While adult
Entertainment and traditional Hollywood exist, they have always lived on separate tracks. Occasionally, you'll get someone like Ron Jeremy or Sasha Grey who manages to leap into mainstream acting, but they probably won't be a household name even then.
Most will leap cult classic or B-movie status, such as stars like Traci Lords. However, there are a small number of outliers who have leaped a career in adult entertainment into the mainstream. Among those few, seven famous faces are listed below.
1. Larry Hankin
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In 1977's China de Sade, he played a non-sex part. Linda Wong plays a Chinese agent who gets involved with a sadist den in this Charles Webb thriller. Hankin is a movie agent (credited under the name Lance Hunt). Not much is known about the film to explain how he got involved. He's hardly the only future mainstream actor to play a non-sex role in an adult film.
2. Simon Rex
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Before he entered showbiz, he was a responsible young man. At 18, he needed rent money while working as a busboy and aiding his girlfriend and her child. His adult-business-working girlfriend arranged up some shoots for him. Sebastian was credited with these solo masturbation videos (a name bestowed upon him by the director). Since then, he's had a successful acting career, with only three adult videos (outside of their uses in compilations)
3. Sibel Kekilli
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Sibel Kekilli, however, had long since left pornography behind. She starred in a couple of adult films between 2001 and 2002 before being spotted in a mall. This led to her being cast in Head-On. Her parents cut off communication with her after she was outed by the film for her past. After a string of successful parts, she was cast in Game of Thrones.
4. Wes Craven
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According to him, he quit school to work in pornographic films. He directed films under pseudonyms and played non-sex parts. His first credit is 1972's It Happened in Hollywood (the same year as his film debut). Between his first and second movie, he directed one as Abe Snake in 1975. His connection to the adult industry explains Fred J. Lincoln's role as one of the film's villains. He's hardly the only future director who started as an adult.
5. Cameron Diaz
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At 19, she modeled topless S&M leather lingerie. The narrative behind the shoot is evident (she was a model with no acting aspirations), but the story following her stardom is renowned. John Rutter, the photographer, wanted $3.5 million to prevent their dissemination in 2003. She sued him instead of giving in to blackmail. Despite her attempts to avoid their dissemination, they were distributed on a Russian website titled "She's No Angel" Rutter was sentenced to more than three years in prison for attempted grand theft, forgery, and perjury.
6. Jackie Chan
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Jackie Chan was an uncredited extra/stuntman in 1975. So he starred in the Hong Kong sex comedy All in the Family. Chan considers the film pornographic, even if it's softcore. It has one of his only sex scenes and is a riskier part than his others. Drunken Master (1978) brought Chan box office triumph; the rest is history.
7. Sylvester Stallone
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He became destitute and slept in a bus station after being evicted. Stallone saw a casting notice for The Party at Kitty and Stud's. Instead of robbing someone, he took $200 for two days' work. Without his surprising popularity, the picture would have been a forgotten softcore film of its age. Stallone refused to buy the film's rights for $2. Instead, the creators retitled the film The Italian Stallion and added explicit sex scenes.