COVID-19 had forced a halt in in studio porn, and with the entire country in a state of panic, many production companies decided to “shut things down” altogether for the rest of 2020. Kross, though, never flinched. She kept brainstorming, kept exploring ideas for costumes and sets, kept tinkering with scripts for Deeper, her imprint with Vixen Media Group. Even if she’d wanted to scale back, Kross told friends she couldn’t.
“Maitland won’t let me,” she’d say.
Kross, of course, was referring to Maitland Ward, the former Boy Meets World star who commanded headlines two years ago when she left mainstream entertainment for porn. As big of an impact as she’d made with her acting, Ward’s drive—her hunger—is what’s catapulted her toward the top of the adult industry.
Ward’s passion was evident during her inaugural year in 2019, when she became Deeper’s first contract star. And it was obvious week after week in the summer of 2020, when Ward would contact Kross—during the height of COVID—and prod her to come up with a script for a new feature.
“I promised her projects that are worthy of her attention,” Kross said. “I couldn’t let the (COVID) situation get in the way.”
By early August, Ward’s persistence—and Kross’ elegant writing and vision—resulted in the screenplay for Muse, a star-studded film featuring Ward in the lead role as a psychology professor in the COVID era.
Shooting wrapped in early September and, five months later, the movie captured Grand Reel honors for most outstanding production at the AVN Awards. Ward took home a trophy for Best Leading Actress and Kross won for Best Directing.
The success of Muse—which won seven awards overall—struck a sentimental chord with Ward, who, along with Kross, has always said her goal is to “break down the walls” that stand between porn and mainstream.
“We created this Netflix-quality production—just like we’d dreamed about,” Ward said. “Muse really does kick the wall down, so to speak. It can be watched equally for the story and the acting and the sex. People gravitated to that.”
And they’re gravitating to Ward, whose transition from mainstream to adult couldn’t be going anymore seamlessly. Along with the hardware for Muse, Ward also won an AVN trophy in the prestigious Best Boy-Girl Sex Scene category for her romp with Pressure in the film Higher Power.
She was rewarded for her efforts in February with a two-year contract extension from Vixen Media Group and Deeper, for whom she will now also write and direct.
Ward told AVN that her success thus far is “the validation of a dream.”
“This industry has given me this huge comeback, of sorts,” Ward said. “From a very young age, I was viewed as this certain type of character, this comedic kind of character. Nobody would allow me to do the kinds of things I’m doing now in porn.
“When I started going down this path, everyone was telling me, ‘It will never work. Nobody will ever accept you like this. Nobody is ever going to want to see you look sexy or do anything like this. It’s too far. You’ll ruin your career.’ It’s not easy. You think, ‘Am I making the right choice?’ But I couldn’t not do it. It wouldn’t have been true to myself, because I wanted to do it so bad.”
Ward credits her fans for giving the nudge she needed when making her decision.
“They supported me because they enjoy what I enjoy,” she said. "I showed my authentic self to them, even though people said, ‘No, don’t do that. Don’t dress sexy. Don’t dress up in these costumes. Don’t do this stuff.’ Along the way they kept supporting me. When I finally decided I wanted to do this for real, they showed up in droves and they stayed there. The fans were what propelled me to keep going on my journey.
“I just kept believing that this was what I was supposed to do, that this was what I was meant to do. I love sexually performing and I love acting. So to be awarded for my both my acting and my sex scene means more to me than anything. It touches my heart in so many ways.”
Once she entered the industry, Ward said the loudest feedback quickly switched from negative comments to positives ones. She said girls from her high school that she hadn’t spoken with in years contacted her to offer support. Instead of being shunned, Ward felt as if she was being celebrated, and the positive energy continues to build.
“I’ve had so much support from the wildest places,” Ward said. “I think the world is ready for what we’re doing. They’re eager for it. They don’t have the hangups that studios or executives or advertisers have.
“People ask me if I’m worried about the mainstream rejecting me. They started rejecting me and who I was a long time ago. I don’t have any allegiance to them at all. Instead, we’re putting out these projects and saying, ‘These are mainstream-quality projects. Here we are. You have to see them and recognize them.’
