Cruise began working as an erotic model in the summer of 2013.[1] She made her porn debut in August of that year[7] after contacting the Florida-based talent agency East Coast Talents.[4] Her first agent advised her to market herself towards older men, but she instead marketed her brand towards both male and female college students.[8] She moved to Los Angeles in March 2014 and signed with the agency Spiegler Girls in June.[1] That same month, she was featured in AVN’s "fresh" issue.[9]
Cruise stated that she was interested in making extreme movies that explore issues of female submissiveness and consent, citing Sasha Grey as an influence due to her way of expressing vulnerability in her films.[8] Cruise appeared in several features, including American Hustle XXX from Smash Pictures and Cinderella XXX.[10][11] In 2014, she was cast as the lead in director Jacky St. James’ romance feature Second Chances, produced by New Sensations.[12]
In 2015, Cruise became the second performer to ever win AVN Awards for Best New Starlet and Best Actress in the same year, after Jenna Jameson in 1996.[13] In October 2015, she signed an exclusive one-year contract with Axel Braun Productions.[14]
Cruise was the subject of a 2014 article by Cosmopolitan magazine's website called "Sex Work", which profiles women who have careers in sex-related industries.[5][6]
She is friends with fellow collegiate porn actress Belle Knox. Encouraged by her father, Cruise contacted Knox as she believed she would be "one of the few people who could really understand what she was going through." With regard to the publicity that Knox received, Cruise commented that she was "disgusted and appalled by the way civilized society tormented an 18-year-old woman for being sexual. The whole affair really demonstrated how important it is that we improve sexual education and tackle stigmas, as well as foster compassion and empathy between people."[6]
Music and writing
In a 2014 interview, Cruise stated that she had started working on several songs, in addition to writing for various outlets, including sex advice blogs.[6] In 2015, Cruise featured on the single "DUNNIT" by Styles&Complete.[15] In 2017, Cruise began DJing at college fraternity parties and released her debut single "Everybody Nose Me". In August 2018, she released her debut EP, Send Moods.[16] The following year, Cruise revealed that she was working on a follow-up EP titled Sin Music.[2]
Personal life
In a 2014 interview for the online edition of Cosmopolitan magazine, Cruise revealed that she has always wanted to be in the entertainment industry.[6] She went on to say that she had not originally intended to go to college but did so to continue a relationship with a man she was dating. After taking a semester off to assess and plan her future, she came up with the concept of "Carter Cruise" as a brand and as a means to accomplish her goals with regards to writing, acting, music, and fashion. Cruise stated, "How can I do all of these things in one lifetime? Porn was the first step because it gave me the capital and the connections to not only build my brand but also to lay the foundations for other creative things that I wanted to get involved in."[6]
Cruise has stated that both her parents know about her career choice and are supportive.[6] She also explained that she was "100 percent aware of the stigma of porn when I made the decision to do it. What I'm doing is risky and I totally understand that and I understood the risk. A year ago I was sitting in class wondering what the hell I was going to do with my life and last night I got nine AVN nominations."[6]
