Chanel Santini

Chanel Santini is part of a new generation of transgender porn performers who are helping to define the sex-positive, body-positive segment of the adult industry.

Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Chanel decided to enter porn as a means of funding her gender transition. She had started with hormone replacement therapy in October 2014, in addition to several other means of moving closer to her female identity. (For instance, she noted in 2015 that she practiced singing in a higher-pitched voice to make the timbre of her speech sound more feminine.) "I don't think people really plan to work in this industry, we kind of just fall into it," she told AIP in a 2017 interview. "I for example moved to Las Vegas two weeks before I turned 18, with my best friend at the time, the opportunity came to me and I took it as a means to get by." Her first scenes appeared in 2016, including several solo sequences for Rodney Moore's Shemale Strokers series. More recently, she netted nominations for Trans Performer of the Year (XBIZ, 2018) and Transsexual Performer of the Year (AVN, 2018).

Chanel has shown a particular skill for spoof and parody roles, including take-offs on Tomb Raider and Wonder Woman. "Doing all these different parodies is a lot of fun," she said in 2018 at the Transgender Erotica Awards. "Putting the costume on for the first time, you feel so empowered, like such a badass!" Her prep for scenes includes drinking lots of water and getting a good night's rest.

Above all, Santini emphasizes that people should focus on being their true selves and not adhering to other people's ideas about them. "As long as you're comfortable with yourself and you're happy with yourself, it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks," she noted in a video on her official YouTube channel.

Biography Text ©Adult DVD Empire