Hi, I’m Terry Crews and this is my last meal. Every person has exactly two things in common. We all gotta eat and we’re all gonna die. Today’s guest is actor, author and former NFL linebacker. You can catch him in the new movie The Killer’s Game. You can also see him on the America’s Got Talent season finale. Terry Crews, welcome to the show. What’s up, my man? How you doing, Josh, good to see you. Likewise, man. There were too many things to fit in the intro. You’re also a furniture designer. You’re also a painter. You threw hammer with former American record holder Lance Deal. You are the best damn courtroom sketch artist that WJRT, channel twelve in Flint, Michigan ever saw. You went way back. You really went into the annals of my history, man. This is good. I’ve been trying to figure out what makes all of the man that is Terry Crews. And there is so much there. You’ve really been making the most of the one life you got. Oh, dude, I just do what I love, man. I learned that a long time ago because, you know, coming up in Flint, Michigan, you were kind of. You either worked at the factory or you didn’t. And so I was like, man, I got. I can’t do this for, you know, I can’t be stuck over there. So I just said I have to do as many things as I can possibly do. Whatever I love, I decided I was gonna do. Have you thought about your last meal before? No, I never did. But, you know, once I knew I was coming on this, actually, there were so many choices. I think I gave you guys like five or six. Because what can I say? I can’t imagine just having one last meal. I just can’t. It’s like, it would have to be a whole, like, cornucopia of everything. You know what I’m saying? Today, we have a cornucopia of literally everything that you asked for. We are putting together the largest Last Meals in history. And it’s just you and me, and we gotta take it all down, man. Let’s do it, man. Let’s do it. We can die tomorrow, right? Is that it? We might. And we might. I’m not saying today. I don’t know. Let’s see. Terry, for the first of six courses today, we have the creamy rock shrimp. This is tempura fried. Little bit of a spicy mayonnaise with yuzu in there. We have the spicy tuna on crispy rice. We have miso black cod. And then we have a simple salad with a little bit of edamame, and some citrus and fennel in there. Man, please, dig in and tell me all about it. Okay, man, I’ve been waiting for this. Like, okay, I gotta start with my creamy rock. Listen, first of all, you gotta understand the thing about this meal. This is my Nobu special, right? And I would go to New York, and I would be like, oh, one day I’ll be able to go to Nobu. And then once things started to really click for me, and I’ll never forget, my wife and I were in New York, and it was a little bit after White Chicks really started to take off. And what was so nuts is that I remember they played my scene in the car with Marlon in Times Square, and we were flipping out. Oh, thank you. We’re going hands. I’m gonna grab a couple of these. Go for it, man. Thank you. Oh, my God. We got more in back too, Terry. Don’t hold back here. And I took my wife, we went to Nobu, and they knew who I was. And then they escorted me up the stairs, and I had my table, and this was the meal that I had, and I always have this meal. You mentioned growing up in Flint, you were part of the Greater Holy Temple Church of God In Christ. And you said that there was no movies, no secular music, no dancing, and that food was your only indulgence. Yes. Is that why you have such a strong connection to food? We would go to church probably five, six times a week. Dang. But it was everything we had to do, because it was our entertainment, it was our lessons, it was everything. But then we would go late. I remember being a kid, there was a supper club called Wally’s. And, dude, there would be a huge spread out at literally eleven forty-five p.m. And your hamburgers, hot dogs. Wally’s was kind of like this. It was basically like a Cheesecake Factory-ish. You could have everything. And, dude, people would eat like champions. But especially when you’re, like, depriving people of so many other things, and that one thing becomes so, so, so important to you, and you start, like, tethering that to positive emotions. And this is another thing. I was an artist, and I was an athlete, but either world didn’t accept me, so I would go to football practice, and they would be like, hey, man, you gotta quit all that paint stuff. And then when I go to art class, and they’re like, hey, you gotta quit all that football stuff. And so I was like, why? Why? I ain’t quit either one. It sounds like you were always caught in this conflict between two worlds, right? Being like the artist and the athlete, growing up in this very heavy, heavy church and then not necessarily feeling the belief. Did you ever actually feel comfortable as a kid? No. Yeah. No, I was scared. I spent a lot of time very, very afraid growing up in the church that I did. The thing was, everything will send you to hell. So there is a concept of the Rapture. And the Rapture is when Jesus come back and he’s going to take the saints and it’s going to disappear. And the whole point was, you don’t want to get caught and left behind, right? So that was used as a manipulative tool in a lot of ways to keep. Get kids grounded. They’re like, hey, man, Jesus coming back and he gonna catch you. That was almost like a boogeyman, you know what I mean? It was almost like, and if you get left behind, oh, my God, the world, the devil’s gonna have you. And you were scared. Some kids had Michael Myers, you had Jesus. Oh, man. Right. Right. And it’s really wild because it doesn’t. You’re supposed to look at, you know, religion and God is a good thing. But I looked at it as like, oh, my God, he’s trying to catch me. You know, so I spent all my time scared. Let me tell you. One time when I was in