Background and career
Kayden Kross (born 1985) is an American pornographic film actress and director. She is a member of the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame.
Born in Sacramento, California, Kross grew up in the foothills between Sacramento and Placerville in a strict, religious household. She has described herself as a "book nerd" in high school. Kross and her younger sister were raised by their mother; their father left the family before Kross was 5 years old, placing their mother in financial hardship. When she was 18, Kross began working as a stripper at Rick's Showgirls in Rancho Cordova, California, where she had been a waitress. Her intention was to earn enough to rescue an injured pony she had worked with from being slaughtered, but later found that she enjoyed the job. Kross studied psychology and philosophy at California State University, Sacramento.
Her movies with Vivid included Kayden's First Time, Hard Time, and Be Here Now. Unhappy with the company, she became a free agent one year later when she did not renew her contract. She signed an exclusive contract with Adam & Eve after one month of being a free agent. She was named Penthouse Pet of the Month for September 2008. Kross' official website, ClubKayden.com, was launched on September 2, 2008. Kross has hosted a blog at UnKrossed.com and has written regular updates and opinion columns for MikeSouth.com, an adult industry gossip blog, among other sites. Kross became exclusive to Digital Playground under a multi-year contract on January 1, 2010. Her first movie with the company, The Smiths, topped sales charts immediately and has continued to be a best seller. She was given the lead in their big budget feature, Body Heat, in her third month of the contract. She won two Best Actress Awards for the role. Kross hosted the 2010 AVN Awards show, along with porn actress Kirsten Price and comedian Dave Attell. She was Penthouse magazine's "Cover Girl" for September 2008 and 2010. Kross was named by CNBC as one of the 12 most popular pornographic film actresses in 2011. In 2012, she hosted the Xbiz awards for the second time, and appeared in the ceremony alongside Wicked Pictures/Wicked.com contract star, Jessica Drake, and on the AVN red carpet with co-hosts Jesse Jane and guitarist Dave Navarro. In 2019, she launched Deeper, one of the Vixen Media Group's primary websites in its portfolio.
Kross has made appearances in FX's comedy series The League, the G4 reality series The Block, and Family Jewels. In 2011, Kross co-hosted a regular videocast for Triggla TV titled Kayden's Review alongside the comedian Dane Hanson. From 2012 to 2013, Kross portrayed a main character in the second season of Tucky Williams' lesbian-themed web series Girl/Girl Scene. Starting in January 2013, Kross hosted the weekly call-in show Krossfire on Playboy Radio. In 2013, Kross also appeared in the featurette "Chicks 'N Guns" on the Breaking Bad 5th season DVD as a stripper. The scene takes place during the season 5 episode "Gliding Over All". Kross also appeared in two music videos from the band Nekrogoblikon, "No One Survives" (2012) and "We Need a Gimmick" (2015).
Kross writes columns regularly for publications such as Complex magazine, XBIZ magazine, and a blog for Xcritic.com. She has also contributed to Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and her short story "Plank" appeared in the 2012 short story collection Forty Stories: New Writing from Harper Perennial, an e-book. As of August 2012, she was writing an autobiographical book about the porn industry.
In 2008, Kross was among those testifying against a proposed tax in California on all producers and distributors of adult entertainment. In 2014, she testified against a bill in the California State Assembly that would require pornographic film performers to wear condoms on set.
