Former star Dan Benson ditched acting after struggling to make ends meet and found a career in ‘corn’.
Dan, 36, will be a familiar face to anyone who watched comedy series – the show famed for making a star.
He starred as recurring character Zeke Beakerman, the best friend of Justin Russo (David Henrie), appearing in 32 episodes of the winning show on Disney Channel from
Nowadays he has left tradition acting behind him and turned to the world of ‘corn’ – ’s sensitive name for the adult entertainment industry used to avoid getting censored.
Dan has amassed 210,000 followers on the video platform by revealing his life as actor-turned-pornstar, including exactly why he left acting in favour of the taboo industry.
‘Why I quit acting,’ his latest video was captioned simply, gaining nearly 2 million views in less than a day and thousands of likes and comments.
In early 2022, Dan joined On***ans, a website primarily used by sex workers and previously gave an update saying he had found the experience empowering.
Dan began: ‘I make next to nothing from residuals, I look back fondly on my time as an actor but for the love of god – I could not make a living to save my life.’
Residuals are the money actors earn from projects after they are finished, a portion is sent out every time the show airs, indefinitely, designed as a source of income.
This is one of the main things hotly debated as part of the actors’ strike, with many well known faces revealing the miniscule paycheques they’ve received from hit shows.
‘If you’re wondering why I got into adult entertainment, I basically couldn’t afford medicated dog food for my dog and I was like “you know what, screw it”,’ Dan continued.
‘I get asked all the time how much money do you make now and it’s so much money that I’m scared to give an accurate answer. That’s how much money I’m making right now.’
The former Disney star added that he thinks he is the ‘luckiest person on earth’ as he concluded the video.
Fans in the comments were obsessed that he ‘did it for his dog’, calling Dan a ‘king’ for doing what he felt was best for his life.
He is set to appear on the Wizards of Waverley Podcast soon with fellow former stars David Deluise, who played dad Jerry Russo, and his on-screen love interest Harper Finkle (Jennifer Stone).
Sharing a throwback picture on Instagram, David wrote: ‘@danleebenson brought the character of Zeke to life in such a fun, funny, lovable way.’
