Asia Carrera

Texas A&M (MSEd) St. Mary's University (JD)

Asia Carrera Lemmon (born Jessica Steinhauser, August 6, 1973) is an American former pornographic actress.

Early life

Asia Carrera was born Jessica Steinhauser in New York City to a German mother and Japanese father, the oldest of four siblings. She was raised in Little Silver, New Jersey, and attended Red Bank Regional High School. At the age of 16, she taught English at Tsuruga College in Tsuruga, Fukui, Japan.

At 17 years old, Carrera ran away from home due to overwhelming parental pressures and attempted suicide several times. She received a full scholarship to Rutgers University, but dropped out after realizing she could make large sums of money dancing and modeling. Soon after leaving Rutgers, she moved to Los Angeles.

Carrera is a member of Mensa, with an IQ of 156.

Career

Adult film career

Carrera's adult film career started in 1993 and she appeared in over 350 adult films. In 1995, she became the first Asian performer ever to win the AVN Female Performer of the Year Award. Carrera retired from the film industry in 2003, following her marriage to Don Lemmon.

Carrera lent her voice to several erotic hentai OVAs for publisher Pink Pineapple, such as Inmu (2001) and Shusaku (1999). In October 2001, Carrera attended the Big Apple Anime Fest in New York City for her voice roles and, along with Kobe Tai, was an Opening Night Guest of Honor at the fest's Midnight Anime Concourse.

Carrera was featured in the 2012 documentary After Porn Ends, which documents the lives of actors after they leave the adult film industry. In the documentary, she discusses her membership in Mensa. Despite being a celebrity member of the group, the organization refused to link to her website because it contained pornographic elements.

Other work

In 1998, she appeared in an uncredited cameo role in the film The Big Lebowski in the faux pornographic movie ''Logjammin''' within the film.

Carrera was a guest reviewer for Maximum PC magazine.

Personal life

Carrera is an atheist. In November 2014, she wore a colander on her head for her Utah driver's license photograph. State law normally prohibits the wearing of hats in driver license photos, but there is an exception for religious headwear and Carerra's colander was worn in honor of the religion of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. She is one of about a dozen "Pastafarian" Utahns who have worn a colander in their official state ID photos.

In September 1995, Carrera married adult film director Bud Lee. They divorced in 2003, but remain good friends. She married nutritionist and author Don Lemmon on December 19, 2003. The couple moved to St. George, Utah, where she gave birth to a daughter on March 4, 2005. On June 10, 2006, Lemmon was killed in a car accident outside of Las Vegas. Seven weeks later, on July 31, Carrera gave birth to the couple's second child. In June 2012, she gave birth to a boy whom she later placed for adoption.

In 2015, she was arrested for DUI with "a reported blood alcohol content of .254 percent – more than three times Utah’s .08 legal limit." She pleaded no contest in exchange for avoiding jail time and was sentenced to house arrest.

In 2015, Carrera began studies at Utah Tech University, where she was joined two years later by her 11-year-old daughter. At that time, Carrera's daughter was the youngest student to attend college at Utah Tech, and the youngest full-time college student in the state of Utah.

Carrera has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Utah Tech, a Master's in Education from Texas A&M University, and a Juris Doctor from St. Mary's University School of Law.

Awards and nominations

• 1995 AVN Female Performer of the Year
• 2000 AVN Best Couples Sex Scene – Film (Search for the Snow Leopard)
• 2000 AVN Award nominee - Best Actress – Film
• 2001 AVN Hall of Fame inductee
• 2007 XRCO Hall of Fame inductee – XRCO Members' Choice

References

Citations

Sources

• Nakamura, Eric (1999). "Big Money Shot: Asia Carrera". Giant Robot.
• Pollard, Nate (2011). "Interview: Asia Carrera". Verbicide.

