PORN STAR INTERVIEW: ZARIO TRAVEZZ
Diversity champion Zario reveals a Klan skeleton in his family closet!
Diversity champion Zario reveals a Klan skeleton in his family closet.
DNA: Zario, what’s your background? Where are you from?
Zario Travezz: I’m from Birmingham, Alabama. I just moved to Los Angeles in January of 2018.
Birmingham, Alabama has a notorious racist history… The Ku Klux Klan bombed a Baptist church one Sunday morning in 1963 and four young girls were killed. What was it like to grow up there?
Well, interesting story: my grandfather was a Ku Klux Klansman.
What the…!?
Yes, I grew up in Birmingham with my mom, dad and little sister. I am biracial; my mother is white and my dad is black. At the time that I was conceived, interracial married was still illegal in Alabama; my parents married shortly after I was born. For the first 13 years of my life, I never knew my grandfather, grandmother and a couple of my aunties on my mother’s side of the family. My grandfather was in the Klan and he and two of my aunts couldn’t bring themselves to be around my mother’s black husband and interracial children. One of my aunts became terminally ill with cancer – that’s around the time they started to open up to us – and I finally got to meet my grandparents and aunties. Also, around that time, my mother found a lump in her breast and was diagnosed with cancer; she passed away two years later when I was 15. For the most part, I’ve lived a fairly happy life, aside from losing my mother. After living in Alabama for a majority of my life and experiencing so much racism and conservative back-woods, backward ass ways of thinking, I finally realized that I needed to get out!
Is there a big difference between LA and Alabama?
[Laughs] There’s a huge difference! Let’s start with the people: everyone in Alabama, including many of my family and friends, are trapped in their small-town way of thinking. Everyone is content with where they live and what they do for a living. Well, I wasn’t. Also, it seems like everyone is on a constant hustle in Los Angeles, including myself, which is the complete opposite of Alabama. Also, there is always something to do in Los Angeles, whether it’s a party, concert, festival, sports event, television show viewing or just going to the beach. There’s never a dull moment in LA.
Jussie Smollett, the actor from Empire, was physically assaulted for being a gay man of colour. Do you worry about your own safety?
I ain’t ever scared! Hate crimes against people of colour and gays are still so common in the USA today. It really saddens me. I hate that Jussie had to experience that. As far as being scared… I do get scared when it comes to the wellbeing of others;
especially those who do not have the capacity to defend themselves. Growing up, I went to some really rough schools and it taught me to watch my back everywhere I go. It doesn’t matter if I’m in Beverly Hills or Compton, I am always aware of my surroundings. You can’t live your life in fear but you can be cautious.
How did a nice Southern boy like you get involved in the porn industry?
I grew up in a very religious household; my parents raised my sister and I as Jehovah’s Witnesses. As you may know, this is a very strict religion. Around my mid- to late- teens I realised that organized religion was not for me. After I moved out of my dad’s house I met my first boyfriend; we were together for four years. My ex lived in Seattle, Washington prior to us getting together so we would take trips there to visit his family and friends. On our trips, my boyfriend and I would go fuck around at the bathhouses, which is when the idea of doing porn first occurred to me. I applied to studios prior to moving here but I was never able to get work until I moved to Los Angeles.
Hate crimes against people of colour and gays are still so common in the USA today.
Not long ago, we didn’t see many men of colour in the gay porn industry. Now it’s mainstream and widely accepted. Are you experiencing a “new visibility” as a man of colour?
Yes, and I think it’s absolutely great! I feel like I entered the industry at just the right time. It would be nice to see every studio not exclude anyone from being cast for a film solely based on their skin colour or ethnicity. We have a long way to go within the industry when it comes to uniting everyone.
Do you think this new visibility will influence the broader gay community on, say, dating apps? It’d be great to see less “No blacks, no Asians” statements, right?
Yes, I definitely see the community shifting in a better direction when it comes to diversity. As far as “No blacks, no Asians” goes – I think that’ll always exist, to some extent, but I don’t think it’ll be as common in the future as it is now.
You’re new to the industry but have become very popular very fast. To what do you attribute your quick rise to fame?
Working hard, good networking, having good professional skills, staying at the gym, keeping good company and, the most important thing to do in life, period, is to stay humble. Bareback is now more common in the porn industry than condom use. How do you feel about that?
Yes, from what I’ve heard, bareback is a lot more acceptable now than it used to be, especially since PrEP has been made so easily obtainable. Everyone I’ve met in the industry, so far, is either on PrEP or undetectable. I’m still careful because PrEP doesn’t protect you from other STIs.
Does the porn industry has anything to worry about in the age of #MeToo?
I’m completely for the movement! I have not been the victim of sexual assault but I have a few friends who have been. I know of guys in the industry who have come forward about being sexually assaulted and this movement definitely helps people gain the courage to speak out.
How do you feel about the current state of politics in the USA?
Fuck Donald Trump and the whole GOP. They are evil people who do not care about anyone else except themselves – the one percent. They’re screwing everyone and getting even richer in the process.
What do you have to say to Trump supporters?
You are all fucking idiots.
Outside of porn, what are you doing?
I work for a manufacturing company as an account manager.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Free from student loan debt, a successful realestate agent, a porn director, and I’d to graduate from being a porn actor to being a porn star.
At the sticky end of the interview, can you give us your basic stats please?
I’m 31, 5-foot-10 (178cm), 170lbs (77kg) and have an 8-inch cut dick.