Not just another Barbie

The bubbly and blonde Monique Covet is one of Hungary?s most famous porn stars. After stumbling into her first movie role, Covet has gone on to become a huge international success. Covet challenges the stereotype of the typical porn star, as she is not a typical dumb blond.


The bubbly and blonde Monique Covet is one of Hungary?s most famous porn stars. After stumbling into her first movie role, Covet has gone on to become a huge international success.


Covet challenges the stereotype of the typical porn star, as she is not a typical dumb blond. She struck me as an open-minded and intelligent woman, who is presently taking a break from making films and is searching for true love.


Covet began modeling at 16, posing for innocent advertisements. Eventually she started to do topless shots, and then finally nude. Meanwhile, she left school and started studying marketing.


Her step into porn came by accident when she was flown to Paris for a modeling shoot. Her manager asked her to do a porn film instead.


"They offered me a lead role right away as they said I had star quality," she said. Asked what went through her head when they asked her to do the film, she said, "I am the kind of person who tries everything once. Everyone was so kind to me. I thought that if this is the situation, why not try it?" And so she did.


Her first film was made on a boat opposite the Sydney Opera House. She said that she wasn?t fazed by the task ahead and claimed, "I couldn?t tell the difference between normal sex and making the movie. I had a really good time!" However Covet said this caused problems at the beginning of her career as she couldn?t separate her private life from her work. "I was having sex with my boyfriend and I suddenly realized that I was posing and making faces and the sex wasn?t even that good! So I took a six-month break to step back and try to love someone." Covet said she doesn?t have these problems anymore and is now able to totally separate her private feelings from her work.


Having watched only one of her movies (which are very hard to find in Budapest as nearly all are only released in the West) I noticed that Covet didn?t play a weak female, the traditional role of women in porn and she assured me that she is no victim. She said she hates the way woman are made subordinate by men in society and strives to make a different kind of film. "Just because men have penises this doesn?t mean they are the superior sex," she said.


There is a scene in one of Covet?s movies where she makes love to a man with a strap on dildo. We giggled over the fact that this was her idea. "If we women have to take it from behind, then why not a man?" she said. The director loved the idea, but wanted to make sure Monique could do a "proper" job. Monique rushed to assure them that she was capable and the producer gave the go ahead.


I asked her if she realized that by making love to a man she was reversing the traditional roles in sex where the woman is passive and receptive and the man is the "proactive" one, for want of a better word. Covet gushed that it was definitely a conscious thing and added that she also strives to make her movies more appealing to women. She said that when she makes a movie she always keeps her female audience in mind. "I make my films so it?s not just a wham-bam experience, but aesthetically pleasing, interesting and erotic," she said, pointing out that she always insists on working with good-looking men (no pot bellies and white socks!). Perhaps due to these efforts she gets many love letters from women fans.


Covet explained that when making porn movies before you can have control over who you want to work with and where and when, you have to prove yourself. "You have to show that you have an opinion and that your ideas are good," she said.


As Covet?s career took off she was able to create the concepts for films, write entire stories and choose her fellow actors. Fellow Hungarian porn star Michelle Wild accused Covet of being hard to work with, but this comment did not rattle Covet. "I?m opinionated," she said. "I demand professionalism from all those I work with. I don?t tolerate mistakes. If someone gets a part in a film but then starts complaining, obviously I?m going to tell them where to go. I?m not interested in their personal grievances as I am there to work."


Covet has been noticed internationally and won many awards, including "Porn Oscars" in Las Vegas in the Best Film and Best Actress categories and various other awards all over Europe.





Personal life


After spending eight years in Germany, Covet has moved back to Hungary and for the time being has given up starring in porn films. She has chosen to concentrate on her personal life and various other projects.


She has an erotic magazine out bearing her name and The Clan Restaurant has her as their host every Friday night. "I organize the programs and am involved in the striptease and lesbian shows," she said. Covet said that they also have amateur couples who get on stage for live sex shows. She explained this was a joint idea of her and the owner. The owner reasoned that if a porn star was going to be the host, then they should have a show that was erotic and sexy, so they came up with the idea of live sex shows.


"I lived in Germany a long time and over there this kind of show is totally normal. So we thought we?d try it in Budapest. Challenge the prudes!" she said. She expressed relief that many couples had been willing to give "live sex" a go and claimed that more and more people were showing interest in the shows, not just men.


Single at present, Covet confided that she would like a lasting relationship. Admitting to being a strong and opinionated woman, she reflected that finding a man strong enough to match her was "very, very hard". "Men don?t like it if a woman knows what she wants," she said. "In my case, they imagine a dumb blonde Barbie doll and when I say something intelligent they are totally taken aback.


"And with the career that I have, it is truly a horror combination. Also, no one could stand the fact that I was always traveling."


Covet said she was enjoying being in Hungary as she had missed her friends and family and was happy to put her super busy lifestyle in the past. She said that she had made many enemies during her career. "There was a lot of jealousy, a lot of fighting and bickering and I got sick and tired of all this. Now I?ve got cats. I can go home in peace and know that no one will bug me or order me to get on the next flight to somewhere."


She said that she might start making porn movies again, but she was not sure. "I?ll never say never!" she said.

25.07.2002