By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices,
Nina Prommer, Globe Photos
Actor Terry Crews doesn’t just play a father on the hit TV show 'Everybody Hates Chris,' he's one in real life -- five times over. The Flint Michigan native (pictured among family members at a recent movie premiere) is the happily married dad of five youngsters ranging in ages from 11 months to 19 years. "You'd be hard pressed to find anybody who called themselves a father who hasn’t sacrificed something that they've wanted for the good of their family,” the hunky actor told Black Voices.
Big Daddy"I got five kids and a full career," actor
Terry Crews told Black Voices, in regard to his hectic schedule.
The 6'3 hunky actor is on hiatus from his regular gig on the hit comedy series 'Everybody Hates Chris,' but hard work still continues. He's currently filming the
Brian Robbins-directed romantic comedy 'Norbit,' starring
Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Eddie Griffith and
Marlon Wayans."It's the biggest role I've had yet," Crews --who also starred in 'White Chicks' and 'The Longest Yard,' said. "And I'm very excited about it."
On 'Everybody Hates Chris,' he portrays Julius Rock -- the patriarch based on the father of Emmy Award winning funnyman
Chris Rock. In real life, the Flint Michigan native has his hands in the role of a doting dad with kids ranging in ages from 11 months to 19 years old.
Crews has been a married father for the past 16 years. He revealed that he tied the knot the day before his twenty-first birthday -- and instantly became a family man. "My oldest is my stepdaughter," he explained, "but I've raised her and I've known her since she was six years old."
"I wasn't ready, I know that," he chuckled about being a young father. "I don't think anybody is really ready.
"It's just trial by error and with everything you find out what you're doing right and you definitely find out what you're doing wrong," he added. "You just pray that you raise them right and that you can really influence them to make good decisions -- and even if they do trip out for a little while, they will come back."
Crews said playing the hard-working pops of three youngsters and a sometimes over-bearing wife has taught him invaluable lessons. "Julius is a lot more patient than I am," he said. "I really look at scripts and go 'Man, I [would've] been through the roof out here.' But he deals with Rochelle because she's such a hard thing to deal with. He's very, very patient and that's something that I'm learning through Julius."
The show --co-starring television veteran
Tichina Arnold as mom Rochelle, along with
Tequan Richmond, Imani Hakim and
Tyler James Williams-- has garnered high critical marks, while also becoming a ratings success for the former UPN Network. Last week, the series was nominated for Best New Program of The Year at the Television Critics Association (TCA). Awards will be presented at the 22nd annual Television Critics Assn. Awards, chosen by the 200-plus members of the TCA, July 23.
Of his character, Julius, Crews said he recognizes the impact he has as a black father seen by millions of people on a weekly basis. "It feels special because as a black man, it's sad to say that I may be the only example, or one of the few examples of fatherhood, that people will ever see. And it's a sad commentary.
"There are a lot of fatherless kids out there who look at television to get their whole idea of what fatherhood should be," he added. "I mean
Bill Cosby pretty much raised a lot of people -- just to give them the example of fatherhood. I thank God because I love Julius. He loves his family and he works very, very hard and you're not a father if you're not sacrificing. That's what fatherhood really is all about. You have to sacrifice!
"You'd be hard pressed to find anybody who called themselves a father who hasn’t sacrificed something that they've wanted for the good of their family. You just call him your best friend or your buddy, but you can't call him your father."
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Crews confided he couldn't be a great father without the values that were instilled in him by his mother and father -- who stayed married for years. "There is something to be said for having a mother and father at home, both at home," he said. "People would look at us and call us a very successful family. And there are certain reasons for that, ya know. We were raised correctly." Crews said his siblings still reside in the Detroit area -- his brother is raising two daughters, while his youngest sister is doing well as a criminal lawyer.
"I look at it like 'Wow!' Sometimes when you try to reinvent the wheel, like a lot of people are doing now, I feel like you can't do without the input of both. You can do it but when you look at a success story, you always find there's been at least a great example for everyone to follow. So I just thank God for my parents."
His own marriage is one of sacrifice and partnership. His wife, Rebecca, "basically put her whole life on hold so I can achieve my goals," he said. "It's a hard thing to try and balance all of this stuff with the kids and the careers [but] we go to counseling, we always try to have our date nights and really keep it together and make each other a priority."
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And he's looking forward to Father's Day too. "I am. I need my break," he quipped. "It's literally the same as Julius's Father's Day on the show: everybody leaves me alone. I get no requests, no nothing; I get a whole day to myself.
"I'm going to chill out, read, go to a movie, relax, sleep and take a nap… anything I want to do.
"I thank God for the family that I have," he added. "Because in the end, you can talk about films and movies and all this stuff but truly when you're done and everything is done and you're 70 years old, and you look back, everybody just judges you by your family. That's it."
