Former Disney star Maitland Ward credits doing porn by giving her confidence.
The “Boy Meets World” alumnus has written about her transition from family-friendly entertainment to a successful career in the porn industry in her new memoir, “Rated X,” due out Tuesday, which criticizes the House of Mouse and praises porn for allowing her to bloom.
While still a junior in high school, Ward became a regular on the soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” and starred opposite Mario Lopez in the TV movie “Killing Mr. Griffin”.
In 1998, her character Rachel McGuire was introduced to the ABC sitcom “Boy Meets World”, starring Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel.
The actress, who grew up Christian with a Biblical grandmother, is critical of the way she was objectified by employees of Disney – ABC’s parent company – during the filming of the sitcom.
“I was asked to try on lingerie for the producers in the office,” Ward writes. “This happened more than once, as Rachel was the only character who consistently took her clothes off. An assistant would take me out of my dressing room and take me upstairs, where I would be given a range of options, some playful and girly, some so defiant that I knew Disney would never approve them, but I would try them on anyway.”
Ward says she had to change behind such a thin curtain: “I’m sure they could see the silhouette of my naked form.”
When she stepped outside, the group, mostly men, judged whether the outfits showed “too much or not nearly enough to show the boys [watching the series] thrilled.”
She recalls a producer who said with an embarrassed chuckle, “You’re like a daughter to me,” before being asked to try on a different outfit.
The actress stayed until the series ended in 2000, then took a comedic turn in the 2004 Wayans Brothers film “White Chicks.”
But Hollywood work dried up and Ward appeared on red carpets in sexy cosplay outfits.
“To be consumable is to be a woman in Hollywood,” she writes. “And you’re not worth anything to anyone if you can’t hold your man up.”
A few years later, Ward, now 45, started posting nude and topless photos on social media — and gained a large following. In 2019, she announced on Instagram that she was starring in a full-length skin flick called “Drive.” The film, directed by veteran porn actress Kayden Kross, cast her as an “innocent” woman who begins to blossom—much like Ward’s own metamorphosis.
“I noticed I was a changed person after this all started,” she says. “I had new confidence and a full-time job, and it wasn’t because I laughed at higher up. The validation I got, especially after being told that no one would ever pay a cent to see me sexy, changed my soul.”
Since marrying real estate agent Terry Baxter in 2006, Ward had explored her sexuality, including realizing that she was also attracted to women.
She angrily dismisses claims that her husband, who she says is fully behind her career, is a “cuck,” praising him for recognizing “my twisted sexual desires as something valid and real.”
Ward notes that her new sexy makeover has boosted her confidence in the wider world. That’s how long she relied on her previous regular acting credits for validation.
Last year, Ward revealed she was raking in six figures a month from OnlyFans, boasting that it allowed her to “do more acting than I’ve ever done,” and “make more money and feel more powerful than I ever did in my life.” have done life”. to live.”
“I was brainwashed into believing that nothing mattered but a Hollywood job,” she writes, adding that the money she made from porn has allowed her to stop hiding or conforming.
And now Ward’s career is round as she now stars in the mainstream comedy series “The Big Time”, in which she plays an adult superstar. It’s set to stream this fall.
The actress admits that she was nervous before filming started.
“It was like riding a bike, but riding a bike again after walking in these old shoes I talked about for a lifetime on an unpredictable road,” she writes before adding that it was infinitely better now because “I now I was confident and I wasn’t afraid of anything that had held me back as a girl.
“Porn gave me that.”