Characters / Boogie Nights

Dirk Diggler

Eddie Adams / Dirk Diggler

Played By: Mark Wahlberg

"I am a big, bright, shining star."

• Abusive Parents: His mother verbally and physically abuses him for staying out late and dropping out of school.
• Alliterative Name: Dirk Diggler.
• Bigger Is Better in Bed: The only thing Dirk really has going for him is his gigantic penis and short refractory period.
• Brainless Beauty: Dirk may have a giant penis and a good physique, but he's a bit short in the brains department.
• Caught Coming Home Late: His mother catches him coming home late after he's spent the night at Jack Horner's.
• Con Man: He, Reed, and Todd Parker try to sell fake drugs to gangster Rahad Jackson. It would have worked had Todd not tried to rob Rahad further.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": He wants everyone to call him Dirk once he starts using it as an alias.
• Door-Closes Ending: The movie ends with him leaving his room.
• Drugs Are Bad: Dirk suffers extremely hard for his drug use; he first gets fired by Jack because his cocaine addiction has made him belligerent on set, he's beaten up by a group of surfers because he can't get an erection due to it, and he resorts to robbing a deadly gangster (with tragic consequences) because his drug habit has left him dead broke.
• Dutch Angle: This is used twice on him.
• Gag Penis: His penis gets him a lot of attention. It was actually a prosthetic used by Mark Wahlberg.
• The Grovel: Having been broken by his many bad experiences after leaving Jack, Dirk tearfully apologizes to him towards the end of the film and reunites with him.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Dirk has a very short temper, as shown in scenes such as when he gets fired.
• Heroic BSoD: Dirk has one when he realizes robbing Rahad Jackson was not a good idea.
• Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Dirk's attempt at music.
• I Have Many Names: Eddie Adams > Dirk Diggler > Brock Landers
• I Know Karate: He's in action-themed porn movies and has a Bruce Lee poster.
• I Was Born Ready: He says this twice.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He has a temper and an ego, and is belligerent on set, but clearly loves some of the other characters.
• Kubrick Stare: Dirk has one right when the drug deal at Rahad's house goes awry.
• The Loins Sleep Tonight: Dirk's cocaine addiction gets increasingly worse to the point where he can't have an erection.
• Male Frontal Nudity: The last shot is his penis.
• Mirror Monologue: Dirk has one towards the end.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Receives one from a group of surfers.
• Out Sick: He gets so addicted to drugs that he can't get an erection and is therefore fired by Jack.
• Porn Names: His original name is Eddie Adams.
• The Reveal: The last shot.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: After Dirk is Caught Coming Home Late, triggering another of his mother's abusive tirades, this proves to be the last straw for him, and he walks out of their house to move in with Jack.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: After getting addicted to drugs, he is considerably more hot-tempered than before, refusing to shake a new actor's hand and being a jerkass to everyone around him. Jack has enough and fires him. Then he plans to sell fake drugs, though that leads to a Jerkass Realization for him.
• Villainous Breakdown: He has one when Jack replaces him with another actor.

Amber Waves

Maggie / Amber Waves

Played By: Julianne Moore

• Armor-Piercing Question: In her attempt to gain custody for her child, Amber openly admits she has a criminal record, and this, along with her job in the business of pornography and drug addiction, causes her to lose the hearing, and is a sobbing mess as a result.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Shown in her sex scene with Dirk.
• Blatant Lies: She denies her drug addiction during her hearing.
• Drugs Are Bad: Her cocaine addiction results in her losing custody of her son.
• Father's Quest: Well, mother's quest to gain custody of her child.
• I Have Many Names: Amber's real name is Maggie, but nobody knows this. Her son attempts to call her, using her real name, but due to her not telling anyone this, it leads Maurice and Buck to believe the boy dialed a wrong number.
• Incest Subtext: She becomes sort of a mother figure to Dirk, and has a borderline romantic love towards him.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: She introduces Dirk to cocaine, which is the start of everything that goes wrong for him.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Amber is based off of porn star Veronica Hart, who has a cameo as the judge during Amber's hearing.
• Porn Names: When her son calls her by her real name, Maurice tells him that there's no Maggie at Jack's house.
• Stylistic Suck: Her documentary about Dirk.
• Team Mom: She becomes something of a mother figure to both Dirk and Rollergirl.

Jack Horner

Jack Horner

Played By: Burt Reynolds

• Affably Evil: While "evil" may not be the right word for him, his line of work is morally dubious, he's not above hiring performers who are slightly below the legal age of consent, and gets violent when his filmmaking abilities are mocked. But overall, he's very much A Father to His Men and truly cares about his performers.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Collected and reasonable as he may be, he does not take kindly to his movies being criticized and will react violently if you say his movies suck within earshot of him.
• Everyone Has Standards: While he has little problem with the Colonel's obvious penchant for teenage girls who are clearly somewhere below the statutory age-of-consent limit (and offers the not-quite-18-year-old Dirk a role), he is utterly disgusted and breaks with him completely upon discovering that the Colonel's tastes extend to pre-pubescent children.
• Mr. Vice Guy: He may be a well-known pornographer, but he's usually affable and approachable.
• Porn with Plot: Sleazy though his occupation is, he aspires to make porn movies with stories so good that viewers will want to stay even after they're done masturbating. The advent of videotape and the loss of the Colonel's financing both work to bury his dream well before the movie's end.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He accepts Dirk back into his home when Dirk tearfully apologizes to him.
• Took a Level in Cynic: At the start of the film, he's genuinely trying to make erotica with style and plot. By the end, he's as worn down as the actors and just says "Yeah, whatever" when people suggest changes to his scripts.