“It was the first time I’d ever felt desirable,” Little told PornCrush. “I loved the attention. I know it sounds shallow, but I really think that kickstarted the mental change in how I view myself.”

Clearly hooked, Little traded her serving skirt for lingerie and pasties and quickly became one of the most popular entertainers at the Virginia club. Later that year—less than a month after starting college—Little withdrew from school, got her tuition reimbursed, and began dancing full-time.

“I used the money to buy more lingerie,” Little says with a laugh. “I know it sounds bad, taking all of the funds you’d saved for college and investing them into becoming a stripper. But I just loved it.

“I loved being seen as a sexual fantasy.”

These days that’s exactly how Little is viewed—not just by 100 or so admirers at a strip club, but by millions of porn fans worldwide.

Less than three years into her career, the Washington D.C. native is the 54th-ranked model on PornHub, where her videos have tallied more than 256 million views. Brazzers, Vixen, BANG!, Nubiles, and Team Skeet … Little shot for nearly every A-list studio before landing a prestigious Best New Starlet nomination in 2024 from AVN.

On Saturday, she’ll serve as a trophy girl at the AVN Awards in Las Vegas, a spotlight she would’ve never imagined when she left her burgeoning dancing career in 2022 and transitioned into adult films.

“It makes me feel really accomplished,” says Little, who has 685,000 combined followers on Instagram and X. “I’m very proud of myself. How many other people can say they’ve shot a scene for Brazzers? Or that they’re an AVN Trophy Girl? It’s just crazy.

“I lead a very unique life.”

Gangbangs, Blowbangs, foot-fetish scenes, and facials. Little has flourished in every scene category except anal—and she hints that her backdoor could be opening soon. Her dirty-talk game continues to improve, and directors dote on the professionalism and energy Little brings to sets.

“Molly Little is one of the best people I’ve worked with—ever,” veteran Nubiles director Nick Stecki says. “She has no flaws. She’s everything a performer should strive to be.”

Still, deep down, Little knows she possesses an attribute that stands above all the rest, a trait that drives all those millions of fans to click on her videos on PornHub, to follow her on OnlyFans and to subscribe to the paysites on which she appears.

It’s a characteristic Little has learned to embrace.

Not long ago, it was her biggest insecurity.

***

The tattoo is basically gone now. You almost have to squint to see it.

After one more removal session—the ninth overall—the mushroom symbol that adorned Molly Little’s chest for the past three years will vanish completely.

Little got the tattoo shortly after she started stripping at age 18, and there was a reason she put it right there, front and center, for everyone to see.

“For a while, I was really shy at the club because people kept telling me how young I looked,” Little says. “It was a constant source of conversation. I got the mushrooms on my chest so that when I took off my shirt, everyone could see that I was legal.”

At 5-foot-3 and 90 pounds, Little is your typical girl next door. Or rather, the girl you wished lived next door when you were in high school or college. With hypnotizing brown eyes, silky-soft hair, and a long, lean torso, Little’s smile is powerful enough to change someone’s day.

Little feared her youthful look would be a weakness when she entered the adult industry.

It turned out to be her biggest strength.

“Social media creates this perception of what’s appealing in porn,” Little says. “Big tits, big ass, gorgeous faces. I thought, ‘Those girls don’t look like me.’

“I had no idea people were attracted to women who were skinnier and petite. I realize now it’s an asset.”

Little shrugs her shoulders and smirks.

“I think it’s kinda hot, too,” she says. “Being young is attractive. Plus, I’m not a kid. I’m an adult, and this is my face.”

To fully embrace her appearance, Little knew she had to get her tattoo removed. Industry insiders say the decision will enhance her already-strong brand, enabling her to profit even more from her looks.

Little never imagined herself being fawned upon and ogled by men as one of the world’s biggest porn stars. But she was always fascinated with the idea of being in some sort of spotlight.

Growing up in Washington, D.C., Little loved to sing and dance during her youth and appeared in various “silly little plays.” She was nine when her father taught her how to play the guitar, and she later became skilled with the ukulele.

For an extended period of time, Little even thought about joining the circus.

Literally.

From ages 10-16, Little spent two months each summer at a circus camp in Philadelphia, where kids from across the country flocked to learn about life under the big top.

