Steven Soderberg, the artsy and risk-taking director of sex, lies and videotape and Ocean's Eleven, has delved into a normally off-limits pool of actors for his new film, The Girlfriend Experience. Former AVN Performer of the Year and porn starlet Sasha Grey has been cast in the lead, showing that porn isn't the realm of nobodys and bad actors. While, like much of television, bad actors abound in porn due to the low weight of 'acting ability' in performers, there's nothing to say that a porn actor is guaranteed to be a bad actor. Nina Hartley, Traci Lords, and Ron ! Jeremy have had moderate success moving into mainstream films. Harley and Lords have had dramatic successes in supporting roles, but porn stars tend to get roles where "it's funny to have a pornstar in that role" or cast as parodies of themselves, and top billing is usually above the acting 'glass ceiling' for them. This is a remarkable event for a director of Soderberg's stature to recognize talent in a business that tattooes a scarlet letter on anybody who takes a little dick in the process of their art.