Terry Crews says chance encounter 'changed his life' and had him feature in Denzel Washington's most iconic film scene

Terry Crews is now pretty much a household name but he wasn’t always, and the star has spoken about the odd turn of events that started his career.

You might know Terry Crews as Terry Jeffords from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Julias Rock from Everybody Hates Chris, or of course, Latrell Spencer from White Chicks. But while he is a big name now... he wasn’t always.

During an interview with sports analyst Shannon Sharpe back in 2024, Crews revealed how he got his first big break in Hollywood and how he crossed paths with Denzel Washington.

Not only did Crews get to work with Washington, but he was a noticeable face in one of the Oscar-winning star’s greatest and most iconic scenes.

Yeah the ‘King-Kong ain't got sh*t on me' scene from Training Day. A scene funnily enough the director has revealed was very much improvised by Washington, but that is a story for another day.

Working as security in Los Angeles, Crews found himself on set and then in the film's scene, ultimately starting his lengthy career.

Explaining how it all happened, Crews said: “You know what was amazing I had friends in the business because doing security I knew a lot of location managers and the location managers would hire security.

“And this location manager became a friend of mine and he said ‘hey man Denzel [Washington] is shooting down here in the jungle it's a movie called Training Day.

“You want to come down and take a look I was like I get to watch Denzel do his thing?' I'm like yeah man I'm coming I'm.”

Now for those who somehow haven’t seen the Oscar-winning flick of Washington, the jungle isn’t an *actual* jungle but rather refers to Baldwin Village in Los Angeles.

It is often referred to as the jungle due to the tropical trees and plants, and in the film features as a pretty rough and dangerous neighborhood.

Speaking about arriving in the evening for the shoot, Crews admitted he was excited to simply see Denzel Washington work his magic.

Lucky for him, the buff Crews stood out and caught the eye of the director.

Crews continued: “Antoine Fuqua, the director saw me and he said ‘hey man you want to be in this scene?'

“I said I said ‘yeah’ he said 'hey man just take your shirt off, [i can] see your tank top i'll put you in the scene.'"

Getting visibly excited, Crews added: “I’m like, never acted, we talking about no acting, he’s like ‘just don’t say nothing, just mad dog it’.

“So Denzel’s doing all this and you see me and you see me just standing there the whole time.

“Dude it changed my life, it went to the Oscars, my mother was like you in the Oscars...and I was like hooked.”

And the rest is history, after this moment, Crews noted that he started to get calls from other people in the industry and started getting more roles in films.

This would eventually see him become the star we know today with him and solidifying himself in many fans’ minds as a top entertainer.