Terry Crews Talks About Being A 'Former Toxic Male' In New Memoir, 'Tough'

"'America's Got Talent" host Terry Crews has a new memoir called "Tough," which will be out in a few days. The former NFL star also produced an audiobook to give his fans more ways to enjoy his newest project.

Crews plans to reveal himself in ways he's never done before in this new biography. The "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star recounts extremely personal and fascinating tales about everything from his financial troubles to therapy and other details not privy to his fans.

Now, ahead of the memoir's release, the actor has spoken up about what led to him writing the memoir, toxic masculinity, and battling depression during the height of his career.

Crew's latest book follows the actor's 2014 release "Manhood: How to Be a Better Man — Or Just Live with One." In his interview The Hollywood Reporter, he disclosed that the project dealt with themes of toxic masculinity, a topic he explored in depth in his earlier memoir.

"As a former, what I would call, "toxic male" — that term "toxic masculinity" has been used a lot, and it's actually been misused. The term I really love right now is just "abuse of power" — and that really, really resonated with who I was; but then people just had more questions about how this goes down and what forms this, and how do you get control of this?"

Overwhelmed with these questions, Crews was compelled to write his angle on his story, detailing his journey through therapy and his adventures over the last few years – an opportunity he expressed gratitude for in the interview.

Although writing the new memoir was not his first stint, Crews confessed that he felt nervous about the project all through the period of penning it down.

"I was nervous about all of it! It's so in-depth. It's so revealing that it's uncomfortable writing," the actor said, recalling his thoughts at the time.

However, along the line, his nervousness changed to a "cathartic and wonderful" feeling, further disclosing that speaking the narrative and genuinely divulging a lot of his hectic past let his former issues and addiction lose the remaining grasp of power they had over his life.

Now, he believes that his new memoir will also assist those who are going through similar experiences in realizing that they are not alone and that they can overcome their obstacles.

Crews discussed a period in his life when, despite his success in the film industry, he struggled with depression. At the time, the actor preferred to gauge his self-worth based on other people's perceptions of him, which did not always reflect the best of his qualities.

So, in order to show himself better, he pushed himself to the maximum, constantly on the lookout for the next pat on the back or the next laugh, and it had to be constant, which caused him to spiral into depressed moods when he didn't feel he was receiving enough praise.

Therapy finally helped the actor tackle these concerns, allowing him to achieve a real work-life balance, and he now thinks that "external success must equal inside success."

Crews, who co-starred with Chris Rock on the actor's hit series "Everybody Hates Chris," also dropped his views on the recent Academy incident between Rock and "King Richard" star Will Smith, adding that Rock's decision to stay calm saved Hollywood.

"When I look back, by what Chris did, by just deciding to hold everything together, it actually, I think in a lot of ways saved Hollywood. Because if there would've been a brawl on that stage, I don't know if Hollywood would've ever gotten any respect again, you know? It's hard to even imagine what would've happened."

The "Blended" star connected it to a previous incident in which WME agent Adam Venit reportedly assaulted him at a party, claiming that his calm response "saved" his life, similar to how Rock reacted on the Oscars stage.