Stripping on Screen
Jade Greene's Adult Film Debut
In the new film “Swarm” a brilliant female scientist and her young intern race against time to save humanity from a deadly swarm of genetically government-modified cicadas. As the 2024 cicada emergence turns catastrophic due to a botched Department of Defense experiment, Dr. Veronica Brennan and her assistant Stella are humanity's last hope. Dispatched to rural Georgia, they learn they must locate and exterminate a deadly colossal queen cicada to halt the swarm's deadly rampage. Armed with only a vaccine, an ionic bomb and their wits, the duo navigates a sea of deadly insects, their growing bond adding a poignant layer to their desperate quest.
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“I don’t think I can do this… Can I do this? A fucking movie?” I thought to myself. I absolutely wanted to but the more I thought about my challenges, the more I worried. So I contacted Bella Vendetta, who had recommended me for the role in the first place, and she was very real with me. “If you can’t do this, you need to tell them NOW.” So I did. I wrote an email, backing out of the best opportunity I’d been given in recent history.
The next morning, I had a text from the director of the movie. “I got your email. Can you call me?” I thought, of course I could give this man the respect of explaining myself to him over the phone; I hadn’t expected the opportunity to do so but I would certainly take it. I was shaking when it came time for the phone call. I had done my best to sketch out what I wanted to say and how I might best express how much I wanted to work with this company in the future… and I was blown out of the water with what came next.
On the phone, director Colin Rowntree stopped me before I could launch into my prepared monologue and went into his own; he told me he had been among the people who contributed to the reasonable accommodations clause for the Americans with Disabilities Act, how I was perfect for this role, and how he was willing to make accommodations within his ability to ensure I was on his set, fulfilling his artistic vision of this film. By the end of the conversation, I felt empowered and supported. Could I actually do this? Holy shit!
One month later, I was in a car, next to my friend and photographer, now a Production Assistant, driving to film the next Wasteland movie. As we pulled into the driveway, I watched Colin make his way out to greet me and my photographer, Sebastian Gale. He shook our hands and led us into the garage and up the stairs into the house where two sweet golden retrievers and a kind man, Rob, greeted us. They offered us beverages, directed us to where we would be staying, and allowed us a few moments to settle, with a call time to be ready to work by.
I put my things down in a room upstairs with beautiful African decor on the walls and relaxed on the bed for a few moments. I closed my eyes to block out extra light and Sebastian set up my travel migraine lamp for me. Unfortunately, I was just getting over a bad migraine that I had been dealing with for the previous five days or so.
Moments later, I was on my feet and excitedly digging through my suitcase to pull on my first costume, applying my character’s makeup, and making my way back downstairs with my script in hand. I was amazed as Sebastian asked questions I didn’t even understand about lighting and cameras and Rob explained the technical details. The two seemed to be speaking a different language. But everything started flowing pretty quickly and we filmed the first scene before my co-star even arrived! I remember Colin, after his directorial cameo, saying, “now do we have to do it again so you can film Jade?” and Rob said, “we already filmed her. Sebastian was on a camera. We had two running” and I was pleased as punch that I had brought someone who was already being so helpful to the production. I was proud of where my photographer and I had started a year ago to where we were now.
My co-star arrived with Angie Rowntree, intimacy coordinator on this production and wife to Colin, and there was a burst of energy swirling into the house. “This food is gluten-free so it’s safe for Jade, okay? Nobody eat it; well, I guess you can eat it, but it’s Jade’s food, okay?!” She had been described as the ‘den mother’ of productions to me and I could certainly see why. I showed my co-star, Jinx Iris, to her room which was right across from and shared a bathroom with mine and let her settle her things while I went back to meet Angie.
That first day was mind-blowing. I felt like I was in a dream. I watched as the personalities started to gel. Jinx and I were sharing tidbits and discovering that we had more and more in common. I watched as Sebastian and Rob deliberated about technical differences and talked about interesting devices that they might want to purchase in the future. I listened to Angie and Colin tell stories about their past jobs and their future plans. I was so enraptured and blessed to have the experience. And we still had three days of work ahead of us.
It was so hard to sleep with how excited and nervous I was. I woke up early and got ready for my first full shoot day. I felt a little silly in my costume but it was absolutely perfect for the character. I admired that Colin wanted the characters to dress naturally, rather than affecting an obnoxious eroticism. By the time I saw Jinx in her costume, it felt like things were falling into place. We headed out to our first destination. All day, everyone was really cognizant of my needs and in tune with checking in with Jinx and I about keeping us cool, as there was a heat wave when we were filming, and giving us water and electrolytes, especially when we were outside and on the trails that day. When we weren’t shooting, Jinx kept wandering off to collect litter she spotted in the woods to bring back and dispose of properly. I had a lot of fun when we filmed the flirty scene after lunch. I liked that scene a lot in the script and it was all I hoped for when Colin told me I was “very good at being awkward.” Then came much waiting.
There are two things they don’t tell you about glamorous filmmaking. One, it’s weird learning the script in order and then performing the script out of order. And two, you have to wait for a lot of technical things. One of the more complex scenes to shoot, I believe, was the intimate scene. Because we only had so many chances to get the shots we wanted, it required a lot of set up. So Jinx and I went to wait in her room while Rob led the rest of the crew to set up the bedroom scene. We reviewed our consent conversations, talked about what we wanted for our characters in this scene, played on our phones, talked about life, and Jinx even napped a little. After a while, Angie came to get us and Colin took a backseat downstairs. Finally, they were ready for us.
I loved navigating this moment professionally with my newfound friend, locking eyes with her, letting the other professionals in the room shift into the background of my peripheral vision. I was aware of Rob moving around us with his hand-held camera, I was aware of Angie and Sebastian standing in the corner, but somehow they faded into the background for me; only Jinx and I mattered.
The next morning, we did some really fun dramatic effects with forced perspective, a bright spotlight, and some chocolate syrup. After lunch, I got to choreograph a small scuffle and play with bug carcasses and exercise my special effects makeup skills! I had forgotten to bring any special effects makeup palettes so Jinx and I put our theater talents to good use, borrowing each others’ lipstick and palettes to create bruises and scratches on our faces. Which we then hoped didn’t stain our skin as we washed it off to do the final scene of the evening. We wrapped and I slept like a log that night.
The final shoot day felt like a field trip adventure. We drove to location and climbed up a relatively steep mountainside, weaving in and out of large boulders, searching for the perfect place to shoot our climactic scene. Jinx was having fun adventuring and went all the way up to the top, collecting litter she found to bring back down off the mountain and dispose of safely on her way. I needed to rest my legs partway through so I sat down and I started collecting broken pieces of glass around me. When we finished filming, we disposed of our newfound litter, went and had lunch, and then continued on with our shoot day. We had the car scene to complete. I was nervous for this one because it was the longest talking scene and I sometimes can get motion sick. I was afraid of experiencing nausea if we had to do it too many times but it turned out to be completely fine! We returned to the house for delicious BBQ and celebratory ice cream, complete with rainbow sprinkles! The conversation turned casual as the weather got stormy later that night. We droned on about hobbies and creative projects for the future and the mysteries of the world as the ate our sundaes and lazed around.
As people peeled off to go to bed and I retired for the evening, I wrapped my arms around my pillow in the darkness and I thought to myself, “Wow… I actually did it… I just made my first movie!”
See Jade Greene star in SWARM by Wasteland. Coming Soon.