church and I fell asleep, and I’ll never forget, I woke up and all the pews were empty and everyone was gone. And I went, no! No! Listen, I’m a kid, man. You understand? This is the way they kept us straight. And I went, no, I missed it. I missed it. It happened, and I’m gone. And dude, I’m screaming like, no, no, and I’m running, and no one’s anywhere. Everyone was in the basement eating. Everyone was in the basement. My mother was like, I’m right here. And I was like, oh, my God. I thought you were gone. I thought everybody was gone. That’s still, that memory right now. It’s, like it happened yesterday. Yeah. That’s how pivotal it was. Like, I couldn’t. It was just the panic. And I spent so much time afraid. And then Charles Manson was out. The whole Charles Manson thing. Yeah, Jesus coming for you and Charles Manson. He could open doors with his eyes. I believed it all. I believed it all. And it was crazy. Because I remember Helter Skelter was the movie that was out on television. And I was like. And I was so scared that Charles Manson was gonna come kill me. You know, not only Jesus, but Charles Manson, because Charles Manson looked like Jesus. Yeah. Which was kinda crazy. So I got them all conflated together. It’s so easy to laugh at now, but also at the time, like. I’m a kid. You’re a kid. Yeah. I’m a childhood. And when you talk this kind of stuff, you have to explain yourself. But there was not a lot of explanation. You know, this is our therapy session. I’m here crying over our last meal, man. Look, look. Listen, man, we got shrimp. Charles Manson can’t hurt you. No, it’s over. Terry, for course number two, we got the baby back ribs right here. A little bit of pickled veg on the side, a cornbread muffin, some extra sauce. We got the barbecue baked beans, and of course, some collard greens cooked down with some smoked turkey neck in there. This is. I’m going in. I’m going in. I gotta add some of these beans right here. This is one of my childhood favorite meals. You have to understand why. Again, we’re going back to the midwest, okay? And by going back to the midwest, we have to talk about a theme park called Cedar Point. Anybody who knows about Cedar Point, I heard. I heard that. I heard that. Studio audience is live today. Listen, Cedar Point is the bomb, right? Because we were so far from Disneyland. You ain’t getting there. So far from Disney World. No way. And nothing. Oh, look at the sauce, man. Oh, my God. Nothing like. My uncle. Oh, my God. This is so good. Get right out of town. You know, everybody in every family had a resident barbecue expert, so he would come by the day before knowing we were going to Cedar Point. And he would barbecue these ribs. He had this special sauce. He would smoke this sauce, the whole thing. And my aunt would make the side. She had the baked beans, she had the greens, she had the cornbread. The whole plan was never to buy food in the park. Yeah. Yep. You know what I mean? Like, we already knew. Don’t ask. Because we ain’t paying for none of that. We bought the tickets, and so, and we bought those on coupons. And drinking out of the water fountain. You know what I mean? Right, right. And it was like, whatever you see out here, don’t worry about it, because we bring in the food. And, man, it was so. It was one of the best memories ever. Like no church, no nothing. It was like fun, fun, fun. All the coasters, all the rides. And then the family would all get together between noon and one. We break this out. I had a Cedar Point T-shirt. And I’ll never forget the day I ruined it, because my uncle asked me to move the grill after he was done cooking. Because we’re going the next day. And I kept the freaking T-shirt on, because I was gonna wake up in it. So I could just jump in the car, and I put the grill next to my shirt and I put it down and it has all these sauce lines all over it. I was like, no! And you can’t get barbecue sauce out of a. That’s done. A white Cedar Point T-shirt. That shirt’s called a rag now. Yeah, right. Exactly. That’s obviously such, like, an incredible happy memory from childhood. But also, you say that you were sort of constantly scared and you felt powerless. How do you hold those two truths at the same time? Like, do you ever feel yourself getting so negatively tinged by your childhood that sort of ruins the positive memories? It’s the sin of comparison. Yeah. When you’re comparing yourself to other people, you go, oh, man, I didn’t know it was bad. When you’re young, you don’t know you’re poor. Yeah. I wasn’t allowed to do anything. Like, I wasn’t allowed to play sports. I wasn’t allowed to go to the movies, or anything like that. But I was allowed to draw. And what I would do, I would sit in my room and people would tell me about movies, and I would draw what I thought the movies were. Did you make accurate predictions? No. They were all over the place. Right? I would literally make movie posters and do all this I’ll never forget. Because I wasn’t allowed to see it. But I love it. When I finally did see it, it was phenomenal. It was Alien. Because Alien came out around nineteen seventy-nine, around that time. And I just remember the commercial. And I was like, oh, my God. So I started drawing what I thought the alien looked like. Because I didn’t know. My mother was very disturbed. She’s like, that’s some demons in there, like. And people in school were like, Terry, what’s wrong with you? You know, I had a lot of blood and weird stuff in there. But I was like, this is what the movie is, right? And I was. Again, I’m the biggest nerd you could ever imagine. Just because of my imagination. It forced me to imagine everything. Also, like, I don’t think it’s corny to be really excited about things. I think that’s something that a lot of, especially young people, are taught that is corny to be excited, but I don’t think it is at all. I also wanna talk about the idea