Exploiting the Archives: Terry Crews is a Hell of a Dude

When Terry Crews swaggered onscreen as President Camacho in Mike Judge’s endlessly, depressingly relevant and prescient satire Idiocracy I, like everyone else, was blown away. “Who the hell is this guy?” I wondered, followed immediately by, “And why can’t he be in everything from here on out? He’s amazing!” 

In the intervening years, the muscle-bound fan favorite and cult actor has, indeed, seemingly been in everything, from testosterone-poisoned franchises like The Expendables series to idiotic comedies like Norbit, Who’s Your Caddy, Balls of Fury and Scary Movie 5 to critically acclaimed, quirky sitcoms like Brooklyn 99. 

I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Crews in person at a hotel in Chicago towards the end of my time with The A.V Club and he was everything you would hope he would be. He was funny. He was smart. He was charismatic. He had great stories and a great perspective and a great attitude. 

He’s one of those guys you’re happy to see succeed because they deserve all the success in the world, both for being explosively, singularly talented, and for being great human beings.

I was even more impressed by Crews when he came forward in the heart of the current #MeToo movement to discuss his own experiences being sexually harassed and assaulted by a powerful Hollywood figure. 

Look at my beautiful baby boy! He's so sweet! 

Crews even testified before Congress about the complicated and multi-faceted nature of sexual harassment and sexual assault but that did not keep full time bully and sometimes rapper 50 Cent from mocking Crews via social media. 

Like pretty much everyone who comes forward with allegations of sexual assault, there’s almost nothing to be gained, professionally, from Crews coming forward, and a lot to lose but Crews added his powerful and compelling voice to the chorus of survivors speaking truth to power because it was the right thing to do, and Crews is clearly a man of honor and a man of integrity. 

The good folks at IMDB list as Crews’ trademarks, “Flexing his pectorals”, “Robot dance”,

“Frequently plays unintelligent or immature characters” and “Very muscular physique.” 

That’s undoubtedly true, but it sure seems like Crews’ trademark as a man as well as a performer is unimpeachable integrity. He’s a hell of an actor and comedic presence. He’s also a hell of a man.

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