From Marine to Actor: Maurice P. Kerry on PTSD, Betrayal & Starting Over

Summary

Podcast Summary: "From Marine to Actor: Maurice P. Kerry on PTSD, Betrayal & Starting Over"

Podcast: We’re Out of Time
Host: Richard Taite
Guest: Maurice P. Kerry (actor, Marine Corps combat veteran)
Date: April 3, 2026

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Overview

In this powerful and candid episode, addiction recovery expert Richard Taite welcomes Maurice P. Kerry—actor, director, producer, and decorated Marine Corps combat veteran—to discuss the scars and triumphs of returning to civilian life after war. They explore themes of discipline, betrayal, PTSD, resilience, homelessness, fatherhood, and finding hope and purpose after trauma. Maurice opens up about his personal battles, his career in Hollywood, and his mission to support veterans, while bringing humor, humility, and deep reflection throughout.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lessons from Combat and Mental Resilience

• Discipline & Vigilance:
  “We use the phrase often while we were there: ‘complacency kills.’ Staying vigilant will keep you alive. Remember your training… The main thing we wanted to do was just come back home alive.”
  — Maurice P. Kerry [01:33]
• Mental Strength:
  Combat gave Maurice a lasting mental toughness:
  “In Iraq I was shot at and bombed and my enemy couldn't kill me. So what the do you think your opinion can do to a man like me?”
  — Maurice [01:54]

2. Perspectives on Middle East Conflict and Human Rights

• Maurice respectfully declines to comment directly on current Middle East wars, emphasizing the need for research and a commitment to human rights, especially for women and children:
  “What I do know is that I am for liberation. I'm for human rights and freedoms of people… As long as we are protecting women and children, I align with that.”
  — Maurice [03:03]

3. Fatherhood & Pride

• Single Fatherhood:
  Maurice has been a single father for 16 years:
  “Just to see the person that she's becoming… AP classes, AB student, gifted classes her entire life.”
  — Maurice [04:22]

• He jokes that “the only thing I have on my daughter… is time and experience and wisdom.” [04:52]

4. The Betrayal: Returning from War to Personal Loss

• Maurice recounts returning from war to discover his wife had left and was pregnant by their Marine neighbor—and his cousin knew and was complicit:
  “You know how you see in the movies… all the families are running up…? I got nothing. No family, no friends, no wife.”
  — Maurice [07:01] “That was not the walk of shame. It was the walk of pain… I didn’t feel shame. I felt hurt and forgotten and unloved and uncared for.”
  — Maurice [07:51]

• The emotional impact and how it shaped his advice to young recruits:
  “Don’t get married young.”
  — Maurice [06:45]

5. Living With PTSD

• PTSD manifests as hyper-vigilance and preparedness, not stereotypical dramatic symptoms:
  “I'm hyper aware, hyper focused, and hyper vigilant… When I step into a room, the first thing I do is I figure out who's the biggest guy… I'm always analyzing the situation.”
  — Maurice [12:08, 12:58]
• “I’ve learned to live with it in a way that I’ve made it useful.”
  — Maurice [12:08]

6. Homelessness After Service

• Maurice was homeless, living out of a borrowed car for a year, relying on MySpace for occasional couches:
  “October 14, 2005. I lived in a blue Chevy 2003 Malibu… base of operations for the next year.”
  — Maurice [13:57]

• The kindness of strangers made a difference:
  “I’m probably going to see her in May just to tell her thank you, because I probably wouldn’t be here without her.”
  — Maurice [15:16]

7. Breaking Into Acting & Showbiz

• Early Tries and Persistence:
  Began background acting in 2006 with no idea what he was doing; reignited his passion for acting in 2018:
  “I decided to become an actor… My very first television opportunity was MacGyver… season three on CBS.”
  — Maurice [15:32]

• Current Role:
  “I play Randy Parker on CBS’s Beyond the Gates, also streaming on Paramount.”
  — Maurice [17:19]

• Overcoming PTSD on Set:
  “Because I do have PTSD and it affects my short term memory, there’s so much memorization that I have to work especially hard... One thing I hate, I don’t believe in being perfect, but I also don’t believe in being a drag for somebody who’s depending on me.”
  — Maurice [18:41]

• Desire for Physicality:
  “I love the opportunity… but I wish I could do a little bit more physicality because that’s where my heart is.”
  — Maurice [19:41]

• Comic Book Nerd:
  Shares about his love for comics and nerd culture, surprising people who only see his Marine “tough guy” side:
  “Because I’m six foot, 200 plus pounds with muscles, and I used to shoot people for a living… No. I was a nerd.”
  — Maurice [23:47]

8. Addiction, Drugs, and Raising Kids Today

• Maurice never used drugs, in part to defy racial stereotypes:
  “My reasoning behind it was, is because I was black. That’s why I didn’t want to do it, because in high school, they would say, ‘you don’t smoke weed, but you’re black?’ And that pushed me off of it.”
  — Maurice [26:53]

• Open and ongoing conversation with his daughter about the dangers of fentanyl and peer pressure:
  “She understands that it’s a 50-50 gamble… you don’t want to gamble with that… Now you become a burden not only to yourself, but the people that love you.”
  — Maurice [28:07]

9. Purpose—Advocating for Veterans

• Maurice sees his mission as shining a light and creating platforms for veteran issues:
  “The military has done its job so well that people don’t think they need us anymore… What I’m doing is I’m bringing light… giving a platform… to the things that veterans go through that people forget about.”
  — Maurice [31:25, 32:04]