of, like, those hardships actually spurring someone towards success, which, of course, can be true. But then there’s a flip side of that, of you still feeling like you have those hardships after you’ve reached the success. So, like, how do you actually learn how to enjoy that? I just wasn’t thankful for what I had. It was always like, yeah, but I’m not there. I’m not there when I get there. Was that just overcompensating for you, thinking that you, like, needed to have that wall up? I think it was. Yeah. I think it was. Because it’s like, even in the religion stuff, you’re not there. You know what I mean? It’s like when you go to heaven, you still ain’t. You could all fall apart at every minute. It’s always. So it’s always the feeling like anything could fall apart at any second. So, me and my wife went through a whole bunch of stuff, like, we basically broke up, and it was a whole big deal. And this was after we had been married twenty years. But I was so, like, focused on just career. I’m not there. And once we rebuilt our marriage, I started to understand, like, oh, wow, you have to enjoy this stuff while it’s here. Yeah. So, as the kids started getting older and moving out, I was like, oh, I think I missed the time with them. Like, the first one’s gone, and the second one started leaving, and then third one’s gone, and you go, oh, my God, like, I don’t know if I really enjoyed while they were here. That’s a scary feeling. Especially because you probably convinced yourself that it was for them when you probably knew damn well it was for you, not them. And they knew it for me. You know what I mean? That was the thing. They were like, okay, yeah, sure, dad. Somebody gotta pay for all this, that kind of thing. But they’re like, we just wanted to be with you. Yeah. Like, we didn’t care what it was. Because again, it’s the sin of comparison again. You know what I mean? Like, when I was a kid, I didn’t have this. So I’m gonna give you all these things, but they’re like, but, dad, we just want you. Yeah. I was like, oh, wait a minute. And that took some years, dude. And my wife was always telling me the whole time, like, you need to just chill, and you need to be with them. But I was always explaining to her, no, no, but what happened if we don’t have this? She’s like, we’ll be fine. Yeah. She’s a smart lady, man. That’s one reason why I’m still here. I’d be dead without her. I ain’t gonna lie to you. Hey, man. Cheers to having smart women in our lives. That’s it, man. That’s it. Hey. That’s it. Terry, for our course number three, healthy interlude, we have the grilled broccolini with a grilled bison ribeye finished with a little bit of grass fed butter. We got the baked sweet potato, and then we have a panoply of smoothies. We have the peanut butter. We have the berry, we have the citrus, and then we have the strawberry. And look at him. I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you. My muscles were talking to me. I couldn’t hear myself. I was staring. First of all, Josh, Josh, this. You have to understand something about this. This meal is my first, like, staple, official, like, I’m going to get healthy meal, okay? This is bison. But I found the less processed this meat was, the better it was for you. You know what I mean? And it was so rich in iron and whole thing. First time I ever had it, I’ll never forget. It was like a Santa Fe, New Mexico, an old thing. And it was just like, oh, my God, this meat is so good. And it’s done perfectly. It’s hard to burn it because it always stays. Look at that. It always stays juicy and delicious. When I retired from the NFL, I got tremendously out of shape, because as a football player, that was my whole life. I retired. We moved to LA. I was like, I’m gonna try to get into the industry and the whole thing, but I was so depressed. I used to just sit on the couch and eat pecan sandies. That was my thing, man. Oh, the worst. Like. They’re dry too, man. Oh, yeah. With a big glass of milk. Nice. But they’re so dry. And I gained, fifty pounds overweight. I mean, I was like. And my wife came up behind me. It was in the mirror, and she pinched my back fat. And I was like, what are you doing? And she was like, oh, no, it’s okay. It’s cute. It’s cute. I was like, this ain’t cute. What are you talking about? What are you touching? Don’t touch me like that. I’m trying to tell you, like, I had no reason. Because I had still seen myself, like, this super fit guy, and she was like, it’s cute. I love you anyway. I was like, stop playing with me. I mean, angry, angry. And she was like, damn. Just calm down. Right? Went to the gym. And I told the guy at the counter, I was like, I’m gonna work out here. He goes, great, that’ll be a hundred dollars, and then it’s like, twenty dollars a month. I said, no, no, no. You don’t understand. I’m gonna work out here. He said, yeah. You have to understand, Josh. I never paid to work out. Yeah. In my life. In my life. Yeah. Literally, from high school all the way up through college, through the pros. You just go to the gym and I’m like, you paying? Like, you want me to pay? And it hit me, I was like, I have to pay, so I pay. And then I went and got on a recumbent bike and read a magazine and, like, in literally ten minutes. And then I put it down, I went home. You gotta do your baby steps. Baby, baby. Just little bitty things. And I also got into smoothies during this time. You know what I mean? I feel like smoothies were new back then. Yeah. We didn’t always have smoothies. Dude, there was no Jamba Juice. You know what I mean? This is all brand new. I remember people were like, smoothies. This is the way you can get your calories in and have your protein and do it. It’s a meal and it’s a drink. That’s how old I am. Because people didn’t smoothie. There was no smoothie. It was like either ice cream or water. They were riding a horse to the gym. You know what I mean? Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Like, what the? So, and let me taste this one. Peanut butter. I love peanut butter, man. Got a little Greek yogurt in there. With the Greek yogurt. Dude. Dude, look at that. I feel the muscles just building. Look at that. That’s that. No, you got it. Dude, this is some healthy fat, healthy protein. The Greek yogurt is great for probiotic. I want to ask you about how you first started working out, though. Because you were eleven years old and you said you’d be doing crunches so obsessively that your stomach started to cramp. Yeah. A lot of people might start working out to get dates, but you were working out to kill your father. Very different. Very. Listen, my father was very abusive. One of my earliest memories was him knocking my mother out. I was like five years old. He worked in a factory and he would work all day. I remember leaving at one. He would work second shift, leave at one. He would come home around eleven after his night at the bar. And, man, they would bite. And my mother was screaming and he, you know, haul her off and don’t make me do this. Don’t make me, and then pow. And then I will never forget walking out and seeing her on the ground, knocked out. And he’s like, look what you made me do. And so I look at him and I’m going, oh, boy. Okay. Remember, as a young man, you start to realize there’s certain things you just start to get immediately. I’m like, this is your world. You can do that to her. You say you love her. You say you love me, too. But, dude, you just did that to her. I mean, that’s a grown woman. What are you gonna do to me? Yeah. And I was like, hey, man, it’s your world, brother. Like, I just didn’t want to get that punch. Because you gotta understand my father, the way he walked around the house, it was like, boom, boom. It’s like Godzilla. And I remember on the news, you know. because the news was a little different, but at nightly news, it was only the big stuff that got on, you know, it wasn’t like twenty-four hour news. So they were like, man kills entire family. I was like, my father could do that. He could do that. Yeah. Did you think could or would? It was a little bit of both. Some days it would be like, would he? But he definitely was could he. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? There was no question he could. So I was like, all right, I gotta protect my mother, and I gotta protect myself. So as a little kid, man, I was out. I literally. We had. This is back in the day. And at the end of one thing my parents did let me do was comic books. At the end of the comic books, they would have these little books about, are you tired of getting sand kicked in your face? It was a little cartoon that was like. It would show a guy at the beach get his thing. And it’s a little workout number where you could learn how to get muscles. Man, the pre-internet days. It was that little thing. And we. Me and my brother wrote. We wrote the little address they had on there. And I think it was like you had to send like a dollar or something. I put a dollar in the envelope and we got this book back that had these drawings of exercises. Like, this is how hard it was. How many? There was no gyms back then. I remember the exercises were. And there’s this dynamic tension, right? Those kind of. They would draw how you sit against a wall. And this is, me and my brother. How much money you pay? Like a buck, right? But your leg. But your buck back then was like ten dollars. You know what I mean? Like twenty dollars now to be honest. I said, if this works doing it once, it’s gotta work better doing it four times. So what I would do was just keep doing it over and over. And then I learned about dynamic tension with the Bruce Lee book. And then. So I was like, I’m gonna tense up to the point where. And then all of a sudden things would cramp, and muscles would go. This is why, you get the peak on top of the peak. Because I was like, God. My mother was like, what is going on? But fitness, it was one of my things, because I did feel like I had to protect my family. Yeah. I did feel like I had to protect my mom. And let me tell you, man, it kind of came to a head when I actually did beat up my father when I was a grown man. Yeah. And it was kind of wild. Because he, had my first real year in acting, and he hit my mother in the face. When we were, me and my wife were headed to Detroit to go and visit some friends. And I get a call from my aunt, the same aunt that would take us to Cedar Point. Know a thing. And she’s like, oh, my God. She said, your dad just hit your mom. And I was like, what? And I said, I’m a grown man, but I’m a grown ass man now. And this is the thing. When I went home from Christmas, we call this a Christmas from hell. So I said, dude, I told him never to mess up. I said dude, just don’t trip, because my kids hadn’t been around it, and, dude, my kids were shook. Like they never seen that. Yeah. So I told him, get everybody out of the house. And it was just me and him. And I beat his ass for hours. And I felt nothing. Did you expect to feel something? Like, did you actually think that moment would? Hey, man, this is it. This is the moment. This is what I trained for. This is what I wanted. This is, like, what I, I was like, how does it feel? How does it feel? And, man, I felt nothing. Like a man has never, ever meant to hurt his parents. Yeah. No matter what they did. Now I’m no better than you. Like, where does it? When did, like, there’s no awards, there’s no medals, there’s no winners here. And I left, and I never went back for ten years. Ten years. But there is a kind of a nice end to this. Because once I went to therapy after my wife and I broke up and the whole thing. And I went to therapy for the first time. In my therapy, I discovered that I needed to just address what happened, but the way I had to do it. I had to find one