Tightrope-walking, juggling, unicycling, clowning … the camp offered training in every discipline. Little’s initial passion was the Lyra trapeze, which looks like a large, sturdy hula hoop dangling 20-40 feet in the air. She later transitioned to aerial silk, where one or more artists perform aerial acrobatics while hanging from a specialized fabric.

Little fell so in love with the activity during the camp that she signed up for classes at a studio near her house. But when she climbed up the silk each day in the two-story facility, her passion began to change.

“On the second floor, they taught pole dancing classes,” Little says. “I’d be up on the silk, looking into the room and watching the girls train. I thought, ‘I could do that someday.’’’

Granted, at that time, Little didn’t envision doing it in a g-string and pasties.

A shy teenager with confidence issues, Little was a good student but had a habit of skipping classes at her public school so she could spend the afternoons smoking weed with her friends. Eventually, her mother enrolled her in a prep school that allowed her to leave campus each day after completing her assignments. Oftentimes, Little was finished by 10 a.m.

She had one boyfriend in high school and was surprised years later—after she’d started porn—when multiple guys from her high school contacted her and said they’d always wanted to ask her out.

“Maybe I missed some signals,” she says.

It wasn’t until Little started stripping that she truly grasped the power of her appearance. Little began carrying herself with a new sense of swagger in the club and outside of it.

“One night, a bunch of us were doing acid in my friend's basement,” she said. “I went into an upstairs bathroom and got totally naked. I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, ‘I look damn hot right now. This is great. I hope everybody feels this way about themselves one day.’

“I never would’ve felt those things about myself if I didn’t hear other people say them first.”

As much as it did for Little’s confidence—and her bank account—the gentlemen’s club was often a source of frustration, too. The shift were long, the hours late. Walking the floor in heels all night was physically taxing. And like so many other dancers, Little had to deal with “lots of nonconsensual bullshit.”

Late one evening, after a particularly unnerving shift, Little called her ex-boyfriend and asked him to come to her house.
“You’re one of the only people who has ever seen me (fully) naked,” she told him. “I need you to come take nude pictures of me so I can do porn.”

The next day, Little sent the photos to every agency in the adult industry and received a call from each one. She signed with Hussie Models and prepared to take the next step in her adult journey.

“I had no social media, no OnlyFans, no TikTok, no Instagram, no Twitter,” Little says. “I didn’t have any idea of how the game was played or how to build a brand.

“I was going in completely blind.”

***

Becoming a contract star—for any studio—is one of the highest honors in porn and usually takes years to achieve.

Molly Little inked her first deal before she ever shot a scene.

Producers and directors at Nubiles took just one glance at Little’s portfolio and knew they’d found their girl. After discussing things with Hussie agent Riley Reynolds, Little accepted their offer and signed the contract.

Following a few warm-up scenes for Net Video Girls and Reality Kings, she spent the next 10 months working solely for Nubiles, an aesthetically-pleasing brand that prioritizes shooting younger models with natural bodies.

“She was the contract star we knew we wanted—but we never could’ve imagined she’d be so good,” Stecki, the director, says. “She absolutely set the standard for what a contract girl should be.”

What impressed Nubiles’ higher-ups the most, at least initially, was how Little flourished in the face of adversity. A month or so after her debut, Little got sick and had to cancel a number of shoots. But that was nothing compared to the incident that occurred soon after.

About an hour before a scene, a hotel door slammed on the tip of Little’s pointer finger, slicing almost completely through it just above the knuckle.

“The glue from my acrylic nails is the only thing that kept it from falling off,” Little says.

Little rushed to the hospital, where doctors sewed her finger back together. For the next few months, she wore a sizable brace over her hand and wrist, which would’ve caused most performers to halt shooting.

Not Little.

The Nubiles crew wrapped the brace in skin-colored tape, and Little surged forward. Whether it meant placing a pillow over Little’s hand, hiding it in the crevices of a couch, or shooting from the opposite side of her body, Stecki found a way to make things work.

“Even when it seemed like the universe was against her, nothing ever brought her down,” Stecki says. “I never saw one hint of a bad attitude or negativity. Instead it was, ‘Hey, I’m going to have fun with this.’ And she did.”

Indeed, while some models view scenes as “performances,” Little was truly enjoying the opportunity to explore herself sexually. She’d had some hookups before she entered porn, but most of them were awkward encounters with partners who were inexperienced, just like her.

