Interview: James Gunn and his 'Porn' Adventures

James Gunn, creator of the recently launched and wildly popular new comedy web series PG Porn, sat down with Tubefilter for an interview. How does the man who breathed cinematic life into Scooby Doo (twice) rock a sound bite? Details below:

Tubefilter: Thanks for taking time out of your day.

James Gunn: Glad to do it.

TF: Can you tell us how PG Porn came about?

Gunn: About eight years ago, my brothers and I came up with the idea. I was working on some shorts for Xbox and we thought, ‘Why don’t we make porn for people who like porns but don’t want to see the sex?’ At the time, it was an idea for a short, and even then nobody was watching short films anymore, so I held onto it until now.

TF: Was it your idea?

Gunn: No, it was mostly my brother Sean.

(Author’s Note: I, the interviewer, am also named Sean, so I was wondering if he was appealing to my narcissism, because JG has a remarkably charming phone presence. I also wanted to point this out so the reader is aware this interview was conducted by a person with a normal name (Sean) and not some strange presence named Tubefilter, or worse, a person whose name is Tubefilter.)

TF: There are quite a few Gunn brothers in Hollywood. You’re practically Latter Day Baldwins.

Gunn: We prefer to be called ‘The White Wayans’.

TF: So did you cast Sean in an episode?

Gunn: Yes, he is in ‘Genital Hospital’, which also has Belladonna in it.

(Author’s Note: Belladonna is, like, the most unspeakably talented porn star on Earth who does things, regularly, in her films, which challenge both description and the tensile strength of various body parts.)

TF: Was it difficult to sit behind the camera and watch your brother about to get it on?

Gunn: Well, there’s no sex in PG Porn. That’s the whole point. The pizza guy shows up…and they end up eating delicious pizza.

TF: Did it ever get a little close to happening?

Gunn: Belladonna really went after Sean. He was on Gilmore Girls, after all.

TF: Do you use actual porn scripts?

Gunn: No, and you’re not the first person to ask me that. I think they quoted something like that in the [Hollywood] Reporter piece. These are new scripts. We paired up Hollywood actors with adult stars.

TF: I’m sure you cast people you knew for the Hollywood roles. How did you cast the adult stars?

Gunn: First off, Sasha Grey was so hot. I cast adult stars I really like. If you watch the entire series, there are some similarities. After it was over, I found out I definitely have a type. It was just fun to make. The guys were happy to hang out with these smoking hot girls on set, and the girl were so happy doing something new. Yeah, I cast my favorites.

TF: I guess you did a lot of research for the episodes?

Gunn: We watched a lot of porn.

(Author’s Note: JG sounded genuinely exhausted when he said that.)

Gunn: Each episode is set in a different style. There’s late 80s, early 90s. One’s in a classic 70s style. It’s all there. But they all end kind of the same way. Something tragic usually happens before they get to sex, so it never happens. There’s a sort of Charlie Brown trying to kick the football that we carry through.

TF: For two dudes who don’t know each other, we just talked a lot about porn. Let’s change the subject. Do you think The Watchmen will be thumbs up or down?

Gunn: I’ve already seen it. Big thumbs up.