Image via Complex Original
Last Friday, Eminem released the video for his latest Recovery single, "Space Bound" (which you can watch above), starring retired porn star Sasha Grey. Grey, best known for her award-winning adult film career, has been foraying into more serious acting lately, the kind where she gets to keep your clothes on and, you know, actually act. Since her work in the indie drama The Girlfriend Experience and on HBO's Entourage, along with modeling gigs for American Apparel, Grey has become an unlikely "It" girl within the mainstream.
The beautiful brunette isn't the first porn star to collaborate with Marshall Mathers, though. In fact, Em has built a reputation of casting adult film actresses in jokier videos for blatantly gratuitous bits, which sets Grey's more dramatic role apart. In the bleak "Space Bound" clip, Grey plays Eminem's love interest whom unwittingly fuels his self-willed demise. Which makes her first (former) porn star not cast for her adult film past.
Well, that's just our observation; feel free to draw your own conclusions, while gaining newfound appreciation for Mr. Shady, as we look back upon Em's history of casting porn stars in his videos.
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Jenna Jameson
5. JENNA JAMESON
Music Video: "Without Me" (2002)
In "Without Me," Eminem's superhero counterpart Rap Boy (in Robin's costume) puts Bruce Wayne to shame. Before suiting up to answer the call of duty, Em wakes up in bed with quintessential porn queen Jenna Jameson. Given the entire video was a compilation of timely pop culture parodies, Jameson's pointedly self-aware cameo was definitely warranted and quite the pleasant surprise.
Gina Lynn
4. GINA LYNN
Music Video: "Superman" (2003)
Although Em's "Superman" video never stood a chance at making it onto Total Request Live, it still became one of the MC's most memorable. A large amount of credit is due to Gina Lynn, who starred as his love interest in what essentially seems like softcore porn disguised as a music video (that's NSFW, obviously). In the clip, Em and Gina strip down, throw each other around, and eventually begin teasing each other through a peephole. A tough day at the office, no doubt.
Paris Hilton
3. PARIS HILTON
Music Video: "Just Lose It" (2004)
At the height of Paris Hilton's fame as a socialite turned one-time porn star, she appropriately made a cameo in one of Eminem's silliest celeb-roasting videos (the targets this time: Michael Jackson and Madonna, among others). Hilton plays a club girl who punches Em in the stomach to satisfy his apparently sadomasichistic request. We speculate that casting directors thought she was perfect for the slightly S&M role after they accidentally sat through an episode of The Simple Life.
Lisa Ann
2. LISA ANN
Music Video: "We Made You" (2009)
It's not difficult to see why this single, and its accompanying clip, became instantly infamous. In both, Em took shots at everyone from Jessica Simpson and Lindsay Lohan to Jessica Alba and Sarah Palin (played by Lisa Ann). With her bazookas poking through her blazer and a polar bear, a hunter and an eskimo surrounding the desk she was dancing on, Lisa Ann amped up Sarah Palin's Alaskan sex appeal.
Sasha Grey
1. SASHA GREY
Music Video: "Space Bound" (2011)
In the video for his latest, and one of his darkest, singles from his 2010 album Recovery, Eminem plays a tortured man who's consumed by his affection for his former lover, portrayed by retired porn star Grey. But save your assumptions given her past roles; the focus of video isn't her sex appeal nor her bedroom abilities. Rather, as the jean-clad girl-next-door whom Marshall's character follows like a ghost in the night, she becomes the solemn object of Em's obsession, the focal point for his character's insanity and the haunting image of his hallucinations.