Terry Crews talks 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine,' LIer on 'AGT,' more

Terry Crews is in control. As Lt. Terry Jeffords (formerly Sgt.) of the titular New York City precinct in NBC's "Brooklyn Nine-Nine,"  returning Thursday, Feb. 6, at 8 p.m.   the former NFL player is a sometimes not-so-gentle giant playing surrogate big brother to smart but goofball detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), eager-to-please perfectionist Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), weird but big-hearted Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio) and others in the acclaimed sitcom, now in its seventh season.

Crews, 51, born in Flint, Michigan, transitioned from football to acting, initially playing hulking toughs in films including Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Sixth Day" (2000) and "Deliver Us from Eva" (2003). But his knack for comedy came through in a host of 2000s movies and as levelheaded but frugal dad Julius in Chris Rock's semiautobiographical sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris" (UPN/The CW, 2005-2009).

More recently, Crews became host of "America's Got Talent" and its "Champions" spinoff. In November, "AGT" judge Gabrielle Union accused its producers of a racist "toxic culture," and she subsequently was fired. On a Jan. 23 "Today" interview, Crews, who had been largely silent on the issue, dismissed her concerns. Then on Jan. 31 he apologized to her in a series of tweets, saying, "I want you to know it was never my intention to invalidate your experience —  but that is what I did. … I want to apologize for the comments I made. I realize there are a lot of Black women hurt and let down by what I said and also by what I didn't say."

A married dad with five kids, Crews spoke with Newsday contributor Frank Lovece.

 Sgt. Jeffords has become Lt. Jeffords. Are you and he getting more of a spotlight?

Wow, you know, there's a different dynamic that starts the season off. Last season, we left off with Capt. Holt (Andre Braugher) being demoted. He loses his captaincy and now he's a regular old officer in the Nine-Nine. I have his office and I'm sitting at his old desk with my pictures up there, and it was just weird. It was like, no, this is not right. [Andre] even said, off-set, when we were not shooting, that it was weird! (laughs)

 But it must be great, too, since you're working with Andre Braugher, who to my mind is one of the greatest actors around.

 Easily, easily, one of the best actors. I mean, we sit there and talk about what it was like on the set of "Glory," on the set of "Homicide: Life on the Street."  And he makes everybody better — he's the Michael Jordan of our set. Sterling Brown was telling me, when he won the Emmy [for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2017, for "This Is Us" ], about how Andre Braugher was his inspiration. Then Sterling ended up on the show [on the 2018 episode "The Box"] .Dude, this is like, these are bucket-list moments — I can't believe my life right now. I can't. (laughs) It's literally, like, this is more than I could ever ask for.

 Your other big gig right now is hosting the "AGT" franchise, which featured Luke Islam, the 13-year-old singer from Long Island. I know there are lots of contestants, but did you two have the opportunity to speak?

 We spoke! We're both fans of Broadway. We were both talking about [the musical]"Waitress" and the latest show he's seen. … He is an amazing talent. Luke Islam has got nothing but a bright future. [Being on "AGT"]is a game changer for him.

 We were all so disappointed he didn't make it to the finals on his season this past summer.

   You know what, though? I have to say this: You've got to kind of think of "AGT" as homecoming queen, king, y'know what I mean? It's a popularity contest, too. It becomes a thing where there's talent involved but there's also popularity. So I tell every act that every time you get on, you've won because you get to be here. And I'm glad that I'm the host and not a judge because I'm not big on competition at all. Like, who's to say a dancer is better than a singer is better than a danger act? That's all subjective.

You starred in what many people call one of the most prescient movies ever:  "Idiocracy." [Director and co-writer Mike Judge's 2006 science-fiction satire depicts two time travelers who arrive in a future U.S. where everyone has become stupid and anti-intellectual, corporations own the government, and the president, played by Crews, is a foul-mouthed populist.] 

   What was crazy is that when we did it, the movie was originally called [by the working title] "3001." And they had to change the title because it was happening too fast. It was like, "No, this thing is happening way before 3001!" And we saw it happening! I mean, in 2016, when, politicians were, like, "Yo mama!" "No, yo mama," we were like, "Oh, this is getting really bad."