• On gratitude for veterans:
  “Would you say thank you for your service to mean it and to understand exactly what you’re saying? That somebody made the conscious decision to be willing to die for people that they don’t know.”
  — Maurice [32:04]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Betrayal and the return from war:
  “So I started making that walk… with my seat bag… the walk of pain.” — Maurice [07:39–07:58]
• PTSD Manifestation:
  “I’m about protection.” — Maurice [12:58]
• On wanting to be wanted:
  “I was always trying to fit in. I was always trying to be wanted. I was always trying to be loved.” — Maurice [37:04]
• Intergenerational healing:
  “She and I, we’ve talked about it… she had to get help and she had to go see people… We have a, yes, very, very close.” — Maurice on repairing his relationship with his mother [36:08–36:23]
• Affirmation from the host:
  “And you know, most people, and I always say this, but, you know, people think they know what love is, but you don’t really know what love is until you’ve had a child.” — Richard Taite [39:11]
• Closing wisdom:
  “If you see somebody in the military or know somebody in the military, just reach out and just tell them thank you, you know, and mean it.” — Maurice [44:00]

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• The discipline of war & resilience: [01:33–02:36]
• On human rights and not taking sides without knowledge: [03:03–04:02]
• Fatherhood & pride in his daughter: [04:04–05:02]
• The deep betrayal after Iraq – personal story of loss: [05:09–11:56]
• PTSD – what it looks like and living with it: [12:04–13:44]
• Experiencing homelessness after service: [13:57–15:32]
• The long, winding journey to acting and current soap opera role: [15:32–17:44]
• Comic books, black superheroes, and nerd culture: [23:44–25:36]
• Parenting in the age of fentanyl and addiction: [27:39–29:04]
• Mission to support veterans and raise awareness: [31:25–33:09]
• Advice for struggling veterans and personal wounds: [33:15–38:33]
• Reflection, fatherhood, and looking ahead with hope: [39:09–41:58]
• Final thoughts: gratitude and genuine thanks to service members: [44:00–44:16]

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Tone & Language

The conversation is raw, heartfelt, and alternates between vulnerable reflection and irreverent humor. Maurice oscillates between straight-talking Marine, loving father, and insightful artist, while Richard provides empathetic guidance and frank, supportive advice.

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Conclusion

This episode is an unflinching look at the difficulties and durable hope found in a journey from the battlefields of Iraq, through betrayal and homelessness, to creative success and advocacy. Maurice P. Kerry’s story weaves together themes of pain, resilience, transformation, and service—underscoring the importance of gratitude, awareness, and genuine support for veterans.

Final Call to Action:
“If you see somebody in the military… just reach out and tell them thank you, and mean it.” — Maurice P. Kerry [44:00]

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Transcript

[Maurice P. Carey]

If just this one time, especially during the month of May, if you see somebody in the military or know somebody in the military, just reach out and just tell them thank you know and mean it. You know, tell them thank you if you mean it.

[One Call Placement Representative]

If someone has a problem with substance use disorder, please call one call placement. That's 888-831-1581. And if we can't help you, we'll make a referral to someone who can. One call placement is affiliated with Carrera Treatment Wellness and Spa and One Method Treatment Centers.

[Podcast Host]

Today's guest is someone who truly embodies resilience and reinvention. Maurice P. Carey is an actor, director and producer and decorated United States Marine Corps combat veteran who served during operation Iraqi Freedom 2. Like so many who served, his transition back to civilian life came with real challenges, and he's turned that lived experience into strength and forward momentum. Today he's starring on CBS's beyond the Gates as Randy Parker. Maurice, I'm honored to have you here. You served as a Marine during operation Iraqi Freedom 2. What did that experience teach you about discipline, brotherhood and survival?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Well, the most important thing was, and we use that, we use the phrase often while we were there is complacency kills, you know, and staying vigilant, you know, keeping vigilant will keep you alive and remember your training, you know, and with that, you had to stick to the things that you were taught. You know, you had to listen to your command. Even if you didn't agree with what they were saying, you had to stick with them because ultimately the main thing we wanted to do was just come back home alive. You know, I didn't realize how important and how strong. How strong, you know, mentally going to combat would make me. One of the things that I say all the time is I say in Iraq I was shot at and bombed and my enemy couldn't kill me. So what the do you think your opinion can do to a man like me? You know, people will say things, especially in the industry that I'm in now, people will say things and other type of people will crumble. And I'm like, this, this life we live is cake in comparison to what it could be.

[Podcast Host]

What do you think about what's going on right now with the war? How you feel about that? I mean, to not ask you, a veteran on this show, a question about a war in the Middle east, it would be like the height of it would be just.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yeah, right. Missed opportunities.

[Podcast Host]

Thank you for that. Thank you for that.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yeah. Yeah. So you Know, I fought, I fought in the Middle east. And as far as what's going on right now, I don't, as it stands now, I don't know enough about the sides to be able to give an informed opinion, you know what I mean? Like I would love to, but right now I would be speaking from ignorance, I would genuinely be speaking from ignorance to give an opinion on something that I haven't researched. You know, what I do know is that I am for liberation. I'm for human rights and freedoms of people. That is what I am for and that is what I, I, I stand for. I, I always stand and to this day I stand for women and children. So as long as we are protecting women and children and I align with that, if we start going against the things that go against the things that are fundamental to me as a man, not protecting women, not protecting children, I'm not with it.

