‘Boy Meets World’ star Maitland Ward says she was treated as a product
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As a teenager, Maitland Ward — who first discovered fame as Jessica Forrester in “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and later Rachel McQuire within the beloved ’90s Disney TV present, “Boy Meets World” — was uncovered to a darkish aspect of Hollywood that wasn’t usually mentioned. From being put in compromising and “provocative” positions as a minor on set to shortly changing into a product of a “twisted male gaze” at such a younger age, the California native confronted a wave of challenges and is now gearing as much as expose the pitfalls of younger stardom.
In an unique interview with Fox News Digital, the previous little one actress, who stars within the upcoming episode of Investigation Discovery’s “Hollywood Demons”, opens up about her troubling previous of changing into a man-made “product” as a child and defined how she managed to flee social norms and make waves as an grownup movie star.
“I can’t speak to how Hollywood is today because it’s such a different animal than it was back when I was getting into it,” mentioned Ward, 49. “Back then, I think they looked at these young actors as like property coming in. And I really believe the studios, they wanted to mold and form these young actors into what they wanted them to be, what they needed them to be for the company and for the audience, to what they felt they would identify with.”
Maitland Ward, who stars within the upcoming episode of “Hollywood Demons,” says she was molded into a “product” as a little one star. (Getty Images)
“I think it was such a factory kind of environment. Like you were just a product being sold, and you knew that yourself,” she continued. “I mean, I didn’t think anything was wrong at the time with anything that was going on really. I mean it felt ill at ease in my own body and all my feelings and stuff, but I thought that was just me being stupid. I have to be professional. I have to be part of that Hollywood machine. And that’s really what it was.”
For Ward, telling her story in “Hollywood Demons” was a chance to launch baggage that has been together with her all these years.
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“It was very therapeutic to tell the story at the age that I am now about my 16-year-old self, 17, 20, whatever, that my young self coming up in a business that thought of her as a product and was very dismissive of the product a lot of the time. They just wanted it for what they wanted it for. And then cast it aside when they didn’t. And that happened to many, many young actors“
“I feel this present actually examines that on a lot of fronts in younger Hollywood, particularly in that world of the 90s and the early 2000s, the place women were just put into this field the place you needed to be this younger lady that was both, a virgin and a slut all of sudden,” she continued. “And I hate to use those terms exactly, but that’s what it was.”
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Ward first discovered fame as Jessica Forrester in “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and later, Rachel McQuire within the beloved ’90s Disney TV present, “Boy Meets World.” (Getty Images)
“It was like the Britney Spears thing. She had to go on TV and swear up and down she was a virgin, but she was being used provocatively for her body and her sexual image, and it was all for this like twisted male gaze that Hollywood was just inflicting on everyone. They were telling us things, like this is what the audience wants, this is how they want you to be, this is how they want women to be. But it really wasn’t true because if you go back or you talk to people now, they were like, ‘Oh, I love this stuff about you, or I love stuff about the show.’ And it’s so different from what we were told the audience was craving.”
Looking again at her time on “Boy Meets World,” Wardwho was 21 when she joined the forged within the later seasons, mentioned it is troublesome to look again in any respect the “provocative, weird situations” she was put in.
In a 2022 interview with ComplexWard detailed being “sexualized” whereas starring on the Disney present.
WATCH: Former Disney star Maitland Ward says younger actors have been treated like a ‘product’ in Hollywood manufacturing unit
“I didn’t realize the food fight was such a fetish kind of thing, like, food and feet and all this stuff going on. I didn’t realize all of the innuendos that were made in Rachel’s direction and I think the writers, and Michael especially, really enjoyed playing with that, but then it couldn’t be on my terms,” Ward mentioned, referencing co-creator Michael Jacobs.
Ward mentioned she did not suppose a lot of it on the time.
“We all just thought it was normal and nobody thought anything about it,” Ward advised Fox News Digital. “And I’m sure like a younger audience, like if I was a kid watching that, and I didn’t think anything of that. But when you examine it, adults were creating this space and making this kind of product. It’s really troubling just seeing how other people have been through similar situations.”
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Ward mentioned that as a result of it was taboo to debate any emotions of doubt on the time, she finds it liberating to have the ability to air out her grievances and join with others who have been put in comparable conditions.
Since her little one stardom years, Ward has discovered mega success within the grownup movie business. (Photo by Ethan Miller)
“It’s kind of freeing to say, ‘Oh, wait, you felt that way too? And you went through a similar situation.’ There’s so much of the story that we don’t know. We just see like what Hollywood shows us. But [‘Hollywood Demons’] really peels back that barrier that we have. We can see everything that’s going on, and it’s really important that we do examine this, especially for future generations, the younger generation coming through.”
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These days, Ward — who has not solely discovered mega success within the adult film industryhowever you’ve been a champion for girls breaking boundaries professionally and personally — you’ve by no means felt extra empowered.
The actress as soon as talked about being “sexualized” on “Boy Meets World.” (Photo by Albert L. Ortega)
“I think I just feel really free after all of it, just that I’ve just gotten so much of myself out there,” mentioned Ward, who revealed her memoir, “Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me from Hollywood” in 2022. “I think people have a misconception about actors in general, and of course people in the adult industry in general. And I think my story is multifaceted.”
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“It’s a story for every woman, every person that says, people are telling them, ‘No,’ over and over again,” she added. “They’re telling them what they should be, how they should act. We see it in everyday life. Like at any business, at any situation, people are trying to put especially women into this box. And it’s really a story of self-discovery, and just finding who you are as an authentic person in any way that you want to.”
“Hollywood Demons: Child Stars Gone Wild” premieres Monday, April 27 on Investigation Discovery. Episodes can be found to stream on HBO Max.
