Maitland Ward In Boy Meets World

Maitland Ward In Boy Meets World
Published on August 26, 2022 01:05 PM

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Jen Juneau is a digital news writer for PEOPLE. A '90s teen and horror film connoisseur, she started at the brand in 2016, after a decade of working as a technical writer and then moonlighting as a journalist beginning in 2013. Originally from New Orleans, Jen grew up both in NOLA and Florida and eventually attended the University of Central Florida in Orlando (still her home base!), where she earned a bachelor's in English/technical communication, with a minor in magazine journalism.

Maitland Ward is sharing her experience breaking into the adult film industry after her time on Boy Meets World .

The actress, 45, played Rachel McGuire on the last two seasons of the ABC sitcom from 1998 to 2000, but she later found a career that she is exploring in her upcoming memoir Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me from Hollywood .

Ward started making adult films after she married husband Terry Baxter in 2006. He was "super supportive," she told Yahoo Life , adding, "Our sex life is way better now."

"I mean, it was always good and, and intimate and you know, like a marriage should be," she explained. "But I think now that I'm really open with myself and I can try new things and I'm not holding back or anything — I think that's really sexy."

Ward began her acting career on The Bold and the Beautiful in the mid-'90s and told Yahoo Life she felt like she "was always looked at ... as the more provocative one" on set. "People were fascinated by my long legs, and that I'm so tall and I have fiery red hair, and it was like it almost made that okay."

She noted, referencing one of her character's storylines on BMW : "If I was on a show, like Boy Meets World , I could be sexy. I could wear a sheet with little feathers on it in nude pictures that I had for my boyfriend — that's fine."

But according to the star, "If I ever wore anything like that, or did anything suggestive like that in real life, Disney and producers and Hollywood would've come down on me. Especially the producer, Michael Jacobs — he was very adamant about me being chaste and the good girl."

An attorney for Jacobs did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Ward told the outlet that she realizes "It's scary to forge your own path, but it's the only way that you're going to be happy."

"It doesn't have to be porn. That's my more scandalous side," she said. "I didn't just switch overnight. It's about making conscious efforts and decisions over time to get to a place that you want to be, embracing your truth. I want people to embrace their truth and just live how they want to live and be who they want to be. People are attracted to that."

She also said she "feels less of that stigma" in regards to aging when it comes to adult-film audiences, as opposed to the general aging-related pressures of Hollywood.

"I had more fans coming along as I've been older and been sexual ... I was told nobody would come along and now I've had major success with it," Ward said. I think it's just all part of this Hollywood machine — they want to keep you in a certain place at a certain time."

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Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me from Hollywood is out Sept. 6.

