This week, I was lucky enough to speak with award-winning actor Dante Colle. Dante Colle is a young pornstar who is thriving in the porn industry. He is making an impact with several well-known studios, shooting gay, straight, trans, and bi scenes. He is one of the breed of rare actors who have been able to successfully crossover into all genres. Dante has won awards including “Best Supporting Actor”, and “Performer of the Year” from AVN, GAYVN, XBIZ, Grabbys, TEAs, and the Straight Up Gay Porn Awards. All this while also earning the respect of his costars and mastering the ins and outs of the business side of the porn industry.
Today, Dante is most proud of this recent achievement: he was awarded the coveted Performer of the Year accolade presented by XBIZ, the adult industry's leading outlet of industry news.
“My favorite is the award that I just got from XBIZ – all-around “Performer of the Year”. [One for] really everything I had done that has built up to that. Not just for straight porn, [but] having done everything…because you've done all this work, all put into one.”
Dante Colle
Getting Started in the Dante Colle Porn Business
His decision to enter the biz came just as Dante became legal at the age of 18. And because, like in any field of work, you have to start somewhere, Dante answered an ad in Backpage. (Editor's Note: Backpage, as the Wikipedia link shows, is now defunct after seizure by federal law enforcement agencies). Luckily, the ad was for something reputable: straight scenes for Corbin Fisher. Dante shared with MuscleService.com that he didn't talk with anyone before jumping into his new career and shooting his first scene. There wasn't any mental preparation — just taking a chance. Dante Colle porn began when he was a young 18-year-old new to the industry.
Dante says now that he would’ve probably taken a different first step. While shooting with CF, he was introduced to the importance of contracts; today, he would avoid getting locked into the 90-day exclusive contract deal CF required of him at the time. CF automatically locks new hires into a 90-day contract, limiting the chance to shoot with other studios. This experience became an impactful business lesson in Dante’s career, as a result, he always treats the Dante Colle porn work as a business before a career and path.
Listen and Learn
His advice to anyone wanting to get into the industry? “I would say do your research. You can waste a lot of time starting off. Go in with a strategy so you can learn who the people are. Try to learn as much as possible before you go in and networking is going to be your best friend. Think of it as a business. There are times when I've taken a rate cut because I knew people I've met were going to benefit me in the long run. It's a snowball effect ‘treat it like a business, treat it with strategy’. Don't get caught up in the glamour.”
A year and a half after leaving Corbin Fisher Dante started appearing more and more in bi scenes and not up until two years ago started doing straight porn. Successfully crossing over in the industry, Dante has worked for some of the top straight, trans, bi, and gay studios, including Raging Stallion Studios, Adulttime, Babes, Burning Angel, Deeper, MissaX, Pure Taboo, Evil Angel, Falcon Studios, Grooby, Kink.com, Men.com, Noir, TransSensual, and Trans Angels.
“Treat it like a business, treat it with strategy. Don't get caught up in the glamour.“
DANTE COLLE
Bring on the Awards
So with everything, there has to be some praise in order. Dante gave an insight into on-set activity and thank God for award shows because sometimes Dante would be on set from an hour to sixteen hours extending an initial three-hour commitment to an eight-hour workday. His first award? His scene work for Guys in Sweatpants along with Austin Wilde. After having already attended a previous show of the Gay AVN Award show who knew the following year he would return to jump on stage and take home a trophy.
So what makes an actor a good performer in Dante’s mind? Everything from treating the work as a job. Dante explains: “You're supposed to enjoy it but you have to be professional too. Hard to explain but general professionalism. Learn how to be smart with business. At the end of the day, this is a business and this is a job.”
Staying Power
Luckily for his viewers, Dante Colle seems like someone who is here to stay. From starting his career by answering an ad, serving a small amount of time in the Navy, to now winning awards and making a name for himself Dante isn't going anywhere. Loathing the idea of a typical 9-5, Dante is looking forward to new and upcoming projects. With the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic slowly easing up and vaccines being distributed, Dante shares that filming capacity back to 75 percent.
His next project? Well, he couldn't give much detail but he is looking forward to sharing with the world a new innovative movie he has shot. Dante described it as a cinematic experience, new to gay porn with dramatic acting, showcasing an emotionally draining performance that he believes gay culture in porn deserves. I cannot wait to see what this riveting new cinematic masterpiece will be.
Final Fun Fact about Dante?
His first gay kiss was on camera.
Keep up with everything in his world by following him on Twitter, IG, and TikTok at @Dante_Colle. Link to his OnlyFans, Pornhub, JustForFans, Amazon wish list, and more on his official site dantecollexxx.com.
