Eddie Adams (Dirk Diggler)
The antihero of the film is a porn-star based on John C. Holmes. His good looks and excellent physique coupled with his immense libido and remarkably large penis earn him fame and fortune in the world of porn films. His hubris and his decadence all but ruin him though during the later portion of his career.
Maggie (Amber Waves)
A female porn lead often paired up with Dirk in scenes. Unknown to many in Jack Horner’s crew, Amber is also a wife and mother and currently embroiled in a custody battle with her estranged husband. Her career choice become the final nail in the custody battle’s metaphorical coffin, causing the court to deny giving her visitation rights to her child after they rule that she is unfit to be a mother because of her involvement in porn.
Jack Horner
Jack is the enterprising porn director and producer who discovered and ultimately elevates Dirk from the gutter. He is a sleazy but likable individual in that he is also easygoing and friendly. He is an entrepreneur and risk-taker through and through, taking a gamble with a young, untested Dirk seeing great potential in the young man and making tough decisions, like firing him and hiring another young porn star once Dirk’s substance habit starts to eat him up.
Buck Swope
An African-American fellow porn star that marries fellow porn actress Jessie St. Vincent and eventually gets her pregnant; an event that sets off a series of happenings that serve to highlight just how far removed the life of a porn star is from “real life.” A fledgling entrepreneur, he envisions himself to be a future self-made hi-fi stereo magnate--“his own boss”--in his own words. Buck intends to take out a hefty loan to bankroll his operation but is denied once the bank learns of his involvement in pornography. His inability to make his business venture take off also translates into him and his wife being tragically trapped in the world of pornography.
Jessie St. Vincent
Initially the preferred partner of Buck Swope until they genuinely fall in love end up marrying, then she becomes his wife and subsequently mother of their child. She comes to the painful realization that deciding to participate in pornography complicates life for them as people in ways both profound and mundane.
Reed Rothchild
Reed is another fellow porn-star working for Jack Horner. He is an older, less comely, man and as a result often plays second fiddle to the more popular Dirk. His situation as “second choice” turns him into a sneaky, opportunistic person, constantly looking for opportunities to one-up Dirk.
"Little" Bill Thompson
Jack Horner’s assistant director. A weak, cuckolded man who is unable to keep his wife, played by actual porn actress Nina Hartley from having sex with other men. He constantly puts up with his wife’s infidelities and blatant disregard for him, until that fateful New Year’s Eve party where he decides to murder his brazen wife and fellow porn performer then decides to tragically end his life. His bloody demise smears Jack’s considerably controversial line of business with another layer of controversy that the media is quick to pounce on.
Brandy ("Rollergirl")
A porn starlet who Jack Horner keeps around for “audition” purposes; she earned her moniker by refusing to remove the roller skates she always wore. Externally, she is a pert and perky beautiful blonde woman. Deep inside however she is a mess: a high school dropout who is, ironically, looking for respect and recognition.
Scotty J.
A gay boom mike operator who joins Dirk and Reed on their inane mission to become rock stars; Scotty tags along not because he knows that Dirk can make it big on his own but rather because he is madly in love with him. A homophobic Dirk rebuffs his advances causing him to abandon his involvement with them.
Floyd Gondolli
The theater magnate who partners up with Jack Horner who urges him to shoot his movies using videotape instead of film in order to cut on production costs. His constant urging to cut back on expenses is a constant sore point between him and Jack who sees the cost cutting measures as a way of ruining the inherent “art” in the movies he makes.
Todd Parker
An “associate” that Dirk manages to pick up when his career hits rock bottom. He is tasked with stealing the money from Rahad Jackson but fatally botches the job.
Colonel James
The financier of Jack Horner’s porn productions who is eventually incarcerated for being a pedophile; he is caught in possession of several footages of child pornography. His incarceration is the initial death knell for Jack’s porn operation.
"Little" Bill's Wife
A brazen woman who has absolutely no regard for her husband; engages in sex with other men both on camera and away from it to spite her timid spouse. Her bloody comeuppance sparks a chain of events that eventually marks then end of the so-called “golden age of porn.”
Rahad Jackson
A vicious drug dealer that Dirk Diggler very stupidly tries to con with a bag of baking soda; this affront is met with violent retribution resulting in the death of Todd Parker.