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Maitland Ward's career took a surprising turn after 'Boy Meets World' ended.
Despite how many years have passed since the show was on the air, 'Boy Meets World' still has a special place in many now-adult viewers' hearts. Clearly, the show had something special , so much so that Disney revived the concept with 'Girl Meets World' with another generation of the Matthews family.
Yet fans are still fascinated by what the former cast members are up to now. Cory (Ben Savage) and Topanga (Daniell Fishel) returned to the small screen together for 'Girl Meets World,' and some former cast members also made guest appearances.
But someone that fans have heard much less about is Maitland Ward, who played Rachel McGuire for a few seasons of the series.
When Ward's former castmates learned what career moves she's making these days, they were surprised but mostly intrigued. So what has the former sitcom star been up to?
Rachel joined the 'Boy Meets World' core friend group in season six, when the group is off at college. She is Topanga and Angela's friend, but is also Eric and Jack's roommate, later becoming Jack's love interest.
Rachel only appeared in the sixth and seventh seasons of the show (and the 7th was its last), but she formed a bond with the other cast members and has given interviews since then about the experience she had on set.
And apparently, she's still close with the friends she made on 'Boy Meets World.' So when she decided to take her career in a new direction, she was a bit worried about what they would think.
The surprising career move that Maitland Ward made was somewhat gradual. After 'Boy Meets World,' she acted in a few other relatively minor roles.
Then, she "retired" from acting and began cosplaying regularly. That , she later explained in various interviews, led her to other unconventional opportunities. Around 2013, Ward earned a following on social media for her risque photos. A few years after that, she received an interesting job offer.
In 2019, Maitland confirmed that she had just appeared in her first adult film -- at age 42. And she stated , per TMZ , that she didn't think the bend in the road of her career path would hurt her chances at any other roles -- adult or otherwise -- in the future.
In fact, she elaborated that the decision was a business-savvy one, and that the world of adult films would only lead to other opportunities for work. What's more, Ward claims that other actresses have reached out to support her business decision.
But how do her former co-stars from the arguably wholesome 'Boy Meets World' series feel about the publicity she's getting?
In a 2020 interview , Maitland explained that her former co-stars have her back when it comes to any and all career moves she makes.
After running into Will Friedle at a comic con event, Ward said that he asked her only whether she was happy -- no judgment. Ward answered that she was, and that was that. The pair posed for photos together and caught up, but Ward also explained that she's still been in touch with the rest of the cast.
In fact, she said she'd been receiving calls full of both support and intrigue about her career moves. According to Ward, she's perfectly happy to share insider details about her new industry. And the only person she claims she won't talk about her career with? Mr. Feeny, William Daniels.
Maitland doesn't appear to have any plans to change career paths again, though she probably wouldn't say no to a 'Boy Meets World' reboot or reunion; she says the cast is tight-knit and like a family, even now.
But that doesn't mean acting and her former castmates are the only highlights in Maitland's life. Although, it's worth noting that she has received awards for everything from her '90s run on 'The Bold and the Beautiful' to more recent adult film roles and scenes.
Ward also got married in 2006, to a real estate agent, and is still married now. The actress, whose married name is Maitland Ward Baxter, doesn't share much about her personal life on her social media. But since there haven't been any divorce rumors, it seems as if her hubby is perfectly happy with his wife's career path -- not that she would care if he wasn't!
Maitland is clear that her career choice is one of empowerment, and she's given plenty of interviews confirming that the adult film detour has done more for her career (and bank account) than any other role ever has.
Lane is a writer who loves entertainment and media and watches as many movies as she reads books. She loves a good story, even if she has to write it herself.

