Young & Restless’ Shemar Moore Shares Kristoff St. John’s Beautiful Message to Him
During a visit to The Talk this week, Shemar Moore was taken right back to his earliest days in daytime — and the individual who ensured that he could see how bright his future was. “April 6, 1994, I got hired as Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless,” Moore began.
Shortly thereafter, panic set in. “I was excited, [thinking,] ‘I’m gonna be on TV.’ Then once I got the job and all that sunk in,” the actor continued,
“I got freaked out, like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not gonna be good enough. They’re gonna see right through me. They’re gonna tap me on the shoulder and send me home.’”
At that point, Kristoff St. John, the late Emmy winner who played Malcolm’s half brother Neil Winters, reached out to Moore with a message that he carries with him to this day.
“Back then, it wasn’t what I would’ve told myself,” he admitted, “because back then, I was scared. [But] from the beginning, he embraced me. He said, ‘You’re scared.
You’re nervous. You’re green. But you’ve got heart, and you’ve got raw talent.’”
Needless to say, St. John’s observation struck a chord. His Young & Restless castmate went on to win a Daytime Emmy and launch an endlessly successful primetime career.
After a decade on Criminal Minds, he was tapped to star in S.W.A.T., which is currently in its seventh and final season.
St. John passed away in 2019 at age 52. By that time, the former child actor, who’d appeared on everything from Happy Days to The Cosby Show, had been with Young & Restless since 1991 (following a three-year stint on the groundbreaking Generations).
