Joanna Mostov (born 1980), professionally known as Joanna Angel,[1][2][3] is an American
pornographic film actress, director, and writer of
adult films.[4] She founded the website BurningAngel.com in April 2002 with her roommate Mitch Fontaine, and has been credited with helping the growth of the
alt porn genre.[5] Launched as a response to websites such as SuicideGirls, the website featured alternative performers acting in exclusively
hardcore scenes with a stronger focus on a
punk aesthetic.[5]
According to the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Angel is believed to be the first person in the pornography industry to have been raised in
Orthodox Judaism.[2] She worked in a
kosher fast food restaurant in
Teaneck during high school, then at an
Applebee's and another restaurant called Happy's Health Grille during college.[7] She eventually relocated to the
Williamsburg section of
Brooklyn, New York, and with Mitch Fontaine created the website BurningAngel.com.
Pornography career
Angel is a former model for SuicideGirls, a softcore pornography website. In her early 20s she founded the "indie-punk-porn" site BurningAngel.com, featuring interviews and stories of sex with band members, along with nude photographs. Drawing inspiration from a live sex performance by porn actress
Nina Hartley, Angel later began making
hardcore movies for the site.[1]
According to Encyclopedia of the Zombie, Angel is "regarded as a major influence in the mainstreaming of
alt porn", and is credited with making the genre financially viable.[1] She has produced and performed in several
zombie-themed hardcore films: Re-Penetrator (2005), Dong of the Dead (2009), Evil Head (2012), and The Walking Dead: A Hardcore Parody (2013).[1] She said in a 2006 interview, "I think [alt porn is] a movement. I think I've started something."[8]
Angel has written, produced, directed and starred in films available exclusively through BurningAngel, as well as appearing in more traditionally distributed adult films. She was under an exclusive contract with
VCA Pictures, which expired in March 2007, and was, at one time, represented by the adult talent agency Bad Ass Models.[citation needed]
In 2011, Angel was named by
CNBC as one of the 12 most popular stars in porn. CNBC noted that she owns her own studio and that the "punk look" that she and her other actors share has created a new genre in the porn industry, called
alt porn.[14] Also, in 2011, Angel made a cameo on the
Adult Swim show Childrens Hospital, in the season three episode "Night Shift." She played herself as a porn star and family friend of
Rob Corddry's character Dr. Blake.[15][16]
Angel sometimes appears on
Cracked.com as a friend of the columnists and appears in the music video for "Sound Wave Superior" by
Emmure.[17]
Angel dated fellow porn star
James Deen for six years, between 2005 and 2011.[23][24] On December 2, 2015, she appeared on The Jason Ellis Show to give more details about her "violent and scary" six-year relationship with Deen.[24]
On October 31, 2016, Angel married Aaron "Small Hands" Thompson, another adult film actor.[25]
2015 AVN Award – Best Porn Star Website – JoannaAngel.com[39]
2015 Inked Award – Group Scene of the Year (with
Skin Diamond, Kleio Valentien, Natalia Marie, James Deen, Mr. Pete, &
Mick Blue) – All About That Orgy[40]
2017 NightMoves Award – Best Director, Parody (Editor's Choice)[45]
2018 XBIZ Award – Best Actress, Comedy Release – Jews Love Black Cock[46]
2018 XBIZ Award – Best Sex Scene, Comedy Release (with Abella Danger & Isiah Maxwell) – Jews Love Black Cock[46]
2018 XRCO Award – Mainstream Adult Media Favorite[47]
2019 AVN Award – Best Supporting Actress – A Trailer Park Taboo[48]
2019 XBIZ Award – Best Actress, Comedy Release – Dirty Grandpa[49]
2019 XBIZ Award – Best Supporting Actress – Talk Derby to Me[49]
2019 XBIZ Award – Best Sex Scene, All-Sex Release (with Ricky Johnson, Isiah Maxwell, &
Prince Yahshua) – Joanna Angel Gangbang: As Above, So Below[49]
2019 NightMoves Award – Best Director, Non-Feature (Editor's Choice)[50]
2019 Inked Award – Group Scene of the Year (with Karma Rx & Small Hands) – All Access POV 2[51]
^
abcdefMarks, Laura Helen (2014). "Angel, Joanna". In Pulliam, June M.; Fonseca, Anthony J. (eds.). Encyclopedia of the Zombie: The Walking Dead in Popular Culture and Myth. ABC-CLIO. pp. 2–3.
ISBN978-1-4408-0389-5.
^
abSchechner, Richard (2013). Performance Studies: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 36.
ISBN978-0-203-12516-8.
^Levin, Eric (December 19, 2007).
"A Woman on Top". New Jersey Monthly (January 2008). Retrieved December 31, 2012. Possibly the world's first Jewish punk porn star with a BA from Rutgers, Oradell native Joanna Angel calls the shots on both sides of the camera and minds the bottom line. ... Joanna (real name) Angel (stage name) grew up in an orthodox Jewish family, graduated from Riverdell High School in Oradell, and earned a BA in English from Rutgers in 2003.
^Loftus, Cindi (April 2007).
"Joanna Angel". Xcitement Magazine. Archived from
the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
^Angel, Joanna (2005). "... On Being a Feminist with a Porn Site". In Milne, Carly (ed.). Naked Ambition: Women Who Are Changing Pornography. New York: Carroll & Graf. pp. 233–244.
ISBN978-0-7867-1590-9.