Terry Crews was one of the wild cards Stallone cast in The Expendables. He wasn’t an established action hero, but Sly gave him the biggest gun so he stood out. Now you can take home Crews and all his explosions in The Expendables on
Crave Online: What as The Expendables done for your recognition and career?
Terry Crews: Wow, it has officially taken me to a whole other thing, man. It’s funny because you get famous in certain circles for certain things. With Idiocracy, I became very famous with the college set. With Friday After Next I got real famous in the hood. Then with White Chicks I got famous at the mall. But this thing has really taken me to a whole level with my name and the whole thing and people get it. Just for Sly to give me such a pivotal role and for me, a lot of people were wondering why I was a part of it in the beginning. It was kind of one of those things where “He does comedies. Where is he coming with this action thing? I don't know if he’s going to hold it. They should have got Wesley Snipes. They should have got Carl Weathers.” Then when they saw the movie, it all made sense. It felt like getting four sacks and everybody was doubting you. Sly just gave me a unique opportunity and he really endorsed me and put me right up there with the best and I thank him for that. He told me he was going to make me an action star and he did.
Crave Online: What is your idea of an action hero?
Terry Crews: It means a lot of different things, especially after September 11th. Before then, everybody thought that one guy could do it all. I think once that happened, the whole world kind of realized that it takes a lot more than just one guy. It was so pivotal and it was just like where’s our hero then? It changed our framework of what we would accept as even being palatable in the movies. I think the good thing about what The Expendables is doing is that we are a bunch of flawed guys who together we become this super group. On our own we’re a bunch of beat up, messed up guys. That’s where we find our power, is together. Not to get too deep with it but it really resonates with a lot of guys because you’re only as good as who you associate with. If you’ve got a good pack of people who love you and appreciate you, you can work wonders.
Crave Online: Does the physicality compare with sports?
Terry Crews: Yes, it does in a lot of ways. You want to get the shots. You’ve got to be in shape. You’ve got to be ready. At the same time, thank God for stuntmen. The big difference with this and sports, especially in football, it’s not a matter of if you get hurt. It’s just a matter of when. Whereas in film, the good thing about Sly is he came from a school where you did it and that motivated your performance. Now with green screen and everything else, people are really not in the moment. That’s one thing he mentioned. Guys want to get that pulse racing, pounding feeling but they’re on a green screen and completely safe. There’s got to be an element of uh-oh. I’m sorry, when we were in that movie and all those bombs were going off and things were exploding around you and you knew you could be hurt at any moment, people were swinging at you and this kind of stuff and you just might get caught in the jaw, it really comes off better. Especially with action, well done action has an element of risk involved. It’s like watching a great sporting event. You can’t have completely safe football. It’s flag football. Nobody pays to see flag football.
Crave Online: That finale is so explosive. Were you just waiting all summer for everyone to see it?
Terry Crews: It’s funny because I was getting different reactions. You wonder what people are going to do because you just don’t know. The first time I knew it was something special was Comic Con. When they showed the tunnel fight clip at Comic Con and people lost their minds, I mean lost their minds. I knew, I said, “Oh my God, this is something special.” You never know. Even Sly, he’s like, “Man, I don't know how people are going to take it. We’re just trying to do our best.” You think people are going to like it. You might think people are going to hate it but you never know. It just took over. People have acted in this business for years, 50 years in the business and never get a scene like the one I got. If it ended tomorrow, I could be happy with what Sly gave me and say, “Wow, I had one of those moments in the movies.”
Crave Online: What kind of gun do you want for Expendables 2?
Terry Crews: The thing with a Stallone movie is you get all the experimental stuff. The stuff that’s not out yet, we had knives that were delivered on set that you were like, “This is sick!” If you touched it, it would just cut your hand off. We had guns that no one’s seen before. The AA12 much more than just being an AA12, there were special bullets that were a part of that thing where each one was armed with an explosive. This stuff was really state of the art. This is some real future warfare stuff so I’m really looking forward to what’s going to show up on that set. I know I’ve got to be careful. That’s the big thing.
Crave Online: As the Old Spice guy, I’ve got to ask, does Old Spice really work?
