What was the guy in 'N Sync thinking? After all, Ron Jeremy is one of the most well-known porn stars in the world. And yet Joey Fatone still used "Ron Jeremy" as his alias while staying at a Canadian hotel. Too bad the real Ron Jeremy was also a guest at that same spot. The veteran porn star spent the night answering the phone, trying to convince young girls that he wasn't their teen idol. And the teen idol had to deal with some very confused friends of Ron Jeremy.

You might have heard about that merry mix-up on MTV, or read about it in the millennium issue of Time. Ron Jeremy's name tends to pop up everywhere. Now his amazing story has been captured in Pornstar: The Legend of Ron Jeremy. The documentary follows Jeremy's transformation from Seventies porn stud to the pudgy performer now known as "The Hedgehog."

The adult film industry has been baffled to see a fat 48-year-old man emerge as porn's most recognizable face. Still, Jeremy's earned his fame. His initial work was in pictures that helped fuel porn's VHS boom of the early Eighties. Coed Fever, Wanda Whips Wall Street and Pink Champagne were popular titles that brought Jeremy into many people's homes. And 1979's Olympic Fever is still infamous for the scene in which Jeremy casually fellates his own ten-inch cock. (Jeremy on learning that trick: "I just bent over to tie my shoes one day....")

Jeremy's increasing weight over the years is often cited as part of his longevity in the porn world, because he's the one adult actor who resembles the market's target audience. A lot of credit should also go to Jeremy's charisma. The guy knows how to work a room, and he's managed to turn his underground career into mainstream film appearances. Jeremy's rotund figure appears in any number of mainstream flicks, including Detroit Rock City, Orgazmo and TNT's biopic of George Wallace. In fact, legendary director John Frankenheimer has been casting Jeremy in his films ever since the porn star helped as a consultant on 1986's 52 Pick-Up.

The busy actor still finds time to act in adult productions such as Booty Duty 5 and Sluts, Butts and Housewives. Jeremy has also become a proper rock 'n' roll icon, with his name invoked in songs by acts such as Sublime. And he's frequently seen on MTV in videos for performers including Kid Rock.

As a well-loved American entertainer, Ron Jeremy was certainly welcome at Hugh Hefner's recent 75th birthday party at the Playboy Mansion. Jeremy brought Hef a gift-wrapped Boogie Nights prop (a VHS box of the fictional porn film Oral Majority starring Dirk Diggler and Rollergirl). In between hitting the buffet and chatting with Playmates, he talked to Playboy.com about his dad's boner, sex with senior citizens and the very few adult film starlets who got away.