[Podcast Host]

So you've got a daughter then?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Absolutely. Full time single father for the past 16 years. She'll be 17 next month.

[Podcast Host]

I've got a 16 year old daughter. Oh.

[Maurice P. Carey]

So you know.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, it was tough, it was tough. 14 and 15, but 16 is, is, is, is a cakewalk.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was at my daughter's concert last night and I just, I constantly tell her how proud I am of her, but I think it's partly self serving because I've raised her by myself her whole life and just to see the person that she's becoming. Almost 17 years old, AP classes, AB student, gifted classes her entire life. And I'm proud of her because she's so much smarter. The only thing I tell her all the time, the only thing that I have on my daughter, the only thing I have is time and experience and wisdom. That's what I got on her. If she had my time and my experience, I couldn't touch her.

[Podcast Host]

When you came home, what hit you the hardest about transitioning back into civilian life?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Well, when I first came home from Iraq, for one, I was not transitioning. I was going right back into Garrison life. Where? Garrison. Back, back home. Back, back on the base. So basically I was coming back to Garrison and I was a married man. At least I thought I was. And that was no way.

[Podcast Host]

I don't even know you're gonna tell me this now. You're gonna go do this with me?

[Maurice P. Carey]

I, I got got. All right?

[Podcast Host]

They got me, huh?

[Maurice P. Carey]

I got God.

[Podcast Host]

So you're out there, you're out there saving the world and you gotta be

[Maurice P. Carey]

in your bed, you know, I didn't get the details. But probably I wouldn't put it past him because come to find out, it was also a Marine and he was my neighbor, so I wouldn't put it past him. And he was married, too, at the time, so probably, now that I think about it. David, why'd you make me think about that?

[Podcast Producer]

I'm sorry.

[Podcast Host]

I'm sorry. But you're handling it really well. This is not a Jerry Springer thing. You're doing really well. How long ago is this?

[Maurice P. Carey]

This was 2000. And so I came back from Iraq in 2004, so obviously 22 years ago. But I still tell the story often because, you know, now it's been so long, you know, I can look back and. And see and I can learn from it. Learn from the experience and also teach from it. You know, I tell. Look, I tell young new recruits all the time, don't get married young. I know, I know. Don't do it. Give it some time. So basically, what ended up happening with me was I came back from. From war. And you know how you see in the movies where they have the. They're on the bus and all the families are running up and everybody's all that.

[Podcast Host]

You got nothing.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I got nothing. No family, no friends, no wife. And I stood there for an hour because I just knew for a fact that my wife was going to come get me. I just got back from. I knew it. And then the bus driver, before he left, he said, you want me to drop you off somewhere? I'm like, nah, my wife is coming. My wife is coming. So I started making that walk. You know, eventually it kicked in. I started making the walk to my. My house, which was miles away, but I was just gonna walk. I had my seat bag and I was just gonna walk. And then my cousin pulls up. My cousin.

[Podcast Host]

That was the walk of shame, dude. That was the walk of. I don't have anybody in my life. I'm alone in the world, and I deserve to suffer this walk. That's what that.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Let me. Let me. Let me. Let me interject. I would say it was not the walk of Shane. It was the walk of pain.

[Podcast Host]

That's right.

[Maurice P. Carey]

That's exactly. I didn't feel shame. I felt hurt.

[Podcast Host]

That's right.

[Maurice P. Carey]

And forgotten and. And unloved and uncared for. So that's. That was. It was. It was pain.

[Podcast Host]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That was horrible. That is. That is heartbreaking. I'm sorry.

[Maurice P. Carey]

My. My cousin ended up. His. His name. We. We. I'm actually. We're Named after his dad. My cousin Ken pulled up, and as I'm. I'm walking, he. You know, I jumped in, jumped into the car, and he took me. He took me home. He. He made a stop before, but he took me home, you know, and dropped me off. And when I walked into my house. I'm storytelling now. When I walked to my house, I just knew for a fact that my wife is gonna be right there in the living room. Because when you walked in, it was the living room, the kitchen, and upstairs with the bedrooms. I walked in, boom. Okay, nobody's here. All right, no problem. I know she's upstairs. She's got to be upstairs waiting on me. Bucket naked. I've been going for months.

[Podcast Host]

That's right.

[Maurice P. Carey]

She's waiting on. So I. I dropped my stuff, and before I got home, I stopped by the store, and I got mint chocolate chip ice cream and apple juice, because those were her favorite things. And I went to the kitchen. I made a bowl of it and, you know, glass, and I put it on a tray, and I'm like, I can't wait to get upstairs. My wife. I know she's upstairs naked. So I go upstairs, and I get to the bedroom, and the bed is completely made. Everything's clean, but no wife. And I was. So this is where the delusion starts to kick in. I say to myself, there is no possible way in life that this woman is not in this house right now. And so I put the stuff down, and I start searching the house. I. This is how goofy I was. I looked under the bed. I looked in the closet. I looked in the bathroom behind the shower curtains. I looked under the sink. I looked behind the. The. The refrigerator. I looked in the pantry. I looked in the. In the. The outdoor closet thing. I looked everywhere I could possibly think of in the house, because there was no way in hell that my wife was not in his house. Where was this woman at the time? I had no idea. But what I found out later, because 10 years later, we talked about that whole situation, and she was, like, right down the street at a friend's house, because she knew I was back, and she didn't know what to do because she had been having sex with a guy. And the only thing that I saw in the house was. Seemed out of place was the fact that none of my pictures were in the house. And she had a bottle full of water and cigarettes. So I was like, she's been smoking her ass off. She never smoked. She didn't smoke when I was. When I was there. But whenever. So it was just odd. So to shorten up everything, come to find out she was sleeping with the Marine who was my next door neighbor, and he ended up getting her pregnant and she decided to leave me. So that was that transition.

