Actor and model Shemar Moore has been making women swoon for decades on the big and small screen. His notable roles are that of Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless from 1994 to 2005, the third permanent host of Soul Train, and Derek Morgan on CBS’s Criminal Minds for over 10 years.

For his roles Moore won eight Image Awards for his roles on The Young and the Restless and Criminal Minds, and the 2000 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Yet, with all the accolades and fame, life wasn’t always that easy for handsome actor.

Moore’s dad, Sherrod Moore, is African-American and his mother, Marilyn Wilson, is Irish and French-Canadian. So like many biracial children, Shemar had trouble fitting in.

His father ended up spending four years in Sam Quentin prison for domestic charges against his mother. Moore cites civil unrest, interracial relationships being taboo, and racism in the U.S. in the 1970s as part of the reason his mother moved abroad with him to another country for awhile before returning to the states as a pre-teen.

That aside, he kept trying to pursue his dream but after graduating high school, he initially struggled to make ends meet. At first, Moore could not get many modeling or acting assignments anywhere. He worked as a waiter at a coffee shop during nights while he tried to get modeling jobs by the day.

He was almost broke when in 1994 he auditioned for the part in ‘The Young and the Restless’. The competition was huge—there were 368 other actors auditioning for the same part, but Shemar beat them all.

In 2019 Shemar laid to rest his Young & the Restless co-star and good friend Kristoff St. John. Moore said that giving the eulogy of his friend was surreal.

He said, “It was just the strangest thing I’ve ever done in my life, let alone my career, just to stand at a podium on set with a camera aimed at you with makeup on and a cast of actors sitting there, and I have to deliver this monologue. The only thing I needed to remember was to call him Neil and not Kristoff.”

Fast forward to 2018 and beyond, he has become the lead in the television series S.W.A.T.

“When I met the real men and women who work as Los Angeles S.W.A.T. law enforcement agents fighting for justice in life or death situations, they were all in ridiculous physical shape from always having to carry 40 to 60-pound heavy tactical gear,” Moore told Men’s Health.

“They are a specialized division and it’s a mandated organizational policy that each SWAT officer start their day with a workout, which must be at least one-hour minimum. They look like linebackers. So while I am an actor playing a role, I still wanted to look as authentic as possible, to physically have a presence.”

To get in shape for the demanding role, Moore, who does many of his own stunts, was put on a high-protein diet. He increased his food intake and altered his workout routine with his trainer, Jon Aranita with In Training.

“I gained 10 pounds. It changed my physique,” said Moore, who is 6’1” and 195 pounds. “I’m looking to gain more. It’s just hard with the schedule that we keep when we are working 12-16 hour days. Ideally, I would like to be 200-205 pounds, so I can add more muscle. For me, that’s a good weight in terms of flexibility, being able to move, be nimble and do all the action.”

Despite having a chiseled and fit body, Moore is still a bachelor. But there is one woman he fights for daily: his mom Marilyn, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

Several years ago, Marilyn was essentially bedbound. Shemar wondered if he would have to start looking into in-home nursing care for his mother, and if this would continue for the rest of her life. This condition was…

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