LOS ANGELES — Maitland Ward is "thrilled" at the idea of reprising her titular role as one of the Paris and Nikki Hilton-like heiresses in a potential “White Chicks” sequel.
“The Wayanses are now serious about making ‘White Chicks 2,’” Ward told XBIZ. “They’ve always wanted to, but there’s been hiccups about it, with the studio, I think. Other elements got involved where they couldn’t do it.”
The mainstream actress and XBIZ award-winning adult performer described the original — released in 2004 — as “a cult movie,” much beloved by several generations of movie watchers who have rediscovered it through different media platforms.
Ward — who developed a friendship with the Wayanses, particularly co-star Marlon, that lasted long beyond the set — explained that “people have been wanting ‘White Chicks 2’ since right after it came out. It’s become a cult movie and it’s apparently on TV all the time. People are always telling me they saw it on cable. They come up to me and ask me about it all the time.”
“Marlon and Shawn, and Keenan who directed it, they definitely want to get everyone that was involved to come back,” Ward added.
The Paris Hilton Revelation
In the original, Ward and costar Anne Dudek played the two spoiled “white chicks” that two Black FBI agents (played by Marlon and Shawn Wayans) have to impersonate with the help of full-body and facial prosthetics.
Ward told XBIZ that the “chicks” had originally been named “the Wilton sisters” in the script, but their surnames were changed to “Wilson,” allegedly because the Columbia Pictures legal department was concerned about a lawsuit from the Hilton family.
Last Wednesday, in fact, Marlon Wayans confirmed via Instagram that the Hilton sisters had indeed been the inspiration for the film.
Posting a photo of himself and Paris Hilton taken that night at Fox’s “Tubi & TikTok Live Long-Form Reunion” event in Los Angeles, he wrote, “Thank you Paris and Nicky for being muses. Love ya” and teased the long-in-the-works sequel by adding, "When we do #whitechicks2, ‘Let's go shopping.’”
Wayans also officially dubbed the elder Hilton sister “the original ‘white chick,’” confirming what everyone suspected about the inspiration for the character played by Ward.
Paris Hilton replied, “Great seeing you last night. That movie was hilarious AF. Love you, too, bro and yes, let us know.”
Her sister Nicky Hilton added, “Happy we could be a source of inspiration! ‘White Chicks 2?’”
“Paris and Nicky think so much of the film now after all these years, and they can have fun with that, so that’s so cool,” Ward told XBIZ. “I think the Wayanses are getting serious about it now and they know time is of the essence and they need to get it going for 2022. The time is now, finally.”
'Could you do a 'White Chicks 2' Now?'
Back in October 2020, after last summer’s tumultuous civil unrest about police racism, Marlon Wayans told People magazine that he’s often asked, “Could you do a 'White Chicks 2' now?”
“I think definitely,” he continued. “A good joke is when you can make the people you're parodying laugh. Who loves ‘White Chicks’ the most? White chicks. In this environment, in this climate, we all need something to laugh at about ourselves."
Ward told XBIZ she “would love to do it. I think it would be really fun to revisit the characters again, and I think people would get a kick out of it all these years later.”
“I’ve run into Marlon many times over the years, and we always talk about the sequel," she continued. "It’s so fun that they wanna go back and do it now. They do have a funny story idea for ‘White Chicks 2.’ They’ve had it for a long time. It could be a very cool summer movie like the first one was.”
In 2019, Marlon Wayans said the creators “still don't have a deal in place” for the sequel, but acknowledged that the fanbase was messaging him excitedly after rumors of its moving forward leaked. ”It depends on a lot of different factors, but off the top, I'm passionate about it. I love the movie,” he told People.
After last week’s Paris Hilton revelation, momentum for “White Chicks 2” seems to have picked up.
“Recently, I posted an anniversary picture from the June 2004 premiere on my Instagram,” Ward said. “It must have been on my brain.”
“And what I’m amazed at is that it’s young people who love it the most — teens, people in their early 20s, Gen Z. They keep asking me, ‘When is another one gonna come out?’ The sequel has a similar potential to be popular across many generations.”
Fans, she said, keep asking her to repeat the iconic “I’m gonna have a BF!” (“bitch fit”) line, one of the quintessential early “Karen moments” in the movies.
As for her new career, Ward — who’s currently working on a memoir and her own mainstream comedy series — thinks the Wayanses and the fans would be delighted to welcome her back.
“The porn stuff would add a whole new element and buzz to the film," she said. "The ‘White Chicks’ fan base, cast and creators are definitely more open-minded than the ‘Boy Meets World’ crowd. It’s been a long time coming and we’re all excited to be able to go back to our iconic ‘White Chicks’ roles.”