[Podcast Host]

Did they have the baby?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yo. Yo. Yeah. Yeah. He had my name for a period of time because we were married, so he had my name. I found that out later too. I was like, man, you just dead.

[Podcast Host]

I'm sorry, man.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Listen, that's.

[Podcast Host]

That's traumatic. Listen, that's. That's. That's horrific.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Oh, may I add one more thing?

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Maurice P. Carey]

So remember I said earlier that my cousin made a stop when he picked me up, he made a stop. And I. I was very vague about that intentionally because he made a stop at the gym and he was talking to a friend of his. I found out later that my cousin that we're both named after knew the entire thing. He knew everything. And he was sent to pick me up. And the guy that he stopped and talked to at the gym was the guy she was sleeping with. They were friends. And do you talk to school anymore? I haven't talked to my cousin in 20 plus years. Good. Yeah, 20 plus years.

[Podcast Host]

PTSD doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it's quiet. What did it look like for you?

[Maurice P. Carey]

For me?

[Podcast Host]

Your wife sleeping with your next door neighbor?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yeah, that actually falls into the ptsd. It's funny because when I don't really date now and it. All that stuff matters. So for me, it's. PTSD is not like what they show in television. For me. I know it is for some people. For some people, it's crippling. You know, for me, I've learned to live with it in a way that I've made it useful. I'm hyper aware, hyper focused, and hyper vigilant. So I'm always watching, I'm always learning. I'm always analyzing the situation. When I step into a room, the first thing I do is I figure out who's the biggest guy in the room. And if I need to break him down, if something goes off, how would I break this person down? It's not that I'm something that. That I'm going. I'm.

[Podcast Host]

No, it's just that's the way you. That's the way you're trained. That's the way you think.

[Maurice P. Carey]

How do I break this person down effectively to get me and my people out of here? Same thing if. If we're in a room, how do. What are the exits? How high off the ground? If I have to go through this window. Stuff like. Like that's what I'm thinking. And I. And it happens so fat. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. All right, we're good. I got it. When I'm driving, I'm. I'm. I'm always like, don't box me in, because I'm gonna figure a way out of. Because the thing is, if I get boxed in and something's going on, I need to get up out of there. Basically, I'm. I'm a safe. I'm about protection.

[Podcast Host]

You're a couple steps ahead.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Your, Your. Your.

[Podcast Host]

Your vision is always into the future, and you're always anticipating impossibility. And that's. And that's what. And that's how it manifested itself.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Absolutely.

[Podcast Host]

We didn't talk about when you came home from the war, before you got into acting, you had a bout of homelessness, and I did, too. Tell me about that.

[Maurice P. Carey]

October 14, 2005. I lived in a blue Chevy 2003 Malibu factory, and it didn't even belong to me. It belonged to another Marine who let me borrow his car just to drive around. He had no idea that I was going to be using that as a base of operations for the next year. He had no clue. I didn't have. I was still in San Diego, you know, all my family was back in Atlanta. I was still in San Diego trying to figure it out, trying to make something work. I was also going through a divorce at the time, you know, with that whole situation. So I was going through a divorce. And so I had to wait because. So, yeah. And what I would do from time to time was back then we still had MySpace. And so I would find a kind young lady who, you know, was sympathetic to my situation. And I'm saying, hey, I'm a Marine. I'm homeless, you know. Mind if I use your couch? You know, I'll clean, I'll cook, I'll do whatever. I just, you know, it's a place to stay. And every night it happened three, maybe four times where somebody was nice enough to let me stay on their couch. One of those people, I'm still in contact. I'm probably going to see her in May. I haven't seen her in 20 plus years, but I'll probably see her in May just to tell her thank you, because I probably wouldn't be here without her.

[Podcast Host]

But what's not clear in the chronology of events is when you came home, then you were homeless for a little bit. How did you get your first break into acting?

[Maurice P. Carey]

So 2006. This is before I went back to Georgia for a while, but in 2006, I tried to get into acting, but I had no idea what I was doing. You can look at some of the background of it was a show called Veronica Mars. And you'll see me back there, 25, playing a high school kid. And I didn't know what I was doing back then, and I gave it up, you know, but in 20, so, you know, gave it up. Had gotten remarried, had a kid. And in 2018, February 2018, I made a decision. I said, I'm gonna try acting again. A friend of mine showed me that he was in the Born, the Bourne Supremacy. And I was like, how do you do that? And from that point on, I decided to become an actor. And it was just a look I had at the time. I had, you know, dreads and big beard. It was a look that I had at the time that they really liked. And my very, very first television opportunity was MacGyver was MacGyver season three on CBS, which is years ago. Wow, MacGyver. Yeah. Not. Not Richard Dean Anderson, MacGyver, but the newer one from the. Yeah, not that far. Not that far back. So they did a remake, I think, in 2016. And so I was. I was on it in season three. So. Yeah, and been going strong ever since, you know, got to work with Morgan Freeman, Viola Davis, Chris Maloney. A lot of great names that I've had an opportunity to work with. You know, that's Luke Hemsworth. Yeah, yeah, it's. It was dope.

