Soap opera actress and Miss USA 1991 Kelli McCarty has found a novel way to ride out the recession. The 39 year-old former Passions star has signed with Vivid Entertainment, where she just completed her first adult film, Faithless, to be released on February 4:

McCarty, who played maniacal Beth Wallace on “Passions” for seven years, is now a “Vivid Entertainment” girl — and has just wrapped on her first XXX feature, “Faithless,” in which she plays the lead character to a very very supporting cast.

So, why the career move? Here’s the explanation — “I enjoy acting,and I really like sex … so this was the perfect opportunity to combine two of my passions.”

[From TMZ]

Contracts with Vivid can be some of the most lucrative in the adult film industry for their female talent. They put out films of higher production quality and are considered the leader in the industry. Jenna Jameson signed with a company called Wicked and was able to avoid some of the seedier, bottom-feeding aspects of porn through representation and a lot of self preservation. I remember her mentioning in her biography that Vivid has a good reputation and treats their actresses well. It’s still porn, though, and there’s an understandable stigma associated with it.

This woman is 39 and while that’s not old by most standards it is when it comes to adult films. She’s had a lot of work done and has a kind of puppet face that looks like the result of a careless surgeon. The career move may be a step down to her knees, but it probably pays a lot more. She’s also getting much more coverage than she had in seven years of playing a villain on a now-canceled soap opera. Coverage doesn’t always translate to opportunity, though. Just ask Lindsay Lohan.

Kelly McCarty is shown on 6/2/08 in the header at “Nuts for Mutts” Credit: PRPhotos and at the same “Nuts for Mutts” event on 4/27/07. Credit: WENN