LOS ANGELES—AVN Award-winning performer and longtime Deeper star Maitland Ward appears in the newest episode of Investigation Discovery's docuseries Hollywood Demons. The episode, which aired Monday, April 27 on the ID channel and is now streaming on HBO Max, examines the often dark side of Hollywood for former young stars.
Best known to mainstream audiences for her role on ABC's Boy Meets World and her breakout in the 2004 comedy White Chicks, Ward has spoken publicly about the typecasting and creative limits she encountered in mainstream Hollywood, and about the artistic freedom, creative partnership and respect she has found in her work with Deeper parent company Vixen Media Group (VMG) in the adult industry. She has chronicled that journey in her Simon & Schuster memoir My Escape From Hollywood: Unapologetic, Unfiltered, and Unashamed.
"I think it's a rare and unprecedented opportunity to examine all the ills and pitfalls of young Hollywood stardom, alongside all the triumphs the adult industry—most notably VMG—has offered me," Ward said. "We're often led to believe that young Hollywood is this family environment and dreamland, when so much of it couldn't be further from the truth. Alternatively, viewers are led to believe that porn is a place of desperation and taboo, when that couldn't be further from the truth for me. I'm so happy that we're celebrating the liberation the adult industry and my time with VMG has brought me. I think people will begin to see things in a whole new light."
Over the course of more than 30 scenes with VMG, Ward has built a body of work that spans dark cinematic drama, serialized storytelling, comedy and directing, earning top industry honors along the way. Her breakthrough came in 2019 with Drive, her first Deeper feature. The movie earned her the AVN Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Her catalog expanded from there to include the Mistress Maitland series, which features the AVN Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene award-winning "Higher Power," as well as feature titles Muse and Muse 2, earning her an AVN Award for Best Leading Actress. Drift brought a second AVN Best Leading Actress. Ward has also stepped behind the camera with Vixen label Tushy, for “Casting Couch,” directing and starring in the scene and taking home the AVN Award for Best Actress - Featurette.
"Muse always stands out to me as such a groundbreaking and genre-crossing series," Ward continued. "We posed the question, 'Can porn be art?' and answered it with a resounding yes by creating such a beautiful, polished and thought-provoking production. It was truly the first of its kind and showed that porn can cross over into the mainstream space and be celebrated. It was an important statement not only for me and Vixen, but for the adult industry as a whole—to show that you can have compelling storytelling, strong acting, beautiful cinematography, and still deliver something that is undeniably erotic.
“When I came onto the scene with Drive, we showed the media all over the world what was possible with porn and filmmaking. Muse really set the stage for the possibilities of a true mainstream–adult crossover genre.”
"I truly believe the productions I've been fortunate to be part of have helped pave the way for an entirely new genre—one that bridges adult content and mainstream Hollywood," Ward concluded. "The fact that HBO is producing a series that examines the darker side of Hollywood, while also highlighting the liberation that can be found in the adult industry, shows that perspectives are shifting. That, to me, is a sign that times are changing—and I'm proud to be part of that evolution,."
Hollywood Demons season two premiered on Investigation Discovery on April 20, and is now streaming on HBO Max.
To view Ward's full collection of adult content, visit Deeper.com and Vixen Plus.
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To learn more about Vixen Media Group, visit vixengroup.com.
