Gina-Raye Carter, also known by her stage name Rayveness; is an American actress, singer, songwriter and dancer born and raised in High Point, North Carolina. She started out in the adult film industry at age eighteen by making and sending in a homemade sex tape with her then-boyfriend. She moved to Los Angeles, California in 1997 to work in the adult film industry and dance on the strip club circuit. In 2000, she took a break from acting in porn films to seriously pursue a career in music and mainstream film acting, dying her hair and wearing contacts to minimize her chances of being recognized. Her first breakthrough in the industry came in 2001 when she was given spoken lines while working as an extra on an episode of NYPD Blue. Soon after, she was cast as Lynda Bird Johnson in HBO's political film, Path to War. She returned to the adult film industry in 2003. In 2004, Rayveness completed a Songwriting Certificate from UCLA Extension, and started releasing her own singles. Rayveness has taken several breaks from the pornographic film industry by retiring and subsequently un-retiring several times.