{blackbabes} ‘Y&R’ First Look at Shemar Moore & Vivica A. Fox’s Reunion

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https://www.tvinsider.com/1255653/young-and-the-restless-shemar-moore-vivica-a-fox-return-photo-details/

Shemar Moore will reprise the role of The Young and the Restless' Malcolm Winters beginning Tuesday, April 7, for a story that will shake up Genoa City and have lasting repercussions.

Moore, who played the role from 1994-2005 and made occasional visits since, didn't hesitate when the call came. "I feel humbled and honored and nostalgic," he says. "But I also have a bone to pick with Young and the Restless because all I was asked was, 'Would I be willing to come back for a cool little story?' And my mother raised me to always remember where you came from, but I didn't know they were gonna make me memorize 124 pages for three days of work [Laughs]! Even when I was Malcolm for real all those years back, I never did 124 pages!"

That mix of gratitude and humor reflects the actor's long relationship with the show, which helped launch him into a prolific primetime career that included starring in Criminal Minds and S.W.A.T., and he appreciates that Y&R set him on the path to get there. "I've created what I've created, so when I got the call to come back, the answer was yes," he notes. "There's no Kristoff [St. John, who played Malcolm's brother Neil Winters and passed away in 2019] this time around, and they still asked if I would bring Malcolm back to life and tell a cool, dramatic story. I had a lot of fun working with Christel Khalil [Lily Winters] and Bryton [James, Devon Winters] and then of course, Vivica Fox [Stephanie Simmons]."

It's been three decades since Stephanie and Malcolm had a brief romance, but Moore and Fox have crossed paths over the years. "Vivica's done what she's done, and she's a sweetheart, and we've kept up," he reports. "She calls me Shemarsky. I've had a lot of nicknames, but there's one person in this world that calls me Shemarsky, and that's Vivica Fox. I just heard from down the hallway, 'Shemarsky!' and I was like, 'Vivica is in the building.'"

Working side by side again stirred memories of where it all began. "Just to be able to stand on stage with her and talk and mess with her, and for Malcolm and Stephanie to be back with the storyline that they created, which is interesting and obviously soapy dramatic, but fun to play, it wasn't work," Moore shares. "It was really just a reunion of sorts, a party of sorts, to celebrate what Young and Restless has done for us, to really give us momentum in the game for us to continue to pursue our dreams. But Vivica is a hoot. She's funny, and she was finding humor in scenes where there wasn't humor. It was all good."

The reunion was joyful, but it also came with a reminder of who wasn't there: Kristoff St. John, who had been a guiding presence in Moore's life. "I approached my career to chase my dreams, my goals, but also to prove that it's possible for the other dreamers out there, and Kristoff was that for me," he explains. "In the beginning, I was scared to death and nervous and insecure and really thought, 'They're gonna realize I suck and tap me on the shoulder and say, 'Oops, we made a mistake, go on home.' But Kristoff wrapped me up, and he said, 'I got you. I'm gonna help you find your way.' And he was a big brother to me on the screen. He was a big brother to me and a mentor in real life.

"When he passed, it was gut-wrenching for so many people, but I owe so much to him because my mother didn't understand the world of Hollywood," he continues. "I didn't grow up with my father, I didn't have brothers and sisters, so I didn't have this so-called support group to wave pom-poms for me and say, 'You can do it, you can do it.' But my acting coach and definitely Kristoff were that anchor for me to get me to believe in myself."

Moore went on to build a remarkably steady and successful career, something he reflects on with both pride and perspective. "I show so much gratitude to Young and Restless, to CBS," he says. "I call my career high school, college, and graduate school: Eight years on Young and Restless and coming back here and there was high school, and then 11 years on Criminal Minds was college, then eight years on S.W.A.T. was graduate school, and CBS embraced me, saw something good in me, and gave me this life and career. Now, I'm off doing a new version of S.W.A.T. [Exiles], which is not CBS, but to be able to say that I had an eight-year run on a soap opera, an 11-year run on a primetime show, an eight-year run on another primetime show, and it for it all to be on CBS? That just doesn't happen."

Even with that résumé, Moore remains grounded — and his level of celebrity suits him just fine. "I don't mean it to be arrogant, but in 33 years, the longest I've gone unemployed is four months, and I pinch myself," he shares. "I never take it for granted. I never get bored. I'm glad I'm not the biggest star in the world. I don't want that kind of hype. I don't want Michael Jackson hype, Brad Pitt hype. I like the steady, steady climb, and because of the way my career has unfolded, to know that I've affected people's lives and been in their living rooms pretty consistently means a lot to me."

That connection with audiences still shows up in his everyday life. "I was grocery shopping just last week, and a gentleman there, he must have been in his early 20s, he said, 'I can't believe I'm meeting you. Why are you shopping here?'" Moore relays. "I was like, 'Because I live down the street. I need eggs. I need toilet paper and paper towels. What do you mean?' And he's like, 'Dude, you were my childhood with Criminal Minds, and my grandmama used to watch you on Young and the Restless.' And just the fact that generations know me and know my face and I've affected themselves or family members, that's a humbling, proud feeling."

In true Genoa City fashion, the drama begins pretty quickly after Malcolm and Stephanie arrive in town. And while Moore's stint is brief, he'll be back filming again this month to wrap up the tale. "I just told them, please don't give me 124 pages," he chuckles. "They were like, 'How about 50 or 60?' I was like, 'I'll take it!' I'm going to be a good listener; let Vivica and the rest of them do the talking!"

The Young and the Restless, Weekdays, CBS, Check Local Listings