Stripping is not a new field Maitland Wardbut this time he is baring his soul in his first memoir “Scheduled X: How Porn Freed Me From Hollywood” (Atria Books, 256 pp., out now).
Ward spent her teenage years on public television, playing Jessica Forrester on a soap opera. “The Brave and the Beautiful” and later Rachel McGuire on the ’90s teen sitcom “Boy Meets World.” But aging in front of the camera came at a price, says Ward, who felt stuck in what he used to do growing up.
“It was like I was on their television as the person I was meant to be for the rest of my life,” says Ward. “And in the end, I just had to break the screen and get out.”
Now in her 40s, Ward has established herself as an award-winning porn star. Not content to play the “closet mom,” Ward took control of her role by embracing her sexuality, something she was constantly warned about.
“I’ve been told over and over again by advertisers and people in Hollywood, ‘No one wants to see you as beautiful,'” says Ward. “It’s been liberating the last few years to be me, to show people who I am and challenge what Hollywood expected of me.”
Ward shares his journey from TGIF to NSFW in “Rated X.”
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Ward learned sexual freedom, the importance of consent from pornography
In “Rated X,” Ward is candid about coming to terms with his serum status. Despite being attracted to women throughout his life, Ward’s conservative lifestyle made it difficult to find self-acceptance.
“I was raised very religious, and I just wanted to push the part of me that wanted girls for a long time or hide it,” Ward explains. “I thought it was a secret and no one knew about it, it wouldn’t be bad because no one could judge me or say anything about me.”
With the love and support of her husband Terry Baxter, Ward says she got to the point where she “couldn’t lie about (her sexuality) anymore” and started incorporating it into her work in adult entertainment.
“When I got into the adult industry and was able to score (with women), it was exciting to be able to show it to the world and not be shy or embarrassed anymore,” says Ward.
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Ward says working in pornography also made him realize the importance of consent while taking intimate pictures. During that time Intimacy coordinators are doing the routine on the setsWard says the open communication in pornography stands in contrast to the lack of communication from his days on daytime television.
“When I was young and I did a soap opera and I had my first romantic experience, no one talked to me about anything that was going to happen except travel. “I know we weren’t having sex, but we were kissing and rubbing, and I was only 17 at the time,” says Ward. “So, I looked like I didn’t really know what I was doing on screen, but in porn, you talk about everything before it’s time.”
The celebration of sexuality in pornography allowed Ward to break free from the shame attached to women’s sexuality, which she says is “the last frontier” of “women’s liberation.”
“If we are completely liberated sexually, doing what we want, not caring about being judged by outside men or superiors, then we are free,” Ward says.
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Ward says ‘Boy Meets World,’ Terry Crews’ is against pornography
Despite starring in the G-rated sitcom, Ward says she felt “there was always something sexual” about her “Boy Meets World,” like a food fight with co-star Will Friedle in which Rachel “had (her) feet all over her face and chest, and we were while wrestling in the marinara.”
And while Ward doesn’t remember this, he says he struggled with the “dismissal” of his character by Cory (Ben Savage) and Shawn (Rider Strong) on the show, including a scene where the boys reveal private photos. Rachel.
“It was a small thing to empower women. They treated me badly, and I don’t think it would fly today,” says Ward of Cory and Shawn’s reaction to his character. “They’re looking through my personal belongings, they’re stealing my parking space, they’re putting pictures of me in the student union… and it’s accepted.”
“Boy Meets World” was filmed at the turn of the millennium, which Ward says was a “crazy, oppressive time for women” in Hollywood.
“You were supposed to be a virgin and a sex pot at once and not embrace either one at all: You were just supposed to be in limbo,” Ward explains.
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He says that adult entertainment helped him to take control of his personality and his body, as well as to free himself from these contradictory statements.
“Hollywood for a long time told me, ‘You can be attractive on screen, but you can’t be in real life,’ because if you do that in real life, you’re embarrassing and desperate,” says Ward. “I feel like I can do what I want to do and be free with my body and my femininity, and that has given me such freedom.”
Ward’s last major Hollywood role was in the 2004 crime drama “White Chicks,” which also starred “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” Terry Crews. Ward opens up in his book about how he felt when Crews criticized the porn industry after announcing his past porn addiction.
“He can’t speak for the rest of the world,” says Ward. “It is shocking and shameful that he would do this to so many (people), especially women, who make their living (in the industry), and it brings great shame and shame to them.”
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Ward about possibly returning to Hollywood
Unlike other former sitcom stars who revived their characters through reboots, including Savage and Strong on the “Boy Meets World” reboot. “Girl Meets World,” Ward is not looking for fun.
“I loved my time on ‘Boy Meets World,'” says Ward. “But it’s like high school. You had issues but you loved yourself, and you were happy with your friends, but you don’t want to stay in high school for the rest of your life and be known as the person you were.”
Ward says he wants to marry the worlds of filmmaking and pornography to show that the latter can have depth.
“People think porn is just a stupid, eye-catching, no-nonsense thing, but we’re making really amazing movies,” says Ward. “They’re better than the independent films I’ve done.”
In 2019, Ward starred in the fantasy drama “Dive,” a film she said allowed her to reconnect with the importance of acting.
“I’m playing (the) kinds of characters that I’ve never been allowed to play in Hollywood,” says Ward. “They never gave me a dirty, twisted, serious job with 700 lines of monologue.”
While Ward isn’t opposed to returning to Hollywood — he recently shot a pilot for a porn-inspired sitcom called “The Big Time” — he says he’s approaching new projects with a strong sense of independence.
“That’s my way this time. “I’m not going to do it to try to please anyone or try to get them to like me,” says Ward. “I’m going to do what makes me happy and what makes me feel strong and true and true to myself.”
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