Beyond the spotlight, beyond the memes, beyond his dapper and dynamic television and movie roles: who is Terry Crews? From NFL gridiron to fashion runways, from starring roles in Hollywood blockbusters like Deadpool 2 to the current host of the massively popular TV show America’s Got Talent, his professional career has been a zig-zagging thrill ride to stardom.
Terry Crews is a talented actor, athlete, designer, advocate, family man, and role model. He is an advocate for awareness; open about his experiences with toxic masculinity, sexual assault, breaking cycles of abuse, and the importance of mental health.
Beyond the glitz and glamor, this modern-day renaissance man possesses many other talents. We uncovered so much more with Terry than meets the eye! Did you know he plays the flute? Was he once a professional artist? Was knocked out cold on Monday Night Football? Prepare for tales of muscles, melodies, and menswear, as we dive into a luxe look at the growing legend of multi-talented Terry Crews.
HEALTH:
Perhaps above all else, Crews is known as a mountain of a man. He’s 56 years old, looks decades younger, and remains jacked and shredded. How does he maintain such a world-class physique?
“Lots of exercise. And intermittent fasting. I usually don’t start eating until late lunch and am usually done eating by 8:30 pm. I just find you don’t need that much. Sometimes one meal a day, and then a protein shake, and then that’s it. You learn the difference between real hunger and appetite.
Everything that’s within your reach is not meant to be in your hand. That’s the thing. You have to train yourself. It’s really hard. First year, I was like, my God, am I going to do this? And then all of a sudden your body just says, this is better. I feel rejuvenated and energized. And I love to eat! I love to go to a great restaurant. That’s the only problem with this thing. You don’t want a bad meal if you’re only having one per day. Fasting is the way to go.”
ABOUT THE NOBLEMAN PHOTOSHOOT:
“It was fabulous. I mean, what can I say? I love the magazine. I love the photos. I love it all, because there’s not a lot of men’s things around nowadays. When men are celebrated, I’m always very happy about it. I found out about Nobleman through Doug and Lydia (McLaughlin- the publishers of Nobleman). They reached out about their luxury event, The NOBLE Wine & DINE in Orange County at Pelican Hill, and I just decided to go. I said, ‘You know what? I’m tired of Hollywood stuff. Let’s go out there.’ And my wife and I went. We have a couple of friends who live in Orange County, so we invited them. It was four of us, and we all hung out there. It was wonderful. Great afternoon.”
ON HIS CHRISTIAN FAITH :
“Well, first of all, your beliefs define you. For me, I always knew there was something bigger than myself. This is the thing. Growing up in Flint, Michigan, I saw a lot of pain and a lot of heartache. There were a lot of just really, really bad things in my environment.
But I knew it wasn’t God that caused the bad things. Poverty is man-made. It’s always another man who’s trying to restrict things for another guy, as opposed to what is naturally out there. And I just felt God’s love. I felt the love when I woke up. No matter how difficult the circumstances were, I always felt like God was looking out for me. I felt God’s presence. It was not a thing where it was preached to me. I felt it.
By acknowledging it, God’s love became stronger and stronger for me. My energy is connected through gratitude. The thing is, who are you grateful to? Yourself? Everyone says: be thankful. But who do you thank? I could thank the people around me, like my mom, but there was always something bigger. I knew that there was this beautiful Being just watching me.”
HONOR:
“I get it now. God has always been there for me. It’s not about myself. It’s not about how I can advance, and how I can get what I can get. It’s really about helping other people and serving other people. And then you find peace. It starts a virtuous circle, what I like to call it. A virtuous circle. In life, the more you work on yourself, the more the world around you miraculously improves. That’s God’s love flowing through you.
That’s what I tell my kids: the best thing I can do for the whole world is to make the most of myself, to honor God, to honor my wife, honor my family. I’ve had various wake-up calls. This is what I like to call them. Because you can get ungrateful. You can feel like things are automatic. And it’s funny because that happens with success. The more successful you get, the more you think you deserve it, and the more ungrateful you can become.” – FULL ARTICLE IN PRINT ONLY
Photography: Robert Ascroft
Fashion Designer: Nana Boateng
Interview: Jesse Stirling
Grooming: Annette Chaisson for Exclusive Artists using Le Mieux Cosmetics
Tailoring: Tesa R Diaz
Shot on location at 1155 Arden Road, Pasadena, CA 91106
Listed by Annie Deng for 8.38M