When Joshua Broome moved from North Carolina to Hollywood, California, in his early 20s, his goal was to become an actor. He did not ever plan on becoming a porn star, but that’s exactly what happened.
One day, when he was working as a waiter, some female patrons insisted that a porn scene would help his acting career. Just days later, he was filming his first porn movie, and he ended up going on to film over 1000 porn movies under the name Rocco Reed.
As a porn star, Broome made over a million dollars, but he found that the money didn’t make him happy. His career didn’t make him happy. He still felt “sorrow and emptiness.” He even felt suicidal.
Eventually, in 2012, Broome quit the porn industry and moved back to North Carolina where, out of shame, he tried to hide his former career and start over. He worked at a gym, and a woman he met there ended up changing his life again, but this time, it led him to finally feel fulfilled.
The woman he met was named Hope. They met at the gym and decided to go running together. Broome decided to tell her the truth about his former career as a porn star, and he was surprised when she didn’t judge him for it. Broome told The New York Post, “Through her kindness and not rejecting me, she cultivated a curiosity in me. The next weekend we went to church together.”
Broome decided to study Biblical Theology, and he ended up becoming a pastor. In 2016, he and Hope got married, and they now have three children.
Broome currently works as a pastor at Good News Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In addition, he speaks out about how damaging he found the porn industry to be. He explained that the porn industry is “saying it’s okay to consume a person like a product, and if you treat people like products every aspect of your life is going to be detrimental.”
This aspiring actor turned porn star turned pastor believes “it’s never too late to change what you’re doing.” He is very happy with his life as a pastor, husband and dad. He explained, “I built a life I can be proud of.”
An 85-year-old man named Norm agrees with Broome that it’s never too late to change careers, but he changed careers in the opposite direction. Norm is a priest who shocked his congregation when he decided to become a porn star. His story is quite different from Broome’s. Learn more about Norm in the video below.