[Podcast Host]

So that's good. Now, let's talk about this, because I want to talk about your soap opera for a minute. What's the name. What's the name of your soap opera?

[Maurice P. Carey]

I. I play Randy Parker on CBS's beyond the Gates, also streaming on Paramount.

[Podcast Host]

Who. Who are you sleeping with on the show

[Maurice P. Carey]

after? Currently, nobody. See, I can't tell you nothing for the future. Currently nobody. But let's just say. Let me say I've been in the gym a lot. All right? I've been in the gym, you know, so gym.

[Podcast Host]

So, I mean, what is. Is that like, what do I ask next? Do you have an only fans channel? Do you have. You know that I met a guy who told me that I could make 60 to 70,000 bucks a month on only fans showing my feet.

[Maurice P. Carey]

They like black feet.

[Podcast Host]

Because.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I'm kidding.

[Podcast Host]

These are.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Jo.

[Podcast Host]

Listen, how big are your feet?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Eleven and a half.

[Podcast Host]

And I've got 11s, so you should be making 65 to 70. Five grand.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I got marine feet. Don't nobody want to see these boats. He's a Marine Corps. What are you talking about?

[Podcast Host]

How do you like daytime and what's, what's next for Randy?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Oh, my God. So I, I love.

[Podcast Host]

Wait, Randy does not sleep with his cousin.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Hell no.

[Podcast Host]

She's really cool. Your cousin's really cool on that show.

[Maurice P. Carey]

My Atlanta slipped out, just did. Hell no. Sorry.

[Podcast Host]

No, no, that's okay.

[Maurice P. Carey]

No, no, no, no. I love, I love daytime, man, but I love the opportunity that it's provided. But I think what's more important that I love is I love going into the studio. The people that we work with are amazing. Like, it's like a family in there. So the difficulty for it is because I do have PTSD and it affects my short term memory. There's so many words and so much memorization that I have to work especially hard to memorize my lines. So that way I can be effective for everybody else. Because one thing I hate, I don't believe in being perfect, but I also don't be, believe in being a drag for somebody who's depending on me.

[Podcast Host]

You're a military man, so you're going to be, you're going to be over prepared and you're not going to screw up. So that's, that's the one good thing about having veterans who work for you. They're, I mean, they're my best employees. Without question. Question is not even.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I'm glad to hear that. Thank you. Yeah, I really am glad to hear that. I, I, I do wish I could do a little bit more physicality because that's where my heart is. Like I said, I, I work out, I lift weights, I train, but it's very, very verbal and I would love to do a little bit more physicality. So, Taylor Sheridan, you know, if you ain't doing nothing, holla at me. You know what I'm saying?

[Podcast Host]

All right, so who are you gonna. Okay, so who do you want to sleep with on the show? Do you get to choose? Like, I want to sleep with her. I don't.

[Maurice P. Carey]

So I don't get to choose. I'm just hoping, whoever she is, she's, she's amazing, she's great, she's beautiful. And you know, but I, there is someone. There is, I will say this, there is something coming that we have shot and I'm proud of it. I'm actually, I got to see the edit and I'm proud of it. It was, you know, it's still daytime, so it's it's, it's relatively clean, but I'm very.

[Podcast Host]

The love scene.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I did have the love scene.

[Podcast Host]

Have you started to develop real feelings for Mona? And if so, will your connection to corrupt Joey Armstrong and his secret alliance with his cousin Haley complicate things? And now that Haley's con on Billy may be unraveling, what happens next?

[Maurice P. Carey]

So starting with the first part of the question, as far as Mona and Randy, I believe it's a genuine long for a safe friendship because my character Randy, he's a con artist, he's a criminal, got thug like tendencies. So he's surrounded by danger and evil and death. He's surrounded by these things. But then Mona comes in as somebody complete civilian, has nothing to do with his life and wants to actually. It actually sees good in Randy. So I don't think it's romantic more than it's like an oasis, you know, it's more like, God, there actually is a good person and that good person sees me as a good person possibly. So with that, yeah, I think that's what more it is. I'm not sure because Karen has her thoughts on her character. I'm not sure what it is on Mona side, but I know on Randy's side, I believe it's more safe. She's safe, she's kind. She's not like us, you know. Now as far as complicating with, with, with working for Joey, my, my criminal boss, I think it could complicate the, the plan with Bill and, and Haley, and I think it could complicate those things. But I think Randy is professional and smart enough to not allow it. You know, he's not gonna let that happen because it's like he doesn't want to die. He also doesn't want to miss out on $10 million. So I think he can, he can be friends with her, but there's gonna be a little bit of distance. I don't know what the writers are gonna write, but that's what I'm feeling from it right now.

[Podcast Host]

I can't wait to see who you're sleeping with on the show.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's.

[Podcast Host]

Who do you want to sleep with on the show? Who do you want to sleep with on the show?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Oh, you know what this is? People ask me this. I want them to write a new character for Randy's love interest. Be. To be honest with you, because everybody on the show is sleeping with everybody. And I'm like, ah, let's get ready. A new, a new girl. Let's just get Ready? A new girl. You know?

[Podcast Host]

Remember King t' Challa's love interest in Black Panther?

