Gabriel Shams: The GayPornBlog Interview

Posted March 24, 2014 11:00 PM by with 16 comments

When Gabriel Shams first appeared on Randy Blue a few years ago, I was immediately enamored, expecting him to be America’s next big porn star. He did a handful of scenes for them and then … nothing. It turns out he was living abroad, getting a master’s degree, and working the hell out of his body. I was lucky enough to catch up with Gabriel, who’s brought me up to speed on his pretty interesting life. We chatted about escorting, balancing porn with being in a relationship, and this absolutely insane biblical gay porn he’s involved with. He was also sent over these photos (by Joe Oppedisano) so we can see just how fucking good he looks now. 

Gabriel Shams by Joe Oppedisano

Photo by Joe Oppedisano

Not sure where we should begin. When did you get back on the US?

Gabriel Shams: I moved back in January of 2013.  I was getting a master’s degree in philosophy at University of Cambridge as a Fulbright scholar. I wrote my dissertation on the Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. I was living between Cambridge and London. The only reason I didn’t stay is because my visa expired. So I had to come back to the states. Before that I was at University of Pittsburgh, where I got my undergrad in communications and Middle Eastern studies. 

This was before or after you did worked for RandyBlue? 

I did that while I was in still an undergrad in Pittsburgh. I was dating this Israeli who taught me how to work out: I had never lifted weights before meeting him. He was this sexy little guy with big muscles and a big wiener (laughs). I started to pack on some pounds. He’s was a big fan of porn. He brought up the idea of me doing it: he suggested that we apply to RB together and perform as a couple. But unfortunately for him — he wasn’t their style. Maybe he was too beefy? His look is very particular. He’s Iraqi and Polish. 

Gabriel Shams GayPornBlog Interview

Gabriel in his Randy Blue days

gabriel_shams_randy_blue1 

What was it like shooting for them?

It was great. They were wonderful. They always had everything set up. There was none of the weirdness that you would imagine there would be on a porn set. I filmed three scenes for them. And then the night before I was going to shoot my fourth … I fell in love with a Spanish guy in San Francisco. He was shocked when he found out I was in California to shoot porn. He said “I will pay you what they’re paying you to not do it”. I went to LA the next day — everything was set up. I was naked and about to start shooting was like, “You know what, guys? I can’t do this scene.” They were like, “Come again?” And I told them I fell in love the night before with a guy. I said, “Surely this has happened before? But they were like, “No”. I was really embarrassed but super content of my decision. The boyfriend flew to LA that day. He thought I had done the scene and he didn’t know I didn’t do it until he met me at the hotel they put me up in. We were together for 3 years from that point. So that was the end of my porn career for a while. 

gabriel shams randy blue

So why do you want to get back into it now?

I think it has a lot to do with escorting, which I’ve been doing since January, 2013. A lot of my escort friends are in “the industry”. Even when I was doing porn for Randy Blue I didn’t fully own it: I would get embarrassed if a friend or some random person recognized me in a bar. But now I’m like, “So what?” I’m more comfortable with my body than I ever have before — I’ve gained 22 lbs., I go to the gym — I’m happy with how I look whereas growing up I was always twinkish. Now I’m like, “Fuck it, I’m hot!” 

Gabriel Shams by Joe Oppedisano

Photo by Joe Oppedisano

How do you like being an escort?

Its fun … and it’s easy … and it’s hard. Being comfortable is key to escorting (and porn). And having friends who support you. Sometimes I get clients who are so young, hot and sexy and I don’t want to take their money. 

So it’s not just stereotypical “johns,” like … older guys?

No! Actually I don’t know if it’s just because I’m young or whatever, but I get young clients pretty often. I talk about it with my friend, Steven, who’s been escorting for like 15 years. Once he called me up and said, “You’ll never guess what just happened: I had the hottest client ever had and he wants me to come back and bring another escort in two hours”. We were in-and-out in 30 minutes and he was so hot. I don’t watch TV but I found out he’s actually a pretty famous actor. These instances are few and far between but they do happen. 

