Samantha Acosta [1] (Nude) in 3AM [S1E1] (2015âReality TV) [1],[2]
‘3AM’ Television Series Cast: Our Interview With Photographer & Former Escort Samantha Acosta, AKA âAbbyâ From Showtimeâs New Docu-Series
Reality is at the heart of the new Showtime series 3 AM. And itâs not the ârealityâ of reality TV that weâve all come to know and love as a guilty pleasure over the past few years, but the actual reality of life. So much so that the show, which premieres tonight, is being billed with zero mention of the R-word, opting instead to use descriptive hyphenated phrasing: âdocu-series.â
Executive produced by Dick Wolf, the man behind 90s TV behemoth Law & Order, 3 AM chronicles the lives of five New Yorkers ensconced in the cityâs legendary night life. Each episode follows the subjects, who range from nightclub photographers to web-famous partiers, over the course of a single night, culminating in what the press materials describe as âwhen something important and life changing happensâ
One of those nighttime New Yorkers filmed for the show is Samantha Acosta, whoâs documented working as an escort under the name âAbby.â Enstars recently talked to Acosta about the show and why she agreed to do it, her reasons for working as an escort, why sheâs âgratefulâ for the opportunity the job gave her.Â
Enstars: What was your reaction when you were approached about being profiled and filmed for 3AMÂ and why did you eventually agree to do it?
Samantha Acosta: Well, at first, when they first approached me, I didnât think it was real. I just thought it was someone trying to play a joke. Sometimes in the escort biz you get jokesters. But something told me to just follow-up with them and after a few emails back and forth I finally agreed to do a video interview with them. And thatâs when I realized that 1) it was real and 2) that they were actually interested in telling not just my story but showing the escort industry as honestly as possible, because thereâs so many stereotypes, both good and bad. Thereâs the, you know, pretty woman, hot super glamorous stereotype, as well as the victim, exploited, doing it against their will stereotype. And for me, itâs a job. Itâs a job that neither one of those stereotype fit.Â
ES: So it seems like you didnât have any sort of apprehension about being publicly exposed as an escort?
SA:Â I wasnât, I mean there wasnât apprehension just because pretty much all my friends know. Some of my family didnât know, but Iâm not that close with them. But for me, there was apprehension, but it was the same apprehension that anyone would have about being filmed. It wasnât related to by job per say, but general nerves. I really felt that like I really trusted the studio network to give an honest perspective. And they really did.Â
ES: What was it about the showâs producers that earned your trust?
SA: Well, a lot of it, honestly, is related to skills I learned from the job of how to just read people and you can just know everything about them. They just seemed to ask the right questions. They didnât flinch when I said, âThis is stuff that I wonât do, because this is not me.â I saidâŠâYouâre not going to portray me as a victim or [in] some super seedy dark world.â And they were just very open to listening to me and working with me that way. And itâs very easy to be trusting when thereâs open communication.Â
ES: So the bio thatâs being use to promote the show states youâre no longer working as an escortâŠ
SA: Thatâs fairly recently.Â
ES: Do you think that spoils your story in the series for viewers at all?
SA:Â No.Â
ES: No?
SA: Well, because the reason Iâm no longer an escort is because of the television show. And by very recently, I mean within the last month and that was because I was told the promos were coming outâŠand that was for safety reasons. So yeah, I retired from the biz because of the TV show.Â
ES:Â But you say in your bio for the show that you became escort for the financial security and freedom it allowed you to pursue photography. So wasnât it kind part of your goal to give up escorting and focus fully on art?
SA: YeahâŠThatâs completely why I worked as an escort and why I did the show, because it was a once in a lifetime to have my story told and a big part of my story is my artwork and my photography. And part of my photography has been influenced by my career as an escort⊠I [also] used my photography skills a lot as an escort. A lot of the photos I used for advertising were self-portraits. So the reason for it was always to pursue my ultimate artwork goal.Â
ES:Â In what way did escorting affect your art?
SA: If anything, the way it affected me the most was by making me fearless. A lot of my photography are self-portraits and a lot are nude or semi-nude. And because of escorting I wasnât afraid to show those and worry what people thought and who would find it. So because of escorting I ultimately became fearless and more determined and motivated and driven in my photography career.Â
ES: Can you talk about a bit what the series documents in relation to you for this season?
SA: Well, on the series…Iâm not sure how much Iâm allowed to say…but both professionally and personally, youâll definitely get a 360 view of my life.Â
ES: Is it weird to be viewing and also promoting a series that documents something that was a big part of your life and nowâŠisnât?
SA: Itâll always be a part of my life. And itâll always be something that Iâm grateful I had the opportunity to do, because if I hadnât been an escort I donât know if I would have had the time to dedicate to photography and moving on with my other goals. And because of that, it was a stepping stone for meâŠand will always be a part of me.Â
ES: Youâre currently working on a photography project titled âDo Not Disturb.â Can you describe it and what itâs about?
SA: I was actually looking at spaces to exhibit it earlier today. It started as me trying to document my life as an escort, but because itâs private and kind of hiddenâŠyou know everyone knows I worked as an escort but you canât take work photos that everyone else would do, you know like at the Christmas party. So itâs an ongoing series of disposable camera snapshots because I felt that a lot of people thought that the life of an escort is disposable. So it was me using the medium to further the artistic thought behind it. A lot of it is just snapshots and⊠you know I can be in a hotel but Iâm not going to take a full photo of the hotel because youâre going to know where you are, so itâs something that I might recognize as being at the hotel but no one else will. So itâs my way of being public about my secret life.