420 FANTASY

THE SHOOT

“Am I late?” asks the voluptuous Tera Patrick as she peeks her head through the door of the “G” Suite. Yeah, I think to myself jokingly—about two years late! When I’d first met Tera here in Las Vegas back in 2006 at the AVN Adult Expo, she was totally psyched at the idea of posing for HIGH TIMES. But since then, I’d found it nearly impossible to get her to commit. Then, last October, she attended the Stony Awards in Hollywood. There, on the green carpet, I got her to promise on camera to do a cover shoot for us. Now, four months later, I’d finally managed to lure her here to the top of the Fantasy Tower at the Palms with the promise of a pound or so of kind bud and the title of 2008 Ganja Goddess.

“Actually, you’re right on time,” I reply giddily, glancing over at the clock. “It’s 4:20.” Like so many other moments in my career at HIGH TIMES, it was a teenage-stoner fantasy come true.

Believe it or not, this Thai-English bombshell started off life as an ugly duckling with some fantasies of her own.

“I was a nerdy bookworm,” Tera admits. “My younger sister was the pretty one, the cheerleader …. I was tall and lanky, with skinny legs and glasses.” But at the age of 13, Tera’s breasts emerged and all that changed. That was year she signed with the Ford Modeling Agency in New York and devoted herself to modeling.

“When I was a young girl, I used to sneak peeks at my dad’s Playboys, and I wanted to be just like the girls in those magazines. I wanted to see myself on those glossy pages and have men worship and adore me; I wanted all my fantasies to come true. That’s why I got into the adult industry—to live out my fantasies.”

She fulfilled the first of those fantasies when she posed for Playboy in 1999—her entrée into the world of adult entertainment. That was soon followed by layouts in Penthouse and Hustler, and by the end of the year she was ready to venture into film.

“The first movie I ever shot was an all-girl movie for Andrew Blake called Aroused,” Tera recalls fondly. “I wasn’t nervous at all—it felt really natural and comfortable. I loved every aspect of it, from the hair and makeup to the beautiful lingerie and locations. And, of course, I got to have sex with beautiful women, which is the most amazing thing in the world!”

No argument here.

Tera’s exotic look and incredible figure soon made her one of the most sought-after actresses in the industry. Since that first film, she’s starred in over 70 videos, including Tera Tera Tera, Reign of Tera, Teradise Island, and the groundbreaking interactive DVD InTERActive. Her performances have earned her five AVN awards, including the highly coveted Best New Starlet prize in 2001. So it was no surprise when AVN invited her here to Vegas this January to host their 2008 Awards.

“The AVN show is the one night a year that we’re all validated for our hard work as actors, actresses, producers and directors,” she says. “Hosting it was really an honor.”

The previous year, the show was hosted by porn icon (and former HIGH TIMES cover girl) Jenna Jameson, who took the opportunity to announce her retirement—in effect making Tera the reigning queen of porn. But like Jenna, Tera isn’t content with limiting her career to just melodrama and money shots. In the past several years, she’s done interviews on numerous radio and talk shows, appeared in the Snoop Dogg flick Soul Plane, launched her own talent agency and film-production company (called Teravision), and even begun writing a book. Her latest entrepreneurial endeavor is Mistress Couture—a line of lingerie that she’s designed for the vintage-pinup clothing company Lucky-13 Apparel. She also holds the distinction of being the only woman ever to appear on the covers of Playboy and Penthouse simultaneously, and of being the first adult-film star to appear on the cover of FHM. Tera has graced the covers of numerous other magazines as well, including Hustler, Maxim, Easyriders and Bizarre. Today, she adds HIGH TIMES to that list.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE AUGUST 2008 ISSUE OF HIGH TIMES