Gabriel Shams by Joe Oppedisano

Photo by Joe Oppedisano

 

Gabriel Shams DavidLovesJohnathan.com

Gabriel as a Roman Centurion from the set of David Loves Johnathan

So, tell me more about this gay Bible porn you’re doing?

It’s called David Loves Johnathan. It’s new and they’re waiting to the release the pilot episode, which I’m in. It’s not by any means blasphemous or done to “dis” christianity at all. It’s done by an ordained priest, a human rights lawyer, an award-winning director, a christian ethicist. A bunch of faith-based gays who are funding it. Everyone’s doing it under pseudonyms because they’re afraid of backlash.

They’re giving voice to these homoerotic stories in the Bible that have been overlooked over the years. The one I’m in is the first chronologically of the stories and it was really fucking cool to do this: The costumes were awesome and Jesus was awesome (laughs). 

Who was Jesus?

Tommy Defendi.

Ha! He’s perfect. Tell me more about the scene you’re in?

It’s not like they’re pulling these stories out of thin air: They are all based on research and books. My scene is from a story that’s in the Bible. I play a Roman Centurion and one of my servant boys is sick. Has a plethora of servants so why would he care so much about this one unless they were intimate? I ask Jesus to cross into Roman territories to heal him: Jesus heals the servant and they have this moment of realization — this is where the writers and directors have given themselves artistic license with the stories — and the Roman gets jealous because Jesus and the servant messed around. Then there’s this chase scene through the wilderness (which is supposed to be Nazareth). My fuck scene isn’t with Jesus — it’s with my servant. 

So are you interested in doing more porn work?

Treasure Island has been asking me to do something with them for a long time. I always said no because I wasn’t ready to do bareback porn and because I wasn’t comfortable with my body. I went into their offices to talk to them and they convinced me to do a jerk off scene on Max Sohl’s desk. The lighting was terrible and I looked bad. That was a good ten months ago, so I have had 8-10 months to better myself physically and mentally. I’ve been picking up go-go dancing gigs, have a Twitter and Facebook thing going. 

I was supposed to do my first bareback scene last week. Treasure Island had a scene set up: The top was there but the bottom pulled out. They sent me a pic of the top but I wasn’t into him so I said no. I had someone in mind that I wanted to work with, so I contacted him and he said yes. We were all set up to do the scene in the basement of a bar in Chelsea, but the day before, he disappeared. So it didn’t happen. I don’t know if it’s a sign or just the way the cookie crumbles but it hasn’t happened yet.  

gabriel shams gaypornblog interview

Photo by Joe O.

How did you hook up with Joe Oppedisano?

I had a client who hired me for an overnight for his birthday. There was another escort there, and a couple days after I met him, he called me and asked if I wanted to go to Jersey and get some photos taken by Joe. I was like, “Uh… yeah!” Joe and I hit it off really well. I had no problem pouring a jar of honey all over me and rolling around on a dirty floor to see what crazy things I could come up with. He’s super fun to work with. We’ve done four shoots since. He really wants to do something with me, but we haven’t pinpointed what that is yet. 

Gabriel Shams by Joe Oppedisano

Gabriel Shams by Joe Oppedisano

Watch Gabriel Shams in “Fucking Foursome” on Randy Blue

Watch Gabriel & Chris Rockway on RandyBlue

RELATED:
Watch All of Gabriel Sham’s scenes on RandyBlue.com
Gabriel Shams on Facebook
Gabriel Shams on Twitter

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16 responses to Gabriel Shams: The GayPornBlog Interview

  1. Hector March 25th, 2014 at 6:58 AM

    I don’t know why Randy Blue would say no to a hot, muscular, hung, Iraqi/Polish guy. Is Randy Blue a strictly white twink outfit?

    Reply

    • Jack March 25th, 2014 at 5:29 PM

      Well, “hot” is subjective….

      While Randy Blue could definitely cast more black guys, they do feature a lot of hot Latin guys.