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Published: 19:04 BST, 26 August 2022 | Updated: 20:14 BST, 26 August 2022
'Porn doesn't have to ruin you. Porn can save you.'
That's how Maitland Ward puts it as she bares it all in her upcoming memoir which tells how she went from starring in the Disney sitcom Boy Meets World to being one of the world's most successful porn stars.
The actress reveals that she was turned off to Hollywood by producers on Boy Meets World who told her to 'play dumb' so she would be more 'likable'.
Ward goes on to write that she finally felt 'free' while performing hardcore sex scenes, which now earn her six figures a month from an adoring fan base.
Throughout her memoir, Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me from Hollywood , which is out on September 6, she tells of undergoing a ceremony to 'unblock' her vagina, screaming so loudly during her first X-rated movie that 'security came to check on us,' and calls out Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton for 'leaking' their own sex tapes and then crying 'crocodile tears' about them.
Former Boys Meets World actress Maitland Ward is opening up in her memoir Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me from Hollywood, out on September 6
The actress reveals that she was turned off to Hollywood by producers on Boy Meets World who told her to 'play dumb' so she would be more 'likable'
Ward writes that she finally felt 'free' while performing hardcore sex scenes, which earn her six figures a month from an adoring fan base
In the memoir, Ward writes that she has little time for celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, pointing out that everyone has to give consent and show their ID before making a porn film.
To do otherwise is a breach of federal law.
Ward writes: 'While scandal and weeping regret create headlines, and also a way out for celebrities from owning the fact they f***ed for fame, these tears they cry are crocodile tears.'
Ward has become a spokeswoman for the industry and has told how she is now in control – unlike her time in Hollywood.
Ward was born Ashley Maitland Welkos, an only child who had a 'sheltered' upbringing in Long Beach, California, which is nicknamed 'Iowa by the Sea' because of its small town feeling.
Her grandmother was a strong early influence and told her that 'sex was a trap by the devil' and 'all you'll ever do is have babies.'
The statue of Jesus in her childhood home would haunt Ward for most of her life, the shame of thinking he was disapproving of her casting a shadow that would last well into adulthood.
Ward writes that she had her first orgasm at 14 when her boyfriend named Daniel read steamy letters in Penthouse magazine over the phone to her.
Losing her virginity at 16 was a disaster, she writes, recalling how she began to giggle during the experience with Daniel and then his brother burst into the room.
Meanwhile Ward began taking acting classes because, she writes, she was 'never comfortable showing my emotions to anyone' so doing it through a character was a 'relief.'
Even then she knew 'there was something I had to say to the world that wouldn't be accepted by general society,' Ward writes.
After a failed audition for the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell, she was cast in The Bold and the Beautiful, the second most popular soap in the country at the time after Baywatch.
Her role on the show as Jessica Forrester was her first taste of success and showed her the good and the bad sides of Hollywood.
But Ward found the plotlines hard to stomach given she was a minor at the time.
Ward tears into celebrities who have had 'leaked' sex tapes like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton because she claims they cried 'crocodile tears'
That included one male co-star trying to rape her, which Ward was told would win her an Emmy and she should 'be more excited about it'.
Off screen Ward was experimenting with her sexuality more and was starting to find what she calls her 'inner porn star.'
She met a woman at a makeup store called Stella who 'showed me the literal ins and outs of a dildo' before introducing her to her boyfriend.
A nervous Ward came back to Stella's place armed with six condoms and the friend gave Ward and her boyfriend commands while she watched.
On a trip to Paris, Ward met a model who had 'primal' sex with her, telling Ward: 'You act like such a nice girl but I knew you were such a wh**e who would open up those legs.'
In her 20s, Ward got the part of Rachel on Boy Meets World after the show's producer Michael Jacobs preferred her to Selma Blair, who also auditioned for the role.
But while Ward loved the fame and attention that came with the part, she bristled at how 'everything to do with my storyline was kind of sexual and no one tried to hide it.'
Ward writes of a disturbing encounter with Fast and the Furious producer Rob Cohen who made her feel as though she had to make a 'physical payment' to get a role
All Rachel seemed to do was nag, tease or be a 'complete ditz.'
Ward writes: 'I never got past the feeling the writers were having fun at my expense and devaluing me – like I was a punchline to a joke I would never be privy to.'
One of the producers even told her to 'play dumb more' as she was 'more likable that way.'
When the show finally got canceled, Ward went out and bought a Rabbit vibrator which she said 'lit up my entire life.'
She went to a BDSM class and during a lecture about dominance and subservience Ward writes that 'for the first time someone was talking of the merits of extremes and I was listening'
Ward met a man called Devon in the class and they ended up having intense sex, with Ward telling him: 'I want to choke you' – only to find he was not very well endowed.
Devon wanted sex to have an 'extreme element' and they would do it outdoors in the rain, bathroom stalls and department store dressing rooms for weeks.
One time Ward laid on the hood of Devon's car in Laguna Beach in full view of the houses nearby.
Ward tried to land more acting roles but found herself typecast from Boy Meets World and told she was too old even though she was still in her 20s.
She writes of a disturbing encounter with Fast and the Furious producer Rob Cohen who was about to start filming Triple X with Vin Diesel.
Cohen called Ward 'beautiful' and said she was 'going to do so much' and they talked about working together on Triple X.
Ward started her career as a mainstream actress and is best known for playing Rachel McGuire on Boy Meets World. She appeared on the show from 1998-2000
Ward's Hollywood career had one last hurrah, the 2004 comedy crime movie White Chicks which brought her into contact with co-star Terry Crews. Ward says that in person Crews was 'one of the nicest guys who ever lived' but his views about women and porn appalled her
But Ward writes that as time went on, 'I thought that the part was never going to happen unless I made physical payment to him.'
She writes: 'It was like he kept throwing out the bait to see if I would bite, telling me how my character was going to jump off the screen and make me a star.
'Something in the pit of my gut was warning me that I was playing with fire.'
Ward calls Cohen – who has been accused of sexual assault by Asia Argento and his daughter Valkyrie Weather – a wolf in sheep's clothing, and the part went to somebody else.
Ward's Hollywood career did have one last hurrah, the 2004 comedy crime movie White Chicks which brought her into contact with co-star Terry Crews.
Ward claims that Danny DeVito 'ogled' her behind while filming
Crews would later reveal he was addicted to porn and claimed that pornography 'really messed up my life'.
Ward says that in person Crews was 'one of the nicest guys who ever lived' but his views about women and porn appalled her.
She writes: 'He didn't seem to view women in the adult industry as beings with lives and bodies who he had no business to control, but rather vehicles that served him when he was obsess
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Maitland Ward In Boy Meets World

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