References

1. Samantha Sadlier. (November 18, 2014). "Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster 'Pastafarian' makes statement". The Spectrum.
2. (November 17, 2014). "Ex-porn star wears colander in driver's license photo". [[USA Today]].
3. McDonagh, Maitland. "Question: Is Barbara Carrera, ...". TVGuide.com.
4. Jenkins, Jack. (November 19, 2014). "'Pastafarian' Ex-Porn Star Gains The Right To Wear A Pasta Strainer In Her Driver's License Photo".
5. "Asia Carrera: Why I do porn".
6. "House of Truth: Asia Carrera interview". House of Truth.
7. Carrera-Lemmon, Asia (December 7, 2016). [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211167115836474&set=a.1097645724087.2016727.1314957667&type=3 (Untitled)]. Facebook. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
8. [http://1057thehawk.com/the-top-10-porn-stars-from-new-jersey/ "The Top 10 Porn Stars From New Jersey"], [[WCHR-FM]], November 1, 2016. Accessed October 8, 2018. "Asia Carrera - Born in NYC, but grew up in Little Silver, going to Red Bank Regional High School."
9. "The Women of Porn", ''[[Playboy]]'', March 2002, page 128
10. Sager, Mike. (September 2011). "The Porn Identity". Playboy.
11. (July 2004). "They're Accomplished, They're Famous, and They're Mensans". American Mensa.
12. Cosmin Turcu. (May 30, 2011). "Căutătorii de genii au recrutat 173 de români". adevarul.ro.
13. "Asia Carrera - iafd.com". iafd.com.
14. Steve Javors. (February 27, 2013). "Interview: AVN Female Performer of the Year Asa Akira".
15. Clements, Jonathan. (2006). "The Anime Encyclopedia". Stone Bridge Press.
16. (May 8, 2001). "Shusaku and Inmu Details". Anime News Network.
17. (November 14, 2001). "BAAF Wrap-up PR". Anime News Network.
18. (May 15, 2012). "'After Porn Ends' Documentary Reveals The Dark Side of the Industry and Life After Porn". Huffington Post.
19. Berlatsky, Noah. (September 13, 2012). "Ex Porn Stars are the 99 Percent".
20. (2007). "I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski: Life, the Big Lebowski, and What Have You". [[Bloomsbury USA]].
21. (2007). "The Big Lebowski". [[British Film Institute]].
22. ''[[Maximum PC]]''. July 2002. p. 72.
23. Jenkins, Jack. (November 19, 2014). "'Pastafarian' Ex-Porn Star Gains The Right To Wear A Pasta Strainer In Her Driver's License Photo". Think Progress.
24. Sadlier, Samantha. (November 18, 2014). "Ex-porn star OK'd to wear colander in DMV photo". [[USA Today]].
25. "Bio". asiacarrera.com.
26. (June 16, 2006). "Obituaries: Lemmon Jr., Donald". [[Las Vegas Review-Journal]].
27. Asia Carrera. "Asia's Bulletins". asiacarrera.com.
28. "Asia's Bulletins!".
29. Asia Carrera-Lemmon. (September 21, 2012). "I struggled long and hard with many...". [[Facebook]].
30. Jenkins, Kevin. (January 8, 2016). "Colander-wearing atheist enters plea in DUI case". The Spectrum & Daily News.
31. Ricks, Spencer. (December 21, 2017). "Mom, 11-year-old daughter team up as DSU classmates". [[Dixie State University]].
32. Havens, Emily. (2016-11-04). "11-year-old prodigy enrolled full-time at DSU". The Spectrum.
33. Paul, James. (2017-11-29). "An 11-year-old College Student Gets All A's!". USA Today.
34. "Past AVN Award Winners".
35. "AVN 2000 Nominations".
36. "AVN Hall of Fame".
37. Hunter, Todd. (April 6, 2007). "Hillary Scott Big Winner at XRCO Awards". [[XBIZ]].
38. (5 April 2007). "XRCO 2006 AWARD CATEGORIES, NOMINATIONS, AND WINNERS".