Maitland Ward she believes hers is a story that “empowers women and everyone.” For this reason, she has just told it in Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me from Hollywood, an autobiography where the Californian recounts how she went from sitcom star to adult film actress, and how the Hollywood industry reacted to his unexpected career turn. “It’s about living your truth and not listening to what everyone tells you to do,” she said. “For a long time, Hollywood told me it could only be one way.” Like many other girls around her, Ward grew up dreaming of being an actress. Her first role was that of Jessica Forrester in the soap opera Beauty and Power, where she worked between 1994 and 1996. Later, she joined the cast of Yo y el mundo, that American sitcom, created by Michael Jacobs, where a kid (played by Ben Savage) It showed the viewer what it was like to grow up. The actress remembers his stage in the series as a “very confusing” time, due to the contradictory messages he received from the producers. According to them, her character (the receptionist Rachel) had to appeal to male viewers while also appearing chaste and good. nude photos I had for my boyfriend, and that’s cool,” she said recently, referring to the plot of an episode in which Rachel’s friends jokingly shared a racy photo of her. “If I ever wore something like that or did something suggestive like that in real life, Disney, the producers and Hollywood would have jumped on me. It was very confusing. For a long time, it made it difficult for me to explore sexually and discover who I was,” he added.

‘Me and the world’Cinemanía

Disaffection with the industry

Those two years Ward spent recording the channel series ABC they were enough to penetrate Hollywood. “People were fascinated by my long legs, my height and my red hair, and it was like that was okay.” “They came up to me and patted me on the ass, a pinch or told me: ‘Oh, look how good you are! Look at your boobs,’ said the actress, who already sensed that the mecca of cinema was not for her. Even so, since she is not one of those who give up easily, she wanted to give herself some time and try. According to her memoirs, she wanted with all her soul to assume other types of roles and thought of ways to reinvent herself, but she did not even get a producer I called her to do a casting. Seeing that escaping stereotypes seemed like an almost impossible mission, it ended with self-esteem on the ground.. “You get hired for being a certain way, for having a certain look,” she has commented. “But if you stay the same, you lose success. What makes you famous is what will keep you from being hired for something else. Hollywood is a machine that builds you up but then tears you down.” Hoping to forge a different career, Ward went on to study screenwriting at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). At that same time, She began posting photos on her social media where she was seen wearing cute bikinis. His followers immediately multiplied.

sexual awakening

When some fans began to encourage her to sell erotic content, the light bulb lit up for the actress. “I started a Patreon and within a week I had thousands of subscribers. I wanted to explore my sexuality,” said Ward, who soon positioned himself as the number one adult content creator on Patreon.In October 2006, the American married a real estate agent named Terry Baxter, who gave him unconditional support when, in 2019, he decided to take a step forward and made his debut in the world of adult cinema with a film entitled Drive (in addition to an exclusivity contract signed with the production company Deeper). “When I started down the road to adult entertainment, the detractors said I was just looking for cheap fame,” he says in his book. “That, or that they had drugged me, that they had forced me to do it, or that I had simply lost my mind. But I didn’t make a sex tape to get attention like Paris [Hitlon] or kim [Kardashian]. I wasn’t trying to imitate them and get fifteen minutes of fame. I wanted a long-term commitment to doing something I liked and could be proud of. I wanted years. And that is something that mainstream Hollywood has denied me for a long time. Porn has given me that.” Now, there is no doubt that Ward’s path has not been a walk without difficulties. Rather he has been full of inquisitive looks and condescending phrases from acquaintances and colleagues who work in that open city but full of closed minds that is Los Angeles. “My co-stars on Me and the World,” she says, “haven’t come out against me or tried to embarrass me, but for the most part, they haven’t publicly defended me either. I guess they turn a blind eye.”

Disappointments and rewards

Private messages sent by alpha males unable to control their morbid curiosity, their polygamous instinct, or both at the same time have not been lacking in their social networks. “Tori Spelling’s husband proposed to me on Twitter,” assured the actress. “She wrote to me several times and she asked me if we could meet, and I don’t think it was to talk about her rock collection… Or maybe it was. Celebrities, especially sports stars, regularly propositioned me. american football star Terrell Owens He invited me to the movies, and he wanted to know when we could meet. He texted me repeatedly and when I didn’t give him the answer he wanted, he unfollowed me. Consecrate himself as one of the great stars of the production company Vixen Media Group, and win the Xbiz award in 2022 (something like the Golden Globes of adult cinema) to the media star of the year. “I have more fame, more money and more opportunities than I’ve ever had,” she said. “I can create papers. I have long and twisted dialogues. I can write scripts. I can do everything I wanted to do. Now I have even more respect for doing exactly what I want to do without apologizing. How can you embarrass someone who is not ashamed? The 45-year-old Californian proudly boasts that Many women now approach her to say that she has helped them feel sexually empowered. “It’s scary to forge your own path, but it’s the only way to be happy,” says a woman who hopes her journey will inspire others to stop living to meet others’ expectations. “It’s about making conscious efforts and making decisions over time to get to the place you want to be, embracing your truth. I want people to accept their truth and live how they want and be who they want to be. People are drawn to it,” she concludes.