“People try to minimize it and say, ‘Oh, it’s just porn.’ No, it’s actually amazing filmmaking. And I think that needs to be talked about again and again. The more I talk about it, or the more anyone in mainstream talks about it, the more it gets normalized. I think that’s the most important thing: to normalize porn to the mainstream and say, ‘Listen, we’re here.’”
Ward couldn’t have found a better ally than Kross, who has tied a record by winning three consecutive Director of the Year awards from AVN. Kross and Ward are aligned in their vision to change the narrative about adult content. They first worked together on the 2019 hit Drive, which won Best Drama at AVN a year ago, when Ward captured the Best Supporting Actress trophy.
“It’s amazing to see the way Kayden writes and perfects her films in such a profound, professional way,” Ward said. “She always talks about writing being very poetic. It needs to have a certain cadence and a certain rhythm. It’s a very long process, because she puts so much thought and planning into each word.
“I would never be pushed this way in the mainstream industry. Even when I was doing that stuff early on in my (mainstream) career, it was never anything this impactful and deep. These brilliant monologues and things I get to explore as an actor … wow. Porn gave me my acting career back to how I wanted it. It’s been such an incredible journey with her.”
And it continued with the success of Muse.
Even though the AVN Awards ceremony was held virtually last month, Ward and Kross found a way to celebrate. They gathered with other stars and luminaries for a watch party at Vixen headquarters, where a red carpet lined the path to the entry. After posing for photos, Ward and Kross sipped cucumber margaritas from the open bar and snacked on sliders and Chinese fingers foods until the winners were announced.
Ward said she was “floored” to hear her name called, even though many expected it in the acting category. She said she never prepares acceptance speeches because she wants her remarks to be genuine.
“Last year,” Ward said, “when I gave my acceptance speech (for Drive) I said, ‘We’re going to kick the walls down.’ But there was a moment where I thought, ‘We’re not going to have an opportunity to kick the walls down because of COVID.’ But we did, in spite of COVID. And actually, especially, because of COVID and the lockdown. We didn’t have the huge gang-bang scenes or the on-location pieces everywhere. It forced us to focus in on characters even more, and on storyline.”
Ward said plans are underway to turn Muse into a series. The film also features high-end stars such a Gianna Dior, Scarlit Scandal, Adriana Chechik, Avery Cristy, Gabbie Carter, Lena Paul, Kenna James, Isiah Maxwell and Seth Gamble.
“This isn’t just one movie,” she said. “It’s something that can continue on and on, because people were really loving the idea of my character teaching all these students and continuing the storyline. It gives you the added benefit of being able to create new storylines. People can come in and out.”
Equally memorable for Ward was her tryst with Pressure that won the AVN award for Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene. The encounter began with Ward entering an anonymous meeting for sex addicts and delivering a jarring monologue that was every bit as powerful as her acting in Muse. Ward said Kross sent her the monologue the night before and that she memorized it easily.
“It was made for my tongue,” Ward said.
Once the meeting ended and the attendees dispersed, Ward and Pressure were left in the room alone. After some foreplay, Pressure unexpectedly forced Ward backward onto a table filled with coffee and donuts as he pleasured her orally.
“We both had coffee on one side of our sleeve,” Ward said. "I remember looking at him and saying, ‘Let’s go. Don’t even stop.’”
Ward eventually moved to a metal folding chair in the center of the room. At one point during sex, Pressure lifted the chair—and Ward—into the air as he continued to penetrate her.
“The chair actually got bent in half and they had to discard it,” Ward said. “They should’ve sold it on e-bay. We could've made some really good money.”
Toward the end of the scene Ward moved back to the table and leaned back into the temporary partition behind it as Pressure continued to thrust into her.
“At one point,” Ward said, “we thought the entire wall was about to fall down.”
Ward paused and laughed at the juxtaposition.
“Breaking down walls in porn—literally and metaphorically,” she said. “I love it! I absolutely love it!”
Photography courtesy of Deeper/Vixen Media Group
