Porn award nod for

Marc is first Scot nominated for prestigious Prowler gong

AS a young boy growing up, Marc McAulay always wanted to be in the air force.

But after realising his military dream, his career took an unexpected turn - into the adult film industry.

Now the 29-year-old, who was born and raised in Monifieth, is celebrating after being nominated at the Prowler Awards – described as “the biggest night in Europe’s gay porn calender”.

Now five years into his career, Marc is one of the only professional porn stars in Scotland and is the first Scot to be nominated for a Prowler, where he is up for five categories including Best International Porn Star.

Marc said: “In history I am the only Scottish person to have ever been nominated for one of these awards and I am up for five.

“I literally couldn’t believe it when I got the email.

“These awards are like the red carpet of the gay porn industry and all the biggest names are there so it really is like my name is in the spotlights now.

“I look at the winners of previous years and they are now living in America with penthouse apartments and luxury cars even just a year after they have won.

“So that is the goal for me, hopefully by next year I will have my own penthouse too.”

The nominations consolidate a steady rise to fame for Marc, who joined the RAF as a regiment gunner in 2012 after dreaming of the career since he was a child.

However, just three years later his life would change when he was approached by an adult entertainment agency who asked if he’d like to take part in some photoshoots.

Marc, who now stays in Edinburgh but still visits family in Dundee, admitted the transition happened by chance – and he still struggles to believe just how quickly his career has taken off.

“As a child I was a member of the air cadets and it had always been a dream of mine to join the RAF, which I achieved in 2012,” he said.

“However by 2014 I realised I wanted to come out of the service full time and become a reservist.

“Around this time there was a competition called Mr Gay UK which was a kind of modelling competition.

“I decided to enter it just for fun really and I ended up getting through.

“That’s where it all started for me.

“I was then approached by adult entertainment agencies who asked if I wanted to get involved.

“Back at that time it was only about £150 a shoot and I had to travel down to London on the night sleeper bus from Dundee bus station.

“Now if they want me to film they will fly me down or get me a first class train ticket, so it’s much better and I get paid quite a bit more now too – I make roughly £1,500 each shoot.

“When I was going to do my first sort of casting calls you are really thrown in to the deep end so it was quite daunting and nerve wracking.

“However the directors seemed to like me and I got my first feature film.

“From then on I didn’t expect my career to take off as quickly as it did so it was a lot to get your head around.

“Now the companies I work for reach a global audience and have more than one million subscribers which is just absolutely mental.”

Despite his whirlwind change of vocation, Marc says he was surprised by just how accepting those around him were, including the Ministry of Defence, those in his squadron and his family.

He added: “I was actually really shocked at how decent the RAF and the MoD were about me going into the industry and still being a reservist.

“Of course they have rules and boundaries but ultimately said as long as I don’t wear my uniform in films or bring the RAF into any of the shoots they were quite happy to let me continue.

“All the guys in my squadron are also fully aware of what I do and despite the occasional joke here and there everyone was really accepting which was great.

“When it came to telling my family I first told them I was doing a bit of underwear modelling and things like that but when my following was getting bigger I knew I needed to let them know what I was really doing.

“Despite them being a bit shocked they were quite accepting as long as they didn’t see any of my films. I was more than happy with that arrangement as I don’t want them to see any of it either.

“When it comes to personal relationships outside of work I find it really easy to separate the acting in the films to a real life relationship.

“In the adult industry it really isn’t sex, it is long hours in the same positions in front of the cameras.

“So separating the two is really easy for me and when getting into new relationships I have been very lucky in that my partners have either been totally accepting or have known what I do beforehand, which is great.”

The adult entertainment industry has a somewhat outdated perception of being seedy and unsafe, but Marc said the companies he works with have performer safety at the top of their agenda and rigorous testing is done before every shoot.

And it is not just their physical health they look out for either.

Marc said: “Years ago, people would often give the industry a bad name when it came to safety