‘Boy Meets World’ Star Maitland Ward Says Child Actors Were Treated Like ‘Product’ in ‘Hollywood Machine’

Maitland Ward, who starred in Boy Meets World and The Bold and the Beautiful, recently claimed that young actors were treated like a “product” in the “Hollywood machine.”

During an interview with Fox News Digital published on April 26, Ward, now 49, opened up about her experience as a child actor ahead of appearing in Investigation Discovery’s Hollywood Demons.

“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,” Ward acknowledged. “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 would identify with.”

‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ stars, from left: Maitland Ward, Dylan Neal, Monika Schnarre, (CBS, Courtesy Everett Collection)

Ward described her time as a child actor as “a factory kind of environment,” admitting that it felt “like you were just a product being sold.”

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.”

Additionally, Ward compared the expectations placed on young actors to what pop superstar Britney Spears endured.

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“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,” the actress pointed out. “And it was all for this like twisted male gaze that Hollywood was just inflicting on everybody.”

In Boy Meets World, Ward played Rachel McGuire from 1998 to 2000. Her character was a roommate of Jack (Matthew Lawrence) and Eric (Will Friedle) in Seasons 7 and 8. Meanwhile, Ward played Jessica Forrester in The Bold and the Beautiful from 1994 to 1996.

Hollywood Demons: Child Stars Gone Wild, premiering Monday, April 27, on Investigation Discovery and streaming on HBO Max 

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