Jenna Jameson at Erotica L.A. held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, Calif. on June 23, 2007.

When a secret government agency lets out a deadly chemo virus causing the reanimation of the dead, the first place to get hit is the hot underground strip club, Rhino. As Kat (Jenna Jameson), one of the club’s strippers, gets the virus, she turns into a supernatural, flesh-eating zombie stripper, making her the hit of the club.

The strippers then fall into two categories -- the girls who follow the star stripper to become zombies themselves, and the ones who choose to fight it, until they obviously can no longer compete.

As more of the strippers are turned into zombies that are feeding on the clientele, club owner Ian Essko (Robert Englund) stuffs the once-dead customers in a cage in the basement, for lack of a better idea, and revels in all of the money his reanimated strippers are bringing in.

Adult industry superstar Jenna Jameson crosses over into the mainstream in a big way, with her starring role in the Triumph Films slasher flick Zombie Strippers. Aside from possessing the considerable skills responsible for her success in adult entertainment, Jameson displays a natural ability for comedy, as well as a fearlessness, when it comes to working while covered in blood and rotting flesh. The 34-year-old, newly retired porn star spoke with MediaBlvd Magazine about her desire to be the best at whatever she does in life.

MediaBlvd Magazine> What attracted you to Zombie Strippers?

Jenna Jameson> First of all, I am a huge horror movie fan. Always have been. I used to sneak out of my bedroom at night and go turn on HBO. My favorite movie was John Carpenter’s The Thing because I loved the fact that it made it so I couldn’t sleep. It freaked me out so bad, and I loved that adrenaline rush. I’m a porn star, so I obviously have a thing with adrenaline. But, horror movies always made me have that weird, yummy sexual feeling.

MediaBlvd> Before you even knew it was sexual?

Jenna> That’s exactly right. I had no idea it was sexual, but there is this weird, indescribable feeling that I get from horror movies. So, when they put this script in front of me, I was like, “This title is brilliant -- Zombie Strippers. Of course, everybody’s going to love this movie, especially if you’re male.” But, once I started reading the script, I was like, “Wow, this is so telltale of what my life has been, fighting against the establishment, being a rebel, never letting anybody tell me who I should and shouldn’t be.” So, I loved the fact that it had so many political undertones. It’s not really what you would expect with a campy, dark movie like this, so it was exciting to even be a part of it.

MediaBlvd> How important was the political stuff to you?

Jenna> It was really important because my whole entire career has been based upon taking cover from the establishment. When Bush came into office, I had just started Club Jenna. I was producing my own movies, which was a big departure for women, in my industry. No women really did what I did, so all of a sudden, I had this glaring spotlight on me from the right wing psychos saying, “You’re going to go to jail. This is obscenity.” And I was like, “Hold on a second! What do you mean? This is art. Are you kidding me?” So, I really spent a good portion of my career worried about whether or not I was going to go to jail.

MediaBlvd> If you were against the government intrusion into strip clubs and lap dances, what could you do to help the cause?

Jenna> Support your local stripper. No, I think that it’s really about living free. Whenever there’s something that bothers you, when it comes to what’s going on in your community or what’s going on in your government, you need to do something about it. Don’t just sit there and complain about it. Go out and do something about it because it makes a difference. I bought a strip club in Scottsdale, Arizona, called Babes. It’s been there for 30 years. When I bought it, the mayor of Scottsdale tried to close me down. The club had been there for 30 years, but just the fact that I bought it made her want to close it down because she thought that I was going to be bringing in drugs and prostitution. This is what people that aren’t in the know think of my industry. It’s embarrassing that people can have such lack of knowledge. So, I went and fought the city council, and I won, and she ended up stepping down. She’s no longer mayor, which is amazing. It just goes to show that one person can make a difference, when it comes to those kinds of things. So, vote.

MediaBlvd> Did you have to familiarize yourself with the philosophy cited in the film?

Jenna> Like Nietzsche? Yeah, I thought that it would be important. I fancy myself a smart chick, so I went into it thinking that I’m well versed and that I know what I’m talking about. Then, Jay (the director) said, “You’re going to be reading Nietzsche in the opening scene,” and I was like, “Who?” So, I tried to do a little bit of studying, when it came to getting ready for my character.

MediaBlvd> Now that you’re making Hollywood movies, will you become one of those actors with a no nudity clause?

Jenna> I already have one. No, I’m kidding. For me, nudity is incredibly expected. People know more about my body than I know, so I really want to approach this in a different way. I want to do things that aren’t expected of me, so getting great roles is on my agenda. If nudity comes along with it and it’s called for, then that’s fine. It’s very easy for me. If you work this hard on your body, you should show it off.

MediaBlvd> Do you worry about any potential casting couch situations?

Jenna> No. People are so intimidated by me, are you kidding? If some director or producer tried to do that, they know they’d be put in a headlock, pretty quick. I do date the UFC champion of the world (Tito Ortiz), so there are no worries.

MediaBlvd> What was your first meeting with Jay Lee like?