thing that I was thankful for him for, and so I called him up, and I said, man, I said, I’m thankful for you. I’m thankful that you had me, because if you didn’t have me, I wouldn’t exist. Yeah. That’s a fact. And he said, he cried. He apologized. He was like, I’m sorry for what I did to you and your mom. The whole thing. At the time, it was a wonderful moment when I realized how I could really be free was really forgiveness. And I’ve been free ever since, man. That’s a deep memory, man. But it’s amazing how food can take you there. You know? True, man, I really appreciate you telling that story. Oh, no, it’s important. I think, especially guys like me who are in the fitness and all these things. There’s a reason why you’re doing this. Yeah. I had a lot of insecurities, man. I was scared. No, there’s a deep pain that generally comes from, and the want to be powerful only comes from the feeling of powerlessness that you started with. Totally. And it started to hit me, man. I was like, oh, and I can deal with these things in the right way. Yeah. Oh, man, that’s good. So good, man. Terry, we’re moving into the more avant-garde section. Yes! We got the zucchini flan. We got the gazpacho with a little bit of crostina. We got crispy, smashed potatoes, and then peri peri chicken. Yes. Sir, tell me about it. Okay. This is my world experience. Okay. This is one of the things. My wife and I, we had the gazpacho in Italy. Once I started to travel for real, I’ll never forget my first movie was a movie called The Sixth Day with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Right? Oh, look at that. That cold. So fresh. It’s so fresh with the crostini. Terry, stop with the smoothies and start drinking gazpacho. I know, I know. That’s the deal. Just the idea of cold soup, I was like, huh? What? And then I had it, and I was like, my life has changed forever. And then the peri peri chicken is from South Africa. Oh, my God. Flame grill. It’s like a special thing. And, you know, the place they have is Nando’s, is what they call it. Nando’s. There’s Nando’s. And then now there’s, like, fifteen different imitators. They got Bando’s. They got Mando’s. Oh, that’s good. But this is that flavor. Remember Koo Koo Roo? I do remember, I grew up Koo Koo Roo. Dude, I, I would go to Koo Koo Roo probably four times a week. Yeah. That was a necessary thing. And then it went out of business. Then the zucchini flan. Me and my wife went on our thirty-fourth anniversary last year, and we went to the south of France, and we had a chef, and he made zucchini flan. The only way I had seen flan was, like, as a dessert. Yeah. Did we get it right? Because we had no idea what you’re talking about. Yeah, this is good. No, this is good. I said, oh, my God. The fact that you could make this as a side dish, it’s just so beautiful. And then we go into the smashed potatoes right here, man. One of my New York spots. Quality Meats, and they have the best potatoes in the world. And I love these smashed skillet potatoes. This is the indulgent meal. This is when you’re like, we going big and we ain’t going home. You know what I mean? I wanna talk to you about power and, like, what it actually means. Because you’re obviously very powerful in stature. You speak very powerfully. You have a very powerful on screen presence. You wrote a book about finding your true power. What are the things that people get wrong about it? The phrase I like to use is, you telling everyone what to do, does not make you the boss. You doing everything you told yourself to do, makes you the boss. Yeah. Power is internal. The whole thing is pointing the fingers at everybody else, and never doing what they say they’re going to do. Yeah. And that’s where everybody gets caught. Because they go, hey, you just said to do this, and you don’t do it. You tell people to be on time, and yet you’re never on time. Yeah. The difference between some people is they feel like, well, they could say, I had no choice. I had no choice, you know? I had to do this. I had to do that. I will never, ever say that on my dying day if you put a gun to my head. I have a choice. This is Last Meals. I have a choice. The choice is, am I going to live or am I going to die? But it’s still a choice. Acknowledge your life is your choice. You see what I mean? That changed for me, because there was this whole time when I was a victim. So, things start to come from your choices. There’s a choice on how I can deal with certain things. There’s a choice if you get slighted. There’s a choice on how you can handle these things. You can go off and feel like a victim. Or you can say, you know what? They’re wrong. I choose the higher ground. Yeah. And do it. It changed my life forever. That’s power. That’s true power. It’s not about anybody else. It’s about me. It’s about my world, me controlling everything about myself. Yeah, and you have a great story about the peri peri chicken when you’re shooting in South Africa with Blended, where the original pitch for that, that Adam Sandler wrote, the character was, like, really disrespectful towards African culture. Yes. And you were faced with a choice at that moment, right? Dude, I had to. First of all, the way it was written, I was like, Adam, hey, man, can I talk to you? He was like, yeah, sure, buddy. Man, we’re gonna be in trouble if I do this the way this is. I said, no, I can’t. First of all, I’m not gonna do it that way. Yeah. So, are you open to ideas that I have? So it was very stereotypical and weird and disrespectful to African culture. And then I decided, okay, let’s make this guy like, the Don Ho of the place. Let’s give him suits. Let’s give him. Let’s not. Let’s laugh with him and not at him. Let’s not laugh at the culture. Let’s all of us laugh together. And it changed the whole dynamic of the movie. And I was so thankful that he let me do that, because there are times when, you know, other