[Maurice P. Carey]

In Black Panther, it was Nakia, and in the comics, it was Storm.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, okay.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I know.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. That girl.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I was showing off.

[Podcast Host]

I would. Yeah, I know. That was great. The chicks are gonna love it.

[Maurice P. Carey]

No, I was a nerd. Do you see what's on my wall, sir?

[Podcast Host]

No, I don't.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Hold on. Let me see if it'll focus.

[Podcast Host]

I can't see that fast. That far.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Okay. Yeah, it's Transformers, so people don't notice. But I'm. I was born in Earth gamer comic books, all that stuff, you know, but people would look at me and think that because I'm 6 foot, 200 plus pounds with muscles, you know, and I used to shoot people for a living, so they're like, okay, he likes it. No.

[Podcast Host]

You like Call of Duty?

[Maurice P. Carey]

All right, I do.

[Podcast Host]

Out of all the superheroes, if you could be one of them, which one would you be?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Icon. Icon is from Milestone Comics. Back in the 90s when a couple of black creators decided to create their own. Their own universe. So we have the DC Universe, we have the Marvel Universe, but back then it was the Dakota Universe. So Icon was basically a Superman like character from. He was an exile from another planet, but he could shape shift, and he landed during the time of slavery, but he had. But he was immortal. So they didn't play the Superman during slavery times. That probably wouldn't go well.

[Podcast Host]

Right?

[Maurice P. Carey]

But. Yeah, but so they. What they did was, is they, you know, made him immortal. And he was in modern times. So he was basically a Superman like character. And like I said, it was the. The code of verse, where there was all kinds of black superheroes. Like, I don't know if you heard of Static Shock. He comes from the Dakota Verse hardware, which is sort of Iron man like, but more.

[Podcast Host]

Dude, I feel like I've just been in one of those comic cons things.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yeah. I told you.

[Podcast Host]

You and I are never getting laid. Never. We're never getting laid.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I have the. Oh, dude. Like, ever, ever, ever again.

[Podcast Host]

I would be Thanos. It would be.

[Maurice P. Carey]

It would definitely be Icon.

[Podcast Host]

I would only be Thanos.

[Maurice P. Carey]

That's it.

[Podcast Host]

Coolest, coolest character.

[Maurice P. Carey]

No, no, no. After some time, people are starting to come around. I'm like, he was kind of right.

[Podcast Host]

Let's not even have that conversation. All right?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Let's not even go there.

[Podcast Host]

No, no, no. The haters are too much. So let me ask you a question, my man. Is there anything you want to talk about? That we missed anything you're doing next.

[Maurice P. Carey]

One thing I would love to. To mention is that I. I appreciate what you're doing, you know, and I appreciate you, and I've. I've learned a little of your story, and I just want to say, you know, first of all, thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for what you had to go through to get here.

[Podcast Host]

Dude, you're the one that. You're the one that fought for your country. I just. I just help alcoholics.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I was gonna say, when you fall for your life. So you all fight for something. Yeah. So don't. Don't diminish that.

[Podcast Host]

Let me ask you a question. What? Do you. What? Do you. You ever use drugs?

[Maurice P. Carey]

No. No.

[Podcast Host]

You never know.

[Maurice P. Carey]

It was. It was for a reason, though. It was for a reason. So my reasoning behind it was, is because I was black. That's why I didn't want to do it, because in high school, they would say, you don't smoke weed, but you're black. And that pushed me off of it.

[Podcast Host]

Got it.

[Maurice P. Carey]

You know, I've always been the. The road, less travel person, because I can see where everybody else is going. I'm looking at where y' all are going. The path is already laid. Y' all got that? Just report back to me and let me know what's going on. I'm gonna go over here and see what this does. I'm curious about what's over here, because nobody's over there. Y' all are scared to go over. Let's go over here. You don't want to go. I got it. I'll go. So when people would say things like, you know, but you're. When it would end with but you're black, it would deter me from that.

[Podcast Host]

My biggest fear is that someone's going to give my kids a pill or a powder, and they're all laced now. Okay. And it's killing everybody. Okay. Have you had the talk with your daughter yet about not taking pills or powders or vapes or anything from her friends?

[Maurice P. Carey]

We have had the conversations, and I. I reiterate the conversations every time I might see it in media, film, television, things like that. I always reiterate. But I've also been the only person to raise my daughter, and I've raised her to be intelligent, analytical, and also to question things as far as, like, you know, putting things into your body, and only because someone else is doing it. I need. I need to always ask for a better reason than because my friends did it, you know, because I will never accept that. So she understands that it's a gambler. It's a 50, 50 gamble. And I don't like those odds. Those odds are too close, and you don't want to gamble with that. And then you end up not even deceased, but you end up worse veg in a vegetative state. Now you're stuck. And now you become a burden. Burden not only yourself, but the people that love you.

[Podcast Host]

How about anybody you know? Anybody right now suffering from drugs and alcohol?

[Maurice P. Carey]

I know of one lifelong alcoholic, which is my uncle, but it's. He's lifelong. He's in his 60s. He ain't changing.

[Podcast Host]

All right, so you're running with the right crowd.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I have to. I have a kid. I have kids, but.

[Podcast Host]

You have kids. You have two kids?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yeah, I have a son. I have a son.

[Podcast Host]

We didn't give your son any love. You don't like your son?

