Terry Crews’ ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Character Wasn’t Just Like Him in Name
For eight seasons, fans tuned in to TV’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine to see Detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and his co-workers at the fictional 99th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. Along the way, the show introduced fans to many standout characters. But some Brooklyn Nine-Nine fans might not realize Terry Crews shares more than a name with his character.
Terry Crews plays Terry Jeffords on ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’
Crews has seen tremendous success in film and television since the early 2000s. In addition to Brooklyn Nine-Nine, he starred on hit sitcoms Everybody Hates Chris and Are We There Yet? More recently, he’s kept busy as the host of America’s Got Talent. But perhaps his best-known role is as Terry Jeffords, supervisor of the district’s detective squad, on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Crews was one of only six actors to remain main cast members for the show’s entire run. In addition to him and Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, and Andrew Braugher were main cast from beginning to end. But among the stellar ensemble cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, only Crews can say he has quite so much in common with his character.
Terry Crews’ character bears some key similarities to the actor
In an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Crews opened up about the truth behind his character. It wasn’t a coincidence that Terry Jeffords shared the actor’s name. In fact, the character was created with Crews in mind, the actor told host Ellen DeGeneres.
“The character in Brooklyn Nine-Nine didn’t exist. It was one of the things where I went in and met with one of the producers. They basically didn’t have a role. They were like, ‘Wait a minute. You know what, Terry? This role, we want to add you to the show so much that the name of the character is you. And I told them I had a mini-van. I told them all of these things about my life.”
“They actually added the mini-van to the show,” he continued. “All these little factoids that go out. I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. How did y’all know that?’ And it’s so wild. A lot of actors spend a lot of time trying to be someone else. And the truth is when you are just yourself, there is no one else like you. And I tell everyone else: if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do in your life, the world is going to miss what you have.”
What is Terry Crews doing next?
Crews is one of those stars who always seems to have a new project in the queue. His fans have gotten used to seeing him pop up on TV as either an actor or host, as a standout character in movies like Idiocracy and The Expendables.
Crews is keeping busy, and will play a character in animated series Jessica’s Big Little World. In addition, he’s continuing to host the America’s Got Talent reality competition series.
