Child actors can venture down some interesting paths as they become adults and seek out new kinds of roles. Some stars ultimately opt to move away from traditional acting gigs entirely and forge careers in other ways. An avenue that’s not uncommon for actors who’ve been in successful movies or TV shows is the porn industry. One star to make the move is Dan Benson, who millennials may remember for his role on Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place. During a viral TikTok video, the actor got candid about exactly how he “tripped and fell” into the business.
For several years, Dan Benson played the role of the nerdy Zeke Beakerman alongside fellow “Disney kids” Selena Gomez, David Henrie and more. After the show ended its four-season run in 2012, Benson worked sporadically on shows like Smokey Knights and Rick and Morty. It may be hard for some to see any kind of throughline from Wizards to porn. However, during his TikTok, the 35-year-old Benson his new career was set in motion by viral encounters that occurred while he was still on the children’s program:
Basically, when I was on the show Wizards of Waverly Place, I would get messages from people all of the time – some of those being women that I found incredibly attractive. Turns out, messaging those women, who turned out not to be who they said they were, was not the best idea, because I would send nude photos to them, and they would take those nude photos and then post them onto online websites. And quickly, I learned that my nude photos and videos were all over the web.
The actor described that period of his life as “traumatic” and explained that he spent years trying to scrub the snapshots from the interwebs. Doing so proved to be a “difficult task,” and he eventually felt the ramifications of the leaks regardless. He says he almost lost a job later on because of the photos and said that the ordeal as a whole had a very “negative impact” on his life. But the Zoey 101 alum decided to change course and lean into his circumstances:
Eventually, I decided to stop fighting against it and instead go the other direction and completely lean into and build out a page and instead of letting these people sell my privacy… I decided to say, ‘Alright, screw you. I’m gonna sell it myself.’
Having started his new “adventure” in 2022, Dan Benson says he’s made a lot of connections within the adult entertainment industry and that this professional route has changed his life in a positive way. Fellow actor Maitland Ward has also talked up the porn industry over the years. The Boy Meets World alum says she makes six figures a month through OnlyFans, which Benson also uses. Ward is far removed from her BMW days, but she says that her former co-stars have been “supportive” of her endeavors.
It’s unclear whether the likes of Selena Gomez or Jennifer Stone have reached out to show their support for Dan Benson. But regardless, the man seems to be incredibly comfortable in his skin now and is happy to have tripped and fallen into this alternative line of work.
Those pining for the days when he played Zeke, however, can stream all four seasons of Wizards of Waverly Place using a Disney+ subscription. Anyone looking for more recent entertainment offerings can take a gander at CinemaBlend’s 2023 TV schedule.
