Manuel Jeannin (born 1 November 1975), known professionally as Manuel Ferrara, is a French pornographic actor and director.^[2]

Ferrara has won 64 adult industry awards including six AVN Awards as Male Performer of the Year, and was inducted to the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame.^[7]

Ferrara was born in Le Raincy, France and raised in nearby Gagny.^[2] He was born to a French father and a Spanish mother. His father was an electrician and his mother was a cleaning lady who had immigrated to France. He lost his father at the age of seventeen.^[8] While attending college, he studied to become a P.E. teacher.^[2]

Ferrara shot his first hardcore scene in 1997 during his studies, after answering an ad in a French pornographic magazine.^[9] He then started a career as a professional porn actor, appearing in various French and European productions. He chose the stage name Manuel Ferrara because of his passing resemblance to boxer-turned-actor Stéphane Ferrara.^[8]

Ferrara became a protégé of Rocco Siffredi, who recommended him for a role in John Stagliano's Fashionistas in which he made his American debut.^[10][8] In 2002, he appeared in blockbuster hit Snoop Dogg's Hustlaz: Diary of a Pimp.^[11] In 2003, he started directing gonzo pornography for Platinum X Pictures, a subsidiary of Red Light District Video.^[12] In 2004, he began directing for Red Light.

After working for Red Light District for the two years, Ferrara began directing for Evil Angel in May 2006.^[13] His first Evil Angel film was Evilution, starring Naomi, Melissa Lauren and featuring the comeback of Nici Sterling.^[10] Since then, he has directed several porn series, including Fucked on Sight, Slutty & Sluttier, Raw, Evil Anal, Battle of the Sluts, Anal Expedition, Teen Cum Squad, Bangin' Black Boxes, Ass Attack, I'm Your Slut, Mindfuck and New Whores on the Block.^[10][14]

On December 23, 2010, Ferrara appeared alongside Riley Steele in an episode of Manswers titled "Airplane Plane Hanger-On" to discuss their careers for the segment "How Can You Become A Porktastic Porn Star".^[15]

On January 22, 2012, he became the first actor in history to win AVN's Male Performer of the Year four times.^[7][16] He won AVN's Male Performer of the Year for a fifth time on January 18, 2014.^[17]

Ferrara performed in about 2,200 videos in his pornographic career.^[1]

In 2012, Ferrara appeared alongside pornographic actress Zoe Voss in an explicit sex scene for the mainstream film Starlet.^[18]

Ferrara was married twice. Ferrara married pornographic actress Dana Vespoli in January 2005.^[3] The couple divorced seven years later.^[4] They have three sons together.^[6] Ferrara has a daughter with pornographic actress Kayden Kross.^[5]

On August 11, 2016, Ferrara joined Twitch.tv ^[57] , where he hosts and interviews fellow actors and actresses from the adult entertainment industry. He has recently started streaming video games, such as Fortnite, Mortal Kombat and some old arcade games, he usually tops the twitch charts as the most watched french streamer, and frequently receive large sums of money from his following.

On September 29, 2017 he featured in "Porn directors podcast[1] ^[58] " where he for two hours talked about his upcoming projects and goals.