movies and other projects, they go, nope, that’s the way it is. Sorry, buddy. And then when you shed that responsibility and you make the choice, you said you didn’t have a choice within, then you feel shame about that, and then you blame other people. So it just creates this whirlpool of shame where you’re, like, diving down, but it sounds like you’re taking, like, radical accountability for everything in your life. And I think that freaking rules, man. You know, it took me a while to get to that thing, and it was really a bounce through, you know what I mean? But, I’m so thankful I made it to this spot. Because I didn’t stop. Yeah. And I didn’t give up. Very hard to do. Okay, Terry, you ready to get course number five? Let’s do it. What course are we on? I know. Are we? I think. Oh, my God. I think when you were six years old, the rapture did come. This is either heaven or hell, and I can’t. This is hell. This is hell. Terry, for course number five, in your meal from hell. We have the garlic bread. We have the Caesar salad, hand torn croutons, and then we have the frittata affogata. Affogato! Affogat! As a kid, what comes second? Very, very closely second. And almost went to the top, and the top was pizza. Pizza, bro. Like, I could eat two large pizzas with everything, all on my own. When my father, he was a big gambler, right? Oh, my God. This is so good. He was a big gambler. So, you know, you normally lose more than you win. But occasionally he would win, and he would come home, and it was one of the happiest days of my life, meaning he would have money. He would wake us all up. Hold on, let me get some of this garlic bread. Please, man. You combine this all, it just turns into pizza. I know! That’s what I’m saying. He would bring home two large pizzas, and we would be up at midnight, and we’d be eating that pizza, and he’d be stacking his money on the table. And my mother. And, listen, my mother and father, that’s the first time I ever saw them kiss. Really? Like, in love. And I was going, that’s just, like, on tv. That’s what I would say in my head. Yeah. I realized, because, I mean, I would live on pizza in college, the whole thing. But you realize, oh, my God. I can’t eat pizza all the time. Yeah. And you’re like, oh, my God. I’m gaining weight, and the whole thing. This frittata changed my life. It’s a high protein pizza. Because the flavors are all there, but instead of a bready crust, it’s egg. Yeah. And the frittata, if you gotta have a little bread and little things that really. You get the garlic bread right in there. Oh, my God, and the Caesar salad. Classic. More cheese. More cheese. But vegetables, it’s good for you. It’s veggies, man. It’s lettuce. Your mom was a big sweepstakeser, right? So it was like that. You got a lot of your morality from movies, because everywhere you looked around yourself as a kid, you’re like, well, I know what elder Jones is doing behind the church, so I can’t get it from there. Yep. What movie do you think had the strongest impression on your moral code as an adult? You know what? Star Wars. Yeah? Star Wars. Because it was about evil. It was about good. And I’ll never forget, like, even with Empire Strikes Back, and it was almost like finding the goodness in things that you wouldn’t find. Like, Yoda was a joke at first. You thought Yoda was a cartoon character. You’re like, oh, he’s cute. He’s Billy. He’s silly. He was the wisest one. When Yoda got in his power, when Luke’s ship is all bogged in the swamp, and then Yoda sticks his three fingers out there, and it raises up. I get emotional now, dude. I get emotional about that. Because it’s like, look at his power. And you start to learn about being good, and, you know, you didn’t really die. I get choked up because it’s like I truly believe in my heart that no one ever really dies. Our spirits are never dead. Our spirits have always been here. So we just move to another state, move to the next thing, and it supplants all that fear and scary. Oh, what’s going on? Into a whole another thing for me. And again, not like Star Wars is real, but it gave me a lesson. And wait a minute. We are here. When my mom passed away, I could feel her. You know what I mean? I know she’s proud of me. I know she’s looking and she’s watching, and she’s in a better place, and she knows more than ever now, you know what I mean? Because all has been revealed to her, and we’re all gonna eventually get there. So I don’t fear moving to the next level. And I think Star Wars did a great job of just putting that morality in a picture so that we could understand it. But Star Wars has always, always, been one of the major, major influences. And it was the first movie that I ever got to see in a theater, like a drive-in theater. And it changed my life forever. It gave me. I knew I was gonna be in entertainment forever the first time I saw Star Wars. How important was it for you to repair your relationship with your mother, because you finally confronted her about her abuse towards you. Because you had your father, who never hit you, he hit your mother, and then your mother would pass that down to you. Make a cycle. Let me tell you, I learned be a lot more gentle with it. Because my mother did a lot to survive. Yeah. But there was a lot of anger that she took out on us. My mother would tell me, I hate your dog. I hate her. I wish she was dead. She used to say stuff like that, and we’d be like, yeah, can you pass the bread, please? You know what I mean? Yeah. Thank you. And she would be like, I hate him. And we’d be like, okay, but. So that’s why it was like, we knew she was mad. We knew she was angry. And then she would take it out on us sometimes, until, as an adult. And after therapy, just like, I had to confront my dad. I had to go to my mother. Yeah. I said, you know, with that, you know, the stuff you did, that wasn’t right. And she said, oh, I don’t. I know. And she denied. She tried to deny it, and I was like, no, that happened. Yeah. And then finally she said, you know what? I’m sorry. And this is one thing I tell my kids. Because I didn’t do everything perfect. You look back and you go, oh, man, I wish I could redo that. I wish I could redo that. But this is a wonderful thing about life, that as an adult, I pass you your life, the deed to your life. But it comes as is, like a house. Like, if the basement’s leaking. Sorry about that. But it’s your basement now, you know? Oh, man. The roof needed repairing. What happens is everybody goes back to their parents and be like, this roof is leaking, and the basement flooded. And listen, you can talk all that you want, but the previous owner is done. You bought it. It’s your life. It’s up to you to fix. It’s not your fault, but it is your responsibility now. Same thing, right. Listen, sad as all these things I’ve been talking about, I can’t blame one thing in my life today that happens right now on my father or my mother. I am one hundred percent responsible because of my choices. It’s me. And it helps because you go, if you don’t like something, change it. You don’t have to be scared anymore. It’s over. Because if we were going to continue a relationship, I had to talk to her. I had to really break it down. And. And we did. We came to a really, really good settlement, like, just all how we were going to be all the way until she passed. And, I love her to this day, man, and I just. I’m very thankful. But I know I was given a deed to my life as is. I can’t blame them for any of this stuff. It’s a matter of just like, yo, it’s up to me, it’s up to you to find out what the differences are and how to change those things that you need to correct. And that’s where I’m at. Terry, as the meat sweats rain upon us, we got the final course of your final meal, the classic double cheeseburger. A little bit of pickle, some special sauce. Yes! American cheese on that squishy bun. We got the fresh french fries, and then we got a strawberry shake. Oh, my God. My God. Thank you. Thank you. Now, let’s talk about this. The shake’s so good, your eyes crossed a little bit. Oh, so good. You know what I mean? These hot, fresh fries. And then the cheeseburger with the special sauce. Double. If you won’t get messy, you ain’t eating it right. I remember spending my whole allowance going to get a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake, because, and I’m gonna tell you this, and this is a real big, deep confession. Remember I told you my mother hated my dad? She cooked like she hated him. Intentionally or? Intentionally. There would be something boiling on the stove, and you’d be like, what is that? Like, there’s a bone sticking out a, and he wanted it with rice. And she’s like, I remember he’d go to work at one, and we would go there, and we’d be like, oh, this is so horrible. And then she’d make herself a whole other meal at night for herself. I’m serious. That’s the long psychological game. I’m like, and then we wake up, like, I smell something. She’d be like, go back to bed. Shut up. So, what I would do, again, when I got that age, when I was a teen, and I could do lawns, we used to shovel snow. But there was a place down the street, me and my best friend, we would go get these double cheeseburgers, fresh fries, and a shake. You know, it was like a mom pop spot. I don’t even remember the name of it. Because I know I ate good when I had a double cheeseburger, fries, and a shake. I can no longer tell if you’ve died and we’ve gone to hell. Or maybe I’ve died and gone to hell. Because I’ve eaten so much that I’m hallucinating that I’m eating the cheeseburger with President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. I’m freaking out a little bit. On Monday night football, Chargers versus Colts, you hit a man so hard that you knocked yourself out. And you said that while you were knocked out, that was the most peaceful you’d ever been. Like, you were back in the womb. It was wonderful. Do you think that’s what death is gonna be like? Yeah, listen, I’ve never been high. I’ve never been drunk. I don’t drink. No alcohol, no drugs. Never been high in my life. That was bliss. I remember, because your body just shuts down, like. I remember, just all of a sudden, there’s this huge shock and blinding, like, you know? Your whole world. Because you’re already in a helmet. So you feel like you’re in a car accident. You know what I mean? And then it was like. Like all the air, like you’re in space. It’s like all the oxygen is nowhere, and you’re just floating, and there’s no up, there’s no down. And I was like, oh. And I’m just looking around. And I was in a dream state, like, immediately, right? But it felt like two weeks. It was actually twenty seconds. Because then you lost all space and time. You’ve lost all contact with it, right? I get up, and all of a sudden, I’m looking. I’m looking at the team. I’m going, wow. What’s the U mean? What’s the U mean? And everybody’s like, what are you talking about? And it’s a horseshoe on the. On the Indianapolis Colts helmet. And I’m like, are we in Utica? Easy mistake. Anybody could admit that. Are we in Utica? And then I started to panic, because people were like, man, stop. And then I went, uh oh. And I called the punt team. I was like, I think that’s the. That’s my mind. That’s my. That’s what I felt. The ring. Terry is still in the concussion. It is Monday, nineteen ninety-four Wait a minute. I’m just waking up from my dream right now. Terry hit him. He’s got the ball. It’s so funny. I might find out. I just wake up. And all this whole. The whole Hollywood career was part of this. You’re trapped in a snow globe. I go to the side, they’re yelling, punt team. I know I’m on punt team, but I don’t know what a punt is. And I’m serious. Like, I start crying. It’s emotional. Yeah. Because I know this is my job, I’m