      Overall, I would say their models tend to fall more in the category of “muscle” than “twink”, but this, too, is subjective I guess.

      Reply

    • sxg March 26th, 2014 at 7:45 AM

      I think now they’re more lenient towards their looks, at least for solo scenes. But if you look at the models of the past, they were all pretty and gorgeous, almost flawless, and there was very little ethnic features on them, even on many of their black and Latino models. Take Adi Hadad for example. He did a few scenes in 2012, and he was VERY Persian (Iraqi) looking. If he started years before, there would have been plenty more models coming in that they would bypass him for. But it’s getting harder for Randy to get models in to do more than just a solo scene, so they had to broaden their palette.

      I wish Gabriel’s friend had applied to another studio, he sounds really intriguing!

      Reply

      • Gays be trippin' March 30th, 2014 at 9:59 AM

        Persian and Iraqi are not the same mate.

        Reply

  2. Seaguy March 25th, 2014 at 8:32 AM

    Looking forward to his being able to finally shoot that bareback scene so it can be released. He’s hot.

    Reply

  3. davidsask March 25th, 2014 at 9:50 AM

    He is a new person for the better, good on him for returning and getting his education in!

    Reply

  4. anyhoo March 25th, 2014 at 10:09 AM

    He may have an education now, but he doesn’t look healthy.

    Reply

    • Jack March 25th, 2014 at 12:18 PM

      You’re being sarcastic, right?

      Reply

      • Rich March 25th, 2014 at 5:18 PM

        He looks like hell. Beefier, but looks like the last 5 years weren’t so kind to him. He doesn’t sound like the sharpest knife in the drawer.

        Reply

        • Jace March 25th, 2014 at 5:25 PM

          He has a Masters degree from Cambridge, on a Fulbright scholarship, so he’s very, very bright. Which makes his decision to film with Treasure Island Media an interesting one, to say the least. And it may also explain why he looks so old now.

          Reply

          • matt March 31st, 2014 at 1:08 PM

            He does look OLD and a bit weathered for the 31 he claims. Not saying that you can’t be smart and do porn but it makes you wonder why someone that smart with so much education would then sell his body as a prostitute and view doing bareback porn and unsafe sex as a way to advertise his prostitution business?

            Reply

            • anyhoo April 1st, 2014 at 11:20 AM

              Anyone can say they have an education from anywhere. It doesn’t mean it’s true. Lots of people who make things up to pad their resume realize that the odds are in their favor that no one will ever check. Even if he is well educated, a formal education doesn’t mean he possesses the street smarts to avoid the bareback porn industry.

              And no, Jack, I’m not being sarcastic. He looks like he’s deteriorated rapidly.

              Wrap it up!

              Reply

              • Axel September 25th, 2014 at 3:28 PM

                I can confirm on the studies.

                Reply

          • Axel September 25th, 2014 at 3:28 PM

            I met people with master’s degrees that are very knowledgeable about their chosen subjects. And nothing more. That said, he (usually) is a smart guy though.

            Reply

  5. Fulbright Scholar Gabriel Shams Does Bareback Gay Porn | Gay Porn Blog, Porn Stars, XXX News - Queer Porn Nation March 25th, 2014 at 6:22 PM

    […] Gay Porn Blog interviewed ex-Randy Blue performer Gabriel Shams who is returning to gay porn after a six year break during which time he went and did a master’s degree in philosophy at University of Cambridge as a Fulbright scholar. Fulbright scholarship is one of the most eminent programmes sponsored by the American government for cultural studies and this man got the chance to study for free at one of the most prestigious institutions on the planet, only to end up as a gay escort in New York City and now he’s re-entering gay porn to shoot with Treasure Island Media. […]

    Reply

  6. Axel September 25th, 2014 at 3:21 PM

    I’ve known the guy for a while when we both lived in London and just found out he’s done porn. Yet again, in London it’s easier to meet a gay porn actor than anything else.

    Reply

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