Terry Crews: Oh, it’s great. Dude, I promise you, you will not smell a thing on your body for 16 hours. I promise you that. It works. It works for you. It’s a great product. I use it every day.
Crave Online: Do chicks dig it?
Terry Crews: Well, my wife digs it. That’s all I care about.
Crave Online: What do you like about doing those commercials?
Terry Crews: Because every guy, to me I believe, has never went past 14-years-old. Now we grow up and we get all clean and we put our suits on and we become a man and we do this and that, but deep inside you’re still a kid. Just like women, they’re still girls inside but it really resonates to that little boy that’s in you. I know a lotta guys that would love to stand up in their office and scream at the top of their longs, stand up on their desk and throw stuff and go, “Yaaaaahhhh!” They just can’t do it but in the commercials, they go, “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.” So it’s what sports is about. If you look at it, when a guy makes a touchdown, that’s what that guy is. That’s the Old Spice guy. You got a touchdown. It’s one live, living celebration.
Crave Online: And you follow a good history of actors doing those spots.
Terry Crews: Yeah, it’s so cool. I mean, Bruce Campbell, I love Isaiah Mustafa’s stuff and I plan on doing more with those guys. It was a genius campaign. It’s one of the best campaigns ever invented and ever created. I’m so pumped about doing more with those guys. It’s good because when it went viral, people were watching the commercial as entertainment. That really signaled a shift and a change in what advertising could be because you have to be entertaining. It’s just not enough to advise people about what they should be wearing or what they should be doing.
Crave Online: How does Are We There Yet fit your sense of humor?
Terry Crews: This is a wonderful piece because I am a father. I have five kids. I have a blended family. I married my wife a day before my 21st birthday and she had a little baby when I met her. We got married when the baby was two and now she’s 23 and married with her own baby. It’s just one of those things that I know it fulfills a need in the marketplace. People need to see that you can be a big tough dude and you can be a dad and you can be funny. I love that. I feel like what is the problem? People tend to feel like you get 35-years-old you’re supposed to be out of shape and you lose all your sense of humor. That’s not me. I feel like you can be sexy and you can be hardcore but you can also be a dad. You can love your family at the same time. I have no problem with putting both of those images out there and representing them all.
Crave Online: Are you surprised you get cast as dads and tough guys?
Terry Crews: No, not really because I knew a bunch of tough dads where I came up. My dad’s tough. The big thing is I think people need to see a tough dad that sticks around. A lot of people kind of glorify the tough stuff that you’re a loner and you leave your kids but that’s not really the case. It’s much tougher to actually stick with your family. It’s much tougher to actually have your wife and keep her than to leave her and hop from girl to girl. James Bond did not live the tough life. The tough life is trying to stick with a woman for 50 years. That’s tough. Let me talk to that guy and you’ll see a grizzled veteran right there.
Crave Online: Are you going to do Take Back?
Terry Crews: I haven’t heard of that. This is news to me. I like rumors but I haven’t heard anything yet. I’m just busy. Right now we’re shooting 90 episodes of Are We There Yet. This is changing the face of TV because we are really doing all of these in 15 months and we’ve been blessed. TBS and cable are doing big stuff with Conan and us. I’m just happy to be a part of this cable renaissance and I’m on the cutting edge of it.
Crave Online: That’s how you shot Everybody Hates Chris also, right?
Terry Crews: Well, we did Chris as a typical deal where we had our 22 episode order. We actually changed networks in the middle of it. We were on UPN at first and then we went to CW. We did four seasons, 88 episodes and it’s something I’m super proud of because it’s a time capsule. It’s stuck in the ‘80s and it never gets old. People are really recognizing just now how great that show was.
Crave Online: So the next movie might just be Expendables 2?
Terry Crews: Yes, I’m planning on it. Let me tell you, Expendables 2, I’m already signed, I’m already delivered. Whatever they need, Sly has got me and I’m telling everybody that he had me at hello for real. Whenever they’re getting ready to go, that’s when I’m there. I’m telling you, I can’t wait. I’m just waiting for the script to get done. I’m staying in shape. I’m ready. It’s just going to be fun, man. It’s going to be a blast.