like, what’s the punt, man? What is a punt? And they’re like, oh, man. Get off me, man. I’m going crazy on the sideline, right? And they finally. I went in, and they start piecing my life together. They’re like, okay, Terry. You’re Terry Crews. You have a wife. I was like, yeah, I got a wife. Yeah, yeah, I know her. I’m talking to the doctor like this. He’s telling me, like, how many kids do you have? And I was like, oh, man. And finally my memory came back, and they said, okay, you can play the rest of the game. See, there was no concussion protocol. Yeah. Back in the day. You got your bell rung. I played, right. Wait, and it was hit of the week. I got the T-shirt. You get the T-shirt. Hit of the week. You know what I mean? And it’s like, yeah. And you realize, oh, my God. Now, I really believe being an actor and performing saved my life, because what happens is when athletes, especially athletes with head injuries, when they’re done, they literally don’t use their brain anymore. Yeah. And, dude, if you don’t use it, you lose it. And that’s why a lot of NFL players have had really, really big problems. And I have to be honest, a lot of them die very, very young. Yeah. And I said, man, and I knew by using my brain and always pushing it, always forcing it into new levels, new things. It helped me. It helped me survive. I think you actually died and went to the other plane and came back, though. That’s incredible. Dude, because that’s part of it. That’s how I know there’s more than this. Yeah. Tay, you ready for the lightning round? I’m ready. Who’s the one person dead or alive, you’d want to share your actual last meal with? Jesus. What song do you want to be played at your funeral? Thousand Miles. Oh, man. God, me too. Me too. That’s my song now. That’s my song. People know me by that. That’s my song. I love you, Vanessa. Thank you. Which The Killer’s Game co-star would you least want to face in Battle Dome’s roller cage? Oh, my God. Dave Bautista all the way, man. That’s a tough son of a B right there, brother. You can. I love Dave. I love Dave. What’s your biggest fear? Getting everything I want and not having the energy to do it. You know what I mean? Like, to have this opportunity and not having. And being too tired to go after it. Which NFL player’s portrait are you the most proud of painting? Stan Humphries. There was a guy named Stan Humphries, quarterback with the Chargers. It was a beautiful painting, man. It went over his mantelpiece, and the whole thing was him standing over the city about to throw the ball. It was amazing. Incredible. What’s the hardest goodbye you’ve ever had to say? To my wife, when I was going to camp. I’ll never forget when I was going to camp at the Redskins. That was really hard because I was, I missed her so much. I actually spent time in Germany doing all this, and I got to see her for a minute, and then I was pulled away again, and I was like, I just wanted to hold her. Wanna be back with me, you know what I mean? That was hard because we go away for a month and a half, and you’re like. Of all the characters you played, which one do you think deserves their own spin off movie? Camacho. Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. Put some respect. Deserves his own movie. Especially now. Especially now. Oh, God. I think we’re beyond parody. Finally, Terry, are you happy? I am very, very happy. You seem happy. I’m so happy. I’m so thankful. I’m just so honored. And, man, to go anywhere in the world and people know your name. But also, that I still have my family, that I am a husband first, I am a dad. I truly have it all. You know what I’m saying? Which is wonderful. My wife and I just celebrated our thirty-fifth anniversary, and it’s beautiful, man. I mean, I think not a lot of people ask the question what it means to be a good man in the world right now. And you are asking the hell out of that question. Providing some good answers. So I really appreciate you coming on the show. Thank you, Josh. Thank you, man. And I’m full. Same. I’m really full. And I’m still doing it. I’m going all the way in. This, is one of the best shakes I’ve ever had, you guys. I’m trying to tell you, man. You guys, anybody wanna come on this show? They doing it for real. It tastes amazing. Everything. Everything. We only gave him twenty bucks to say that too. His rates are very reasonable. Old Spice paid it, no. Terry, if you want to deliver your last words to that camera right there. God will not have his work made manifest by cowards, which is Ralph Waldo Emerson. I have it up in my gym. I have it in all my books, which means it takes courage to do everything. It took your mother courage to have you. God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. Take it. Go for it. It’s the only way you’re gonna do anything, is to be courageous. I’m all jacked up right now. Let’s go! That’s part of the shake talking. Terry, I appreciate you, man. Everyone make out. Everyone make out. Everyone make out. That’s the message. That’s the message. Everyone make sure to check out The Killer’s Game, and the America’s Got Talent season finale. Terry, anywhere else that can find you? Anywhere. Find me on the reruns, everywhere. Oh. Everybody Still Hates Chris comes out this fall on Comedy Central. It’s the animated version of Everybody Hates Chris, man. It’s so beautiful. I mean, to get the chance to play Julius again, it’s nuts. Twenty years later, me, Tichina, Chris Rock. I’m all over. I’m animated, y’all. If I’m not animated enough. I can’t imagine you more animated. Again, man, thank you so much. And thank you for stopping by Mythical Kitchen. We got new videos out all the time. You know the deal, we’re about to go take a nap, or you wanna hit a workout? Oh, nap time. Nap time. Look at that. This is my drug of choice. Face the reality of mortality head on with our new Last Meals hat and tee, available now at mythical.com