“Before I did porn there was stuff in my head that I wanted to try,” Little says. “But it was awkward bringing that stuff up, especially with someone who had never done it. I’m appreciative that I had porn to bring so many new things into my sex life.”

Even more, Little relished the positive feedback she received from her scenes. The compliments fueled her. For the first time ever, she felt like she had a sense of purpose.

“I was always so shy,” Little says. “I really didn’t come out of my shell until I started doing porn. I’m someone who’s always needed reassurance, like ‘You’re doing a good job.’ In porn, everyone is like, ‘You’re doing a great job!’ It made me want to do more, to keep getting better.”

Little says spending the first 10 months of her career shooting strictly for Nubiles banners was ideal for her career path. It allowed her to gradually adapt to porn culture, hone her performance skills and build her social media following through PornHub, where Nubiles often posts.

As the buzz about Little grew, the top studios in the industry lined up to book her the day her contract ended. Blacked, Brazzers, New Sensations, Deeper, BANG!, Team Skeet … the list goes on and on.

Little shot gangbangs and blowbangs. Her oral skills improved, and she blossomed into a strong actress. Little even discovered she had a fetish for feet, which led to some hot moments during scenes.

Male talent Nade Nasty, who shot OnlyFans content with Little early in her career, said he notices glaring strides in Little’s game each time they hook up on camera.

“All of a sudden,” Nasty says, “the girl who was really shy is now incredible at dirty talk. It’s been fun to watch her grow. Plus, she’s so positive and upbeat all of the time. Everyone wants to see her succeed.

“Everyone loves Molly.”

Little has earned the respect of her colleagues away from set, too. Performer Sera Ryder, one of Little’s closest friends, often marvels at how organized and motivated Little is—especially for her age.

“Molly has so much integrity,” Ryder says. “Some people can be one with the wind, just doing what they can to get by. Molly sets goals and she meets them. She’s very type-A when it comes to business.

“Her wisdom and work ethic is something you’d expect from a 40-year-old who has spent her entire life dedicated to her career—not someone who is 21. The drive and structure she exhibits is amazing.”

That’s not to say Little doesn’t make time for fun. She loves dressing up and going to nice dinners with Ryder. They also get frequent massages and attend yoga sessions and concerts. Little even taught Ryder how to play chess.

“There’s a magic to Molly that is so silly and funny,” Ryder says. “She has this full-body laugh that I just love. She’s also really weird, which is probably why I’m friends with her. She’s beautiful and classy but also weird and quirky.”

Music is a huge part of Little’s life, and she’s a fan of all types of genres—everything from Skinshape to Gracie Abrams to Otis Redding. Little is also an aspiring musician who writes her own songs and plays them on her guitar while she sings. Her voice, Ryder says, is “absolutely beautiful.”

“Molly is a bit of an old soul,” Stecki says. “Her taste in music and her deep understanding of it is something I never expected.

“The more I talk to her, the more I think, ‘Man, I really want to know this person when she’s 30.’ I’m excited to watch her grow.”

Little is wise when it comes to investing her money and wants to own at least two properties by the time she’s 30. Otherwise, most of her aspirations involve day-to-day and week-to-week goals.

She’s not obsessed with winning awards, shooting a certain number of scenes or retiring at a certain age.

“For me, it’s really important not to add any extra stress by coming up with timelines and financial goals,” she says. "It takes the joy out of it. I just really love what I’m doing. If I put pressure on myself, the dynamic will change.”

Little pauses.

“This may sound really delusional,” she says, “but I don’t think I’ll ever have a chance at failing as long as my determination is there.”

For now, at least, Little is just enjoying the ride. And what a ride it’s been. Now and then, friends from high school will contact Little and tell her they saw her on PornHub. Sometimes, the texts will come as Little sits in a makeup chair at a Hollywood Hills mansion, or while she's eating dinner on the Sunset Strip.

“Not to throw shade at them,” Little says of her friends, “because they’re in college living their glamour lives in another way. Still, when you look at anyone who has this sort of lifestyle, you want to know more. It’s very interesting and more simple than people think it is."

Little smiles.

“But that’s the magic of it.”

Check out the full gallery of Molly Little below: