Jason Vario is a good example of why it can be hard for me to do my job, mainly because he is so unbelievably good looking that it can make any normal gay man quiver. His chiseled features, gorgeous smile and more are backed up by his intelligence, charm and appeal that I recently found out when we chatted this past weekend about his booming career. The interview with him actually turned out to be one of my favorites for the men that I have profiled in this industry, and here’s why.
Although he used to be known by a different name in the adult industry, Jason Vario has become a force to be reckoned as he is starting to work with some of the top studios, one being my personal favorite… TitanMen. His versatility in his scenes are powerful from top to bottom, and he should no doubt be on everyone’s lips in 2017 and beyond.
Jason lived in Manhattan for a stint recently but now resides in Calgary. We chatted this past weekend on how he got into the industry, people he would love to work with, and even some of his guilty pleasures from food to television. Check it out.
How did you find yourself in the industry and get into TitanMen?
Initially I started the industry right out of high school. I used it to pay for my university tuition, which was really expensive. I majored in behavioral psychology which my mom paid for the first time and then I had to drop out due to family issues so when I decided to go back, she wasn’t keen on paying for it a second time. I did some local stuff in Toronto that was under a different name and whatnot and then took a break from it for a couple of years. Then a good friend of mine, Bruce Beckham, decided to get back into it after a seven-year hiatus and he kind of threw it out there for me to do so as well. We had a bit of a crush on each other, so it was kind of an excuse to work together. Then I got into working with TitanMen. TitanMen has spoiled me, it is like a gay summer camp; a nice paid vacation with some great guys. They take very good care of us.
Did you have any inspirations of men that were in the industry already that propelled you to join?
Not too much, honestly. I don’t have any social media associated with my “porn” alter ego, I’ve never really wanted to get too into it. It’s been a great way for me to make money, meet people and travel a bit. I grew up a skinny, nerdy introvert so what better way to break out from your shell in a big way than do porn! I’ve always had little porn crushes, but as modeling myself after anybody I kind of just go in with a good attitude and be me. I’m still kind of new to all of this, as far as the grand scheme of things, so I don’t feel that Jason Vario has an identity yet.
It is interesting that you mention being a skinny introvert as that seems to be a very common thing with men in the industry.
I’ve always been very liberal, my mom is extremely liberal, so sexually I was never repressed and my whole life I’ve been about pleasure and new experiences because you lead an interesting life in doing that. I got into fitness not for vanity, it was more because I was a very sick child all the time so it was more about improving my diet. I also had really bad scoliosis, so it was either really painful back surgery or working out, and that helped me break out of my box a little more.
Do you have a favorite scene partner that you have worked with so far, and why?
That is a tough question! I don’t think it so much about the scene, but the scene partner. It is cool encountering different guy’s methods when going into scenes. Some don’t want to know their scene partner at all, they kind of want to go in and get the job done. Very mechanical or professional, however you want to put it. Because I am so new I want to get to know the scene partner. For me, going into the industry of porn, sex is something that is very intimate so I feel I should at least know them before I go into them.
I did a scene with Lorenzo Flexxx which we both really hit it off. We are both nerdy kind of guys, he has got some Final Fantasy tattoos on him. I remember the first day we hung out we played Pokemon Go and then had a great scene. He is totally my type- power bottom, beefy, muscle, all of that. So that was really fun.
Do you have anyone in the industry that you are dying to work with?
I’m actually really open to recommendations because I don’t follow any of this; I’m not on social media and I don’t have any “porny friends” besides the ones that I listed off. I’m really new to it, like there are guys I’ll see in a certain scene that I think are really gorgeous but don’t know their names, per se. Right now I only do safe work (condom), which limits my options. I’m open to working with anybody, because people that I didn’t think I would have any connection with I actually had amazing ones with, and then ones that I thought I would I actually didn’t. There is what you see on the surface and then behind the curtain, so I am open to whomever. I appreciate big, burly muscle, so that is what my type typically tends to be but then the connection can trump anything.
You touched on this before, regarding barebacking in the industry. Thoughts on it?
Let’s be honest- we all would prefer to bareback. It’s hot, its spontaneous and in the moment but you need to have education behind it and risk assessment as well. I have mixed feelings regarding pRep in the community; HIV rates have gone down which is great but along with that every other thing has gone up, exponentially. I have many friends who work in clinics and it is a bit of a double-edged sword where it protects the big scary guy AKA one thing but then it doesn’t for all the other diseases you can get.
I’ll be in New York and go on Grindr and Scruff and catch a lot of guys lying, saying they were on pRep just to make an excuse to bareback when they were actually on retrovirals and already had it. I know human nature, my studies were in behavioral psychology, and everybody lies to a degree. It was just really disheartening to see the amount of people that would lie about it and wouldn’t take their safety into account. I’ve always referred to pRep as your airbag, and condoms are your seatbelt- you should be using both. It shouldn’t be your automatic go to, and I know friends who don’t even know what a condom is anymore. It’s frustrating.
I would go to Europe and the guys there would just assume that I was undetectable. It didn’t make sense. Of course I have nothing against guys who are HIV positive, two of my ex’s are, however I did find this to troubling while I was over there. I grew up in Calgary where there is no scene here whatsoever, so I would go great lengths of time without sex. I would rather jerk off or rather find someone that I can have more intimate sex with, than risk it. This sounds funny, but I get tested each time before I go down to a shoot to where I carry my results with me in my wallet. I have a partner now, but when I did hook up, I would still carry them around. People thought that was weird, they even thought it was a trick, but it was really for me to cover my bases.
Onto something a bit lighter, I wanted to see what are your favorite things outside of your profession. So… what was your favorite TV show this past year and why?
Definitely Game of Thrones, and I was very late to get on the bandwagon for that so I had to binge watch the first couple of seasons three years ago but am currently up to date. It was our Sunday ritual, watching the show with my boyfriend, and I was such a nerd that I would go on YouTube and research the back stories and whatnot. I’m also trying to get into WestWorld, but I just find that the books were much better than the show itself.
Do you have a favorite movie from this past year as well?
I’ve seen so many this past year to where I’ll go once a week. The Star Wars: Rogue One movie was great, Passengers was as well even though it didn’t get good reviews. I just find that a lot of movies today don’t really hit home like they used to. For instance, I love Suicide Squad because Harley Quinn is one of my favorite comic book characters of all time, but the movie was kind of a let down because it was very PG for their brand.
Do you have a guilty pleasure food you like to indulge in?
Many! I kind of just eat what I want. My biggest weakness is A&W Chubby Chicken Burgers, they are mini with pickles and special sauce. Definitely that. Also Baconators from Wendy’s, I used to eat two or three of those a day. I moved back in with my mom earlier in the year and she is an amazing cook, moer of an old school type of cooking with a lot of butter and sauce, so any of her baking knocks it out of the park.
What are you most hopeful for in your career moving forward?
One thing I want to do is explore many studios and see their methods. Whatever I am doing in my life to has to have a background, so I like to see if they are doing different things from the producers you work with to the set crew and how everything is done. I would love to work with MenAtPlay because they have always been one of my absolute favorites, even though I don’t think I have the look. I think I have the body for it but don’t have the face, like Bruce Beckham has that classically handsome and stunning face but I don’t really think I have that. We are our own worst critics though. I would love to go Spain and work with them. Mainly just continue to travel, meet some cool people and see some great places.
Jason Vario has some new scenes happening at TitanMen, which you can see more of here.