[Maurice P. Carey]

No, it's not that. It's. People like to ask a lot of questions about it, and I try to. He doesn't like the spotlight. Hold your boy 17. Well, he'll be 17 this year, so. I used to be a rapper, and I did rapper, like, things like having two women pregnant at the same time. So I did that. And so. So, yeah, yeah. But he lives in Tennessee with his mother, and like I said, he doesn't like the spotlight. So I would have preferred that all those special moments, everything that I ever did with. With every woman, everything that I ever did would have just been with one person. One special person.

[Podcast Host]

I know. I know. We're such a lover addicts. We're love addicts.

[Maurice P. Carey]

So many stories with so many different women that. That when I turn 80 and let's say I am with somebody, I can't share those stories with her. Like, who wants to know? I would love to be 80 years old. We sitting back, don't nothing work no more. They're like, baby, remember we was on that ceiling one time. Remember that time we was in Tijuana? You remember that? I can't do that.

[Podcast Host]

So at Carrera and One Method, we, you know, obviously we take care of veterans. That's the one thing. This time around, when I came back to work was. And I was looking for a CEO, the only. The only criteria I had was someone who would build a thousand beds for veterans so we could take them right off the street and put them into treatment and change their lives. Now that's my thing. Okay. I love the military. I've never been in the military, but this was my way of, of taking care of my country and my little small slice of the world. Okay, what are you doing? What are you doing to make a difference?

[Maurice P. Carey]

What I'm doing is I'm bringing light to, and giving a platform and a signal to the things that veterans go through that people forget about. I often tell people that the military has done its job so well that people don't think they need us anymore.

[Podcast Host]

That's right. That's right. We are so good that, that people don't. It's not that they don't think we need. We need them, it's just we take it for granted because, you know, we're so good at what we do.

[Maurice P. Carey]

And my, my goal is to bring a little bit more reverence and respect back to the military. You know, you don't have to worship the military. I'm not asking anybody to do that, but I'm asking that would you say thank you for your service to mean it and to understand exactly what you're saying? That somebody made the conscious decision to be willing to die for people that, that they don't know. So that way you can say and do whatever you want, and they did it willingly. So with me, anytime there's opportunities to, to way, raise awareness and shed light on the things, the good things, and, and the, the after effects, the good and the bad of being in the military. I'm. I'm there, you know, as often as I can be. I am there because I get it. I know who I could, I could have been without the military. There's a good chance I could be. I would have been in jail. It's probably still in jail now. If the Marine Corps hadn't straightened me out.

[Podcast Host]

If a veteran is struggling right now, what would you say to them?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Struggling how? Struggling.

[Podcast Host]

Well, you know how. I mean, they're. Veterans are struggling just being alone because the voices and the trauma and the playing the tape back over and over again. And then, you know, they have some variation of standing out outside of a bus, having no one, because even when there's everybody around them, they still feel like they've got nobody because nobody understands what the hell they went through.

[Maurice P. Carey]

You're answering your own question. Find someone.

[Podcast Host]

I do that, dude.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yeah. Find someone who does, you know, find an organization, find an ear, someone to listen who does understand. But also, also, and this is really the, the most difficult part is to find something in the present and possibly the future to latch on to, because the past is where the pain is, and you don't want to hang out with the pain, you want it to go away. Now my hypocrisy. Hypocrisy right now is showing. And I would say, because again, I don't have those fears. My hypocrisy shows because there are pains that I have in me that I actually don't want healed.

[Podcast Host]

I find them useful because that's your ache. It's familiar. It's your ache. You're not ready to give it up,

[Maurice P. Carey]

you know, And I wouldn't know who I would be without them. So I think, what are those aches?

[Podcast Host]

What are those aches that you're not willing to give up today? Oh, now it's gonna get me. Now it's gonna get real. All this bullshit's been just to get to right here, right now.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Let's do it. I. When I was born. When I was born, I wasn't wanted. I was born out of an affair that my father had with my mother. He was already married. And my mother was used to having abortions. She had had an abortion. She didn't want to have me. My father was married. He didn't want me. And the only reason why I'm here today was. Is because my grandmother. My grandmother told my mom to go ahead and have his baby. She said, have him. And she did. And so when she had me, my mom still didn't take me. I still stayed with my grandmother for months until my mother was ready. And even after she took me, there were moments where she would beat the out of me, you know, where she would get so frustrated and so angry that she would me up.

[Podcast Host]

When's the first time you remember that happening? How old were you?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Probably five.

[Podcast Host]

All right, go on.

[Maurice P. Carey]

There's no bad five year olds.

[Podcast Host]

You know that, right?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yeah, I was about five.

[Podcast Host]

Hey.

[Maurice P. Carey]

And. Hey.

[Podcast Host]

Hey, Maurice. There are no bad five year olds. You know that, right?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Oh, yeah. She and I, we've. We've talked about it. We've talked about it. And she had to get help and she had to go see people. We. We have a.

[Podcast Host]

Is she.

[Maurice P. Carey]

Yeah, I just talked to her yesterday. You guys are close? Yes, Very, very close.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, hold on a second. I want to go back. I need to. I need this in my head. All right, so you're five years old, your mom's beating you. You were only with your grandmother for the first few months until your mom could get her head around raising a child. Were you raised by your grandmother or by your mother?

[Maurice P. Carey]

I was raised by my mom.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, go on. How old was your mom? How old was your mom, when she

[Maurice P. Carey]

had you, she was seeing. She was 25, almost 26. 25, almost 26.

