exactly who he was right away, I didn’t even seem to register on his radar. Filming, he was fairly professional and the scene was easy-going – even though those scenes for the big ‘pro’ studios all used to take 4-6 hours to film (and sometimes even longer). When we weren’t filming he spent most of his time joking around with Matthew Rush. They were like girlfriends. This was right around the time when everyone was acting all queeny, throwing ‘Mary’ around and calling each other ‘she’ and ‘her’ – it was ‘novel’ to emasculate giant, titan-like men like Rush and Rhodes.
Outside of our scene he didn’t associate with me. After that, even when we’d see each other in passing in West Hollywood or at any number of gay porn events it was as if I didn’t exist.
As an outsider looking on, he always seemed very sad to me. Definitely unsatisfied and always looking on at the next thing as if what was in front of him wasn’t enough. I think his passing is very sad and I know he was loved by many but he never gave me the time of day – except when Falcon hired him to fuck me – so it’s tough to say anything very outstanding about him.
What advice would you give to aspiring porn stars?
Run far, far away! The money isn’t as good as it once was and I don’t see that getting any better any time soon. But if you insist … I recommend planning on managing your own career and online presence. Write a blog, maintain a twitter account, and do the Facebook thing. Just be sure to adhere to the Terms of Service and always point people back to your website – because you never know when all that social networking might fail and then where would you be? Post first on your blog, link people to the blog entry. If you can’t write, plan to take lots of candid pictures. Be creative. And goddammit – work the fuck out. OFTEN. Porn is no place for an average looking dude with a spare tyre.
What does 2013 hold for Sean Paul Lockhart?
I’ll be releasing my film Truth – it’s a working title so plan on that changing in the near future. I’m filming Dark Place in Portland in April and May. Both are non-adult films. I’ve got a few other things in the works, but more than anything I’ve developed a new article thread on my SPL website www.Sean-Paul-Lockhart.com called Indie Induced. Get a woody for all things indie – log on, get your rocks off. It’s about all the amazing things in queer and indie culture that we should know, love, share and support. It’s a resource!
And finally…does size matter?
Only if you’re planning on sticking it somewhere …
