'Boy Meets World' Actress Says Doing Porn Helped Explore Her Sexuality

Former actress Maitland Ward recently spoke about her career, particularly how her time on the hit sitcom "Boy Meets World" affected her life and sexuality. During a recent interview, Ward claimed that the show greatly "hindered" her "sexual exploration," which she was able to reclaim when she ventured into the porn industry.

Ward's character on "Boy Meets World," Rachel, came into the show in its later seasons and was portrayed as this gorgeous roommate that the men on the show wanted to date. Ward said that being objectified and "sexualized" without realizing what was happening stole part of the "power" of her sexuality.

The actress also called out the hypocrisy of the show's executives, who wanted her character to be very sexy and for Ward herself to maintain an image of purity and innocence in real life. She said she found much less pressure in the porn industry and can now explore her sexuality as she wishes.

Read on to find out more.

During her recent interview with Yahoo Life, Ward shared some of her experiences from "Boy Meets World." The 45-year-old former actress also spoke about these experiences affected her so much that she eventually left the film industry for the porn industry.

In "Boy Meets World," Ward played the role of Rachel McGuire from 1998 to 2000. She entered the show as a roommate to Cory Matthews' brother Eric and eventually dated Jack, Shawn Hunter's brother, who also lived in the same apartment.

From the moment Ward's character joined the show, she was objectified by the male characters, quickly becoming the subject of a competition by Jack and Eric. The two men fought for the opportunity to date their new, beautiful roommate, and Jack eventually won.

During the interview, Ward explained that at the time of getting cast in the show, Hollywood was in the era of praising female stars like Jessica Simpson for their presumed innocence. At the same time, the industry also expected her to portray the exact opposite in the show and wear sexy tiny outfits.

She said the experience was extremely confusing for her as a young actress. Ward said, "Having to go to the producer's office and try on lingerie over and over for a scene and for different setups was odd."

Ward explained that at the time, she believed it was "just the way you do things as an actress" even though they made her "uncomfortable." She stated that she later realized that being "sexualized" without fully realizing it took away some of the "power" of her sexuality.

The "White Chicks" actress also spoke about how some higher-ups on "Boy Meets World" held her to vastly different modesty standards when she was outside of the show's set. Ward said, "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."

She continued, "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." In particular, the porn star called out the show's creator, Michael Jacobs, and said he "was very adamant about me being chaste and the good girl."

Ward revealed that she started considering moving to the porn industry after marrying her husband, Terry Baxter, in 2006. She started dabbling in the industry and quickly rose to the top adult content creator position on Patreon. Shortly after that, she moved fully into making feature-length adult films.

However, Ward says it wasn't just "Boy Meets World" that took advantage of her youth and sexuality. She said mainstream Hollywood itself is a big part of the problem and that she found freedom from the pressure when she began making adult films.

Ward said, "Hollywood is very hard on aging but I have felt less of that stigma in porn. I've had more fans coming along as I've been older and been sexual." She also said, "I'm unapologetic about sex. I think it's me in my truth. When I was young, I was so apologetic for so many years. I will never apologize anymore."