Shemar Moore has been a fixture on CBS since all the way back in 2005 thanks first to Criminal Minds, and now currently S.W.A.T., which was recently renewed for Season 5. Criminal Minds was his big break into primetime television, and he starred as Derek Morgan for eleven seasons, returning a couple of times afterward as a guest. Now, Moore has revealed how he rewarded himself when he received a contract renewal for Criminal Minds, with a little bit of inspiration from Iron Man.
The longtime Criminal Minds actor spoke to THR about how he celebrated a pay raise from the TV show back in 2013. Shemar Moore explained:
When Iron Man came out and I saw the [Audi] R8, I lost my mind. I said if and when CBS gives me a raise, I’m going to get one.
Yes, after seeing Tony Stark's Audi R8 in Iron Man, Shemar Moore decided to get himself the same kind of car when he got a raise from CBS. And it's hard to blame him – the first superhero of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (before it was actually a multi-film universe) spent some sequences of Iron Man zooming around in his Audi R8, and if something was good enough for billionaire hero Tony Stark, then who wouldn't want one? Just take a look!
Shemar Moore has become a collector of cars over the years, and his latest acquisition is in honor of another one of his TV roles. After leaving Criminal Minds as a series regular, Moore scored the starring role in a reboot of the classic series S.W.A.T. The show quickly became a hit after premiering in 2017, and has been renewed for Season 5 without being switched over to a streaming service, which isn't the case for the other CBS action series that launched that year.
To celebrate S.W.A.T., Shemar Moore got himself a new Ferrari F8 Tributo, which fittingly has the license plate of "Hondo 2" in honor of his S.W.A.T. character. Moore explained why he decided to go for the Ferrari F8, saying:
When I got S.W.A.T., it was a moment of pride for me. I’ve worked hard, and I defied the odds. When my mother was alive, she gave me a card that said, ‘Leap and the net will appear.’ I took that as meaning have faith in yourself and believe. Nobody knew I would even make it in this game, let alone sustain it in this game. I was like, you know what, I’m going to treat myself right, and I decided to get the F8. I feel like if I had that car on Criminal Minds, I would have felt like I was forcing it. The Ferrari represents the pride in my journey.
Shemar Moore certainly has a lot to be proud of. Not every actor is fortunate to come off of a hit show that he was part of for more than ten years, stick around the same network, and land a new show that has been going strong since 2017 and is guaranteed to last at least through the end of the 2021-2022 TV season.
Unfortunately for fans, however, the wait for more S.W.A.T. starring Shemar Moore is about to get a whole lot longer than just the week between episodes during the fourth season. The finale on May 26 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS will kick off another hiatus after a shorter-than-usual Season 4. Still, with the guarantee that it will be back for Season 5, fans have a lot to look forward to, even if there's a wait on the way.
