By India McCarty
Terry Crews might be a Hollywood star, but the actor recently shared the long road he took to get there.
“I never liked football,” Crews, a former NFL player, said while speaking at Cal State Fullerton. “Football was a means to an end. It was the way to get out.”
He always had his eyes on Hollywood; after seeing the first STAR WARS movie, Crews thought, “I got to do this. I have to be there. I have to be in entertainment.”
After retiring from the NFL after seven seasons, Crews and his family moved to Los Angeles so he could pursue those dreams. He credited his wife for supporting him, telling the audience, “Get you somebody who believes. All you need is one person to believe in your dream.”
After a memorable role in WHITE CHICKS, Crews became a successful comedy actor, but the fame didn’t solve everything — he eventually had to seek counseling for a pornography addiction that began when he was young.
Related: Terry Crews Credits His Success to Hard Work: ‘Never Stopped’
“I remember never, ever telling anybody that I had any problems because I want everybody to see me like a Superman,” he shared. “You know, the whole thing ‘fake till you make it.’ But the problem is you make it and you still fake.”
Crews left the audience with these encouraging words: “You will find your way as long as you put action behind it. Speaking is just that, it’s empty. You have to follow everything with action.”
The EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS actor has previously spoken about overcoming his pornography addiction.
“It really, really messed up my life in a lot of ways,” he told followers in a series of Facebook videos posted in 2016. “It was my secret. Nobody knew and that allowed it to grow.”
Crews continued, “I’ve been free of this thing probably going on six seven years now, thank goodness. But now it’s become my battle to help other people who are going through the same thing.”
He has also been vocal about encouraging others to seek help for their own addictions and struggles.
“If things don’t fit, you pull it off and put it back together the right way,” he said during an episode of “The School of Greatness” podcast. “A lot of people have said it’s either nature versus nurture, but nurture always works no matter what your nature started. Nature is you born naked in the woods. But nurture is you learn, build to make a coat, and put it on. You can build a house. You can build a building. You can build a whole society. That’s what nurture does.”
Crews’ story of overcoming his pornography addiction and going on to have a successful Hollywood career is an inspiration to anyone who might be dealing with struggles of their own.
Read Next: Terry Crews Describes Power of Forgiveness Conquering Addiction
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