“White Chicks” and “Everybody Hates Chris” actor Terry Crews will be speaking at UF on Feb. 6.
Crews will be Accent Speakers Bureau’s first speaker this year, said Accent chair Shelby Buchanan. On Feb. 6 at 8 p.m., he’ll be speaking at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, located at 3201 Hull Road, for about an hour before opening up the floor for a 15-minute Q&A.
UF journalism department chair Ted Spiker will moderate the talk. Crews will be paid $40,000 for the engagement, Buchanan said.
About 1,200 tickets will be available for the event, Buchanan said. Students with a valid Gator 1 Card can pick up a maximum of two free tickets from the bureau’s office on the third floor of the Reitz Union on Feb. 5 between noon and 5 p.m.
This will be the first show for which they’re bringing ticketing to students on campus. The public can pick up tickets at the Phillips Center Box Office at noon on the day of the event.
Crews will touch on topics including his football background, acting career and lessons he learned, Buchanan said.
“I think he’s just a really positive person, but he’s also really eloquent about issues that people face,” Buchanan said. “I’m really excited to see how he’s maintained his positivity and sense of humor even when life kind of gets him down.”
Crews has been on Accent’s list of wanted speakers for a long time, she said. The organization also conducted a student poll over the summer that helped guide their speaker choice.
“When we got the opportunity to bring him here, we jumped at the chance,” she said.
Jordan Brown, a 19-year-old UF sustainability and the built environment sophomore, said she used to watch “Everybody Hates Chris” a lot as a child.
Crews’ character, Julius Rock, was always her favorite. The actor’s car dancing scene to “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton in “White Chicks” was iconic.
“Terry Crews is this big guy that you don’t expect to be as, like, funny and gentle and sort of loving,” she said. “He can’t be anybody but himself, even when he’s acting.”
Contact Christina Morales at cmorales@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @Christina_M18.
Contact Paige Fry at pfry@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @paigexfry.
Crews.