[Podcast Host]

Well, you know how that is. They're babies, they don't know anything. 25. All right, go on.

[Maurice P. Carey]

And so. Yeah, yeah. And so, you know, by that, you know, by the time I was five, you know, she had. Had my brother as well. And so me and my brother are about five, just under five years apart. But that, you know, growing up into that and looking back at the pictures of me and some of, you know, knowing who I was, I was always trying to fit in. I was always trying to be wanted. I was always trying to be loved. Like I realize now.

[Podcast Host]

Do you speak to your dad? When was the last time you spoke to your dad?

[Maurice P. Carey]

I just saw him Saturday. I saw him, but we don't talk regularly.

[Podcast Host]

Did you ever live with your dad?

[Maurice P. Carey]

Never, because he was, he was with his wife and his wife found out about me and that was a. They're, they're divorced now and I was a part of that, you know, so

[Podcast Host]

you weren't a part of that.

[Maurice P. Carey]

He was a part of what? I mean, for her. For her. Yeah, because she actually, she watches the show. I saw, she was, I saw her Saturday for the first time in 20 plus years and she was like, you, you do good, you know, because it's awkward. It's like, yeah, I'm the cheetah baby. You watch me every day on the show. It's crazy. So, yeah, it's. It was something I was always striving for, to be wanted. And, and I carry that feeling of not being adequate and it makes me fight harder. But it also pains me because when will I ever feel good enough?

[Podcast Host]

Here, let's get, let's, let's get started with that. Okay? First of all, you tell yourself a story now. It's a true story, okay? You were not wanted. Both parents wanted you aborted and you survived. And the best thing about you is you had a daughter we've discussed is smarter than the both of us combined.

[Maurice P. Carey]

No. No.

[Podcast Host]

Okay. I mean, it's the best thing in the world. And you know, most people, and I always say this, but, you know, people think they know what love is, but you don't really know what love is until you've had a child. You don't. You think you do, but you don't know. Right? And so, yes, you started out and you were dealt a shitty hand, okay? But you're a grown ass man. You're the dad now. You're the one providing the safe Space, okay? And the direction and the advice and the love, nurturing. You're the one providing all of that. You do it right. So the narrative of I'm alone in the world is wrong because you've got this kid that is everything. She's your family. And you want to know what else? One day, she's going to have a child. One day. And then you're going to be a grandfather. And if you think you're a good dad, wait till you're a grandfather. You're going to be the best grandfather in the world, and you're going to be able to play with that child all the time and all the. That you wish you had still. And that I wish I had still. We're gonna have it again. So there's not a lot of room in our lives for a significant other because it means more. What we've got is better. And we look back at that and we go. We would want the love, too. And you'll find it. For sure. For sure. You're young, you know? What are you, like, 38?

[Maurice P. Carey]

40? Almost 45?

[Podcast Host]

45. I'm telling you, bro, okay? You'll have it all. But the best thing about you is your kid. And no one can ever take that from you. Well, no one can ever take what you did, okay? And what you brought into the world, okay? You're not alone in the world anymore, bro. Okay? And it doesn't matter how you start. It matters how you finish, okay? Jesus Christ. How many. How many games have you watched where you got blown out in the first quarter and you came back and won the game? That's you.

[Maurice P. Carey]

That's.

[Podcast Host]

That's who you are.

[Maurice P. Carey]

I've become comfortable with. I'm actually comfortable in the idea that some people are not meant to. They're meant for more, you know? And I'm hoping I'm one of those people where, if I were to take my focus, put it into a significant other or, you know, a wife or girlfriend, that there's a possibility that somebody else who needs my attention, you know, might miss out on something important, like I. I don't know, because there are people out there like that who are, you know, focused on just helping people. And maybe that's what I was meant for, is to be something else. I don't know. Just a thought.

[Podcast Host]

I don't know, man. We'll figure it out as we go. But you know what? You know what I want to enjoy, what I want to start learning how to do. Have a good time. Yep. I want to start Learning to have a good time. You want to know it, bro? You might want to start learning how to have a good time, too, because our kids are seeing 16 years old and they've got friends and we ain't got to do. So we better find ourselves lives. And at least you're working on a soap opera.

[Maurice P. Carey]

That's the scariest thing. Scary. It's scary being a celebrity. And then I get DMS and, you know, social media all the time. Oh, my God, I love you. And if you're ever in this and ever in this city and I'm like, oh, don't like. I'm like, I don't. I don't want to be with some. I would have loved to have met somebody permanent before all of this, because now I question the genuity of some of the people now. Like, are you a gen. Are you genuine? Are you here for Maurice or who are you here for? No. And let me just. Just say this for, you know, the people who are watching, the people who see this, well, obviously they are sympathetic to the military, but just if you. If just this one time, especially during the month of May, if you see somebody in the military or know somebody in the military, just reach out and just tell them thank you, you know, and mean it. You don't tell them thank you if you mean it. And that's really it.

[Podcast Host]

There it is.

[Maurice P. Carey]

See you next Tuesday.

[Podcast Host]

There it is. It wasn't that hard.

[Podcast Producer]

We're out of time. Please subscribe on YouTube. Click the thumbs up and leave a comment. Please subscribe on Apple podcast and Spotify and leave a rating and a review and share the we're out of time podcast with others you know who will get value out of it. See you next Tuesday.