Jenna> I wanted to go into it and show them that I am this character. When I read this script, I was like, “This character is me. It’s not going to be a big stretch for me. It’s this bossy, streetwise, jaded stripper. Okay, that’s me.” So, I just went in and they said, “Do you need choreography training, or anything like that?” And, I said, “Actually, I’ve danced all my life, so no worries there.” And, within five minutes of meeting Jay, he was like, “You got the part. No problem. You’re done.” So, it was pretty easy. Seriously, it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in business, 100%. It was a very easy situation. The only hard part was the make-up process. That was brutal. It was 6-8 hours in the makeup chair. For my end fight scene, where I get my legs and arms ripped off, I had to have an exoskeleton put onto my body and I had to stand on weird bars that propped me up and had the skeleton dangled underneath me. It was crazy. There was a lot put into this movie. I didn’t really know what I was getting into, when I signed up. Halfway through it, I was like, “Oh, my God!” I spent two hours a night, trying to get all the blood off. That stuff stains your skin and your hair. I was pink for like a month, afterward.

MediaBlvd> Had you seen Jay’s previous film, The Slaughter?

Jenna> I had not seen the movie prior to meeting him, but once I did meet him, I watched it. I was immediately taken. He’s able to really capture what horror fans really want to see, which is super gore. If I watch a horror movie, I don’t want to have the whole build-up, like with Alien, which is also great. I just want it to get to the part where they rip the heads off. So, when I read the script, I was like, “Okay, if they can pull off this stuff, this is going to be the best horror movie ever made.” Once I saw the final film, I was like, “Holy shit, they pulled it off!”

MediaBlvd> Did you get the same thrill, making a Hollywood movie, that you did with your adult films?

Jenna> I think that I got more of a thrill. After 13 or 14 years in the adult industry, I was becoming somewhat jaded, and a little bit bored. So, I was excited to do something that I was super passionate about. I really, really loved the idea of being a scream queen. This was the ultimate. I got to be a powerful girl in a horror movie. I wasn’t just this little girl getting her head ripped off, or her throat ripped out. I played a powerful woman that ate men. I love that. I’ve always wanted to eat a man.

MediaBlvd> Why do you think you became the number one star in porn?

Jenna> I don’t know. I’m really driven to be number one. I always have been, all my life. With anything that I do, I feel like I need to monsterize it. I just have to be number one. I’ve got to exceed everybody’s expectations. I want to change people’s views and I want to surprise people. And, I knew that being a porn star is something that a lot of people, at the time, really looked down on. I knew that I would actually be able to bring a new kind of power and feminism to what people perceive to be pornography. I saw it as a huge challenge.

MediaBlvd> How much of it was your look? Could you have been every bit as successful, as a brunette?

Jenna> Yeah, absolutely. And, I tried it for a little while. I really believe in building a brand and an image. I was known as this girl-next-door, that was relatable, for so long that, when I dyed my hair brown, people just didn’t get it. They couldn’t process it. So, within a couple of months, I went right back to blonde. I was like, “Okay, this is my moneymaker.”

MediaBlvd> So, it’s about the hair then?

Jenna> It’s the full package. You have to have the whole thing. I had my breast implants removed last year, partially because I didn’t feel comfortable with them, but it was also a rite of passage for me. Retiring, I felt like they were something that held me back, as a woman. I didn’t feel as real as I do now. There is an image that you build, as a porn star. You have to be a certain way, and look a certain way. It’s nice to make a departure from that now.

MediaBlvd> Hasn’t porn become more mainstream than horror now?

Jenna> It’s kind of crazy. Nowadays, a lot of B-list and C-list actresses have to become semi-porn stars in order to become popular, like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. There are a lot of them, like that girl, Audrina, from The Hills, who just released those nude photos. Every time the paparazzi are waiting for me, that’s what they ask me. “What do you think about this girl’s pictures?” I’m like, “Obviously, that’s what they have to do to be a star now. They have to be Jenna Jameson.”

MediaBlvd> As a professional, do you resent these amateurs?

Jenna> It’s fucking great, man. They’re just making what I do, so much more solid. But, they need to start polishing up their game. After watching that Kim Kardashian movie, I mean, come on, girl.

MediaBlvd> What advice would you offer would-be sex tape celebrities?

Jenna> Buy a lighting package. Seriously, get yourself a tripod and a lighting package because nobody likes cellulite.

MediaBlvd> How do you get your body ready for the beach?

Jenna> Now that I’m with Tito, my whole life is based around being athletic. We work out together, and I bust my ass in the gym, not because I want to be thin or paparazzi ready, but because it’s about my health now. I went through a cancer scare, about three years ago, and I beat it. Ever since then, I really focus myself on being healthy and feeling good. I have a lot more time on my hands now, so I can work out. A lot of women out there don’t really have that. They have kids, they have husbands and they have jobs. We can’t expect everybody to look like a supermodel. I’m just lucky because it’s my job.

MediaBlvd> What’s your best move on a stripper pole?

Jenna> There is an art form to stripping. I was just talking to a friend of mine because I was thinking that I want to start doing a women’s retreat, where I teach them how to really be self-aware, feel great about themselves, be sexy and own their space. And, one of the things there will be pole dancing, for sure, because it is the best exercise on the planet. It’s very powerful. Every man should do it, too. I know every man wants to spin on the pole, once in their life. If nobody was in the room, they would try to do that little stripper spin once. In the stripper world, if you can climb the pole to the top, you’re a stud. And, I’m like a monkey.

MediaBlvd> Is that really hot, or just impressive?

Jenna> I think both. Being impressive is hot.