I had talked with Gany Meat a couple of years ago about starring in a film of mine. Finally, in “Obituary: My Name is Leo” we got the chance of making that a reality. When I was developing the role of Leo I was captivated by the ideas of kindness and innocence meeting with ambition and aggressiveness in the body of a multi-faceted character. With his sweet demeanour, Gany Meat was the perfect choice to bring Leo to life.

Hello, Gany Meat! So nice to sit with you and discuss this film. So, to start: Who is Gany Meat? And how did you choose your performer’s name?

Hi! Gany Meat is a homophone of Ganymede, a hero from Greek mythology whom Zeus fell in love with because of his breathtaking beauty. As Homer described it in the Iliad; Zeus, in the form of an eagle, abducted Ganymede and brought him to the Mount Olympus where he was granted eternal youth and immortality, serving as the cupbearer of Zeus. This relationship evolved into a so-called paiderastía; a romantic relationship between an adult male and an adolescent male. 

This myth made those kinds of relationships socially accepted in Ancient Greece, and it became an accepted lifestyle for ambitious young men to have an older established man educating them in various fields and even leading a romantic relationship with them. 

I attended a language-specialised High School, and my specialisation was in Latin. I studied it for many years, and it was my favourite subject. As soon as I learned about Ganymede in Latin class, I was simply fascinated by this persona and his story. Of course, back then I was like 17 or 18, and I had no idea about the stuff I would be doing in the future. When I tried to come up with a name for my alter ego (which I would classify Gany Meat as) I immediately thought of him, and that’s how everything developed basically.

“I’m still trying to fathom the answer about why I express myself the way I do currently. It could have been an act of protest in the very first place, a rebellion against my parents.”

 

What’s your relationship with porn and adult arts in general? And why did you choose to express yourself through them?

I am still trying to fathom the answer about why I express myself the way I do currently. It could have been an act of protest in the very first place, a little rebellion against my parents. But, of course, it is more than that by now. I definitely consider myself an exhibitionist in any case. All I can say is that I simply enjoy spectators while engaging in sexual intercourse. But I have no idea about why precisely that is the case.

“Obituary” was your first film with Noel. How was working with him?

Filming with Noel was such a different experience than shooting for big commercial gay porn production companies. I enjoyed it so much more. As actors, we were treated with decorum (which doesn’t happen every time), everyone on set gave their best to contribute towards a fantastic outcome. Noel gave very clear instructions which I very much appreciated and I never felt left out or ill-informed at any point during the process. This experience really raised the benchmark for which potential future collaborations have to clear for me to accept them.

“When Noel told me that I would star with Bishop, I was bubbling with excitement. And as it turned out, very rightly so.”

What attracted you to participate in Noel’s films? Was there any particular film that spiked your interest?

It was not one film in particular that raised my interest in Noel, but more so the selection of actors that were so beautifully portrayed in all of his scenes. And years ago it became a sort of dream for me to work with Noel.

 

“I simply enjoy spectators while I’m engaging in sexual intercourse. I’m an exhibitionist.”

You star with Bishop Black in this film. How was the experience of working with Bishop?

Just like it had been a goal for me to work for Noel, it was also an ambition of mine to work with Bishop. So when Noel told me that I would star with Bishop, I was bubbling with excitement. And as it turned out, very rightly so.

 

Was it challenging for you to go from shooting traditional sex scenes, to act in a narrative film? 

Acting in narrative films was, in fact, how I started many years ago, back when I was still in High School. I often acted as an extra or had small speaking roles in some German TV series. After moving to Berlin, I played some main characters for various short film productions (all non-sexual). I still have a showreel online somewhere (and I am still technically listed in some agency as an actor) but my interests have shifted away from that. So it was super exciting to finally be able to connect sex scenes with an actual narrative and acting!

 

“When I find myself in a downward spiral of bad feelings, I try not to use social media and just focus on my immediate surroundings which are usually not bad at all.”

As a worker in the sex industry, how did the pandemic affect your life these past months? 

Well, the start of the pandemic was also my start in getting involved with sex work on a bigger scale. Before that, I engaged in sex work very rarely and was more focused on modelling. But yeah, I only started to monetise Gany Meat in April this year. Luckily enough, I have been employed all these past months while doing my Master’s degree at the same time, so I was fortunate enough not to be affected by pandemic as much.

 

As a young person, how do you deal with anxiety, especially in a society continually pushing us to reach our goals as fast as possible?

I have a therapist, and I value seeing them very much. I sometimes feel I’m not enough or not good enough. Those feelings usually just push me down a vicious cycle which is so hard to escape and then, very suddenly, everything just gets worse. When I find myself in a downward spiral like that, I try not to use social media and just focus on my immediate surroundings which are usually not bad at all or even really comforting. Those are sporadic phases from time to time, which I think many of us feel. All in all, I do consider myself happy. 

Watch “Obituary: My Name is Leo”by Noel Alejandro here.

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