Shemar Moore: 'Ready For That Next Phase Of My Career'

In a surprisingly candid interview with BET.com, former THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS star Shemar Moore talks about his next move, the challenges he faced growing up biracial in Oakland and why "it's no accident" he's still single. Plus, he talks about his tabloid-heavy relationships with Toni Braxton and Halle Berry. Below are a few interview highlights:

BET.com: Have you started thinking about your next move?
Shemar Moore: To be honest, if it works out I have many good reasons to stay, but leaving would give me the one thing I haven't had in a long time, which is freedom. After eight years on YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and eight years on CRIMINAL MINDS, I'm ready for that next phase of my career. I wanna chase down Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith. I would love to start my film career. But it's all pending what the network decides it wants to do next.

BET.com: You've been linked with some high-profile women, including Toni Braxton and Halle Berry. Were those relationships for real, or just tabloid gossip?
SM: [Toni Braxton] was my first Hollywood relationship. I was a baby, I did not know s***. I had just graduated from college, I had no money and I was on YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. She called my agent when she was shooting a video in Miami, and it just went from there. I was like the little kid who found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It was a wild ride with Toni. She would never sing me for me, though. That always bothered me.

BET.com: What about Halle?
SM: She was the first woman to really knock my socks off. I fell hard for Halle. A lot of people now know we dated, but we had to keep it hush-hush at the time because she was fresh off her divorce from David Justice. I'm still grateful for that relationship. I was smitten not just because of who she was, but because we were so similar in so many ways. She was biracial, she was kind of going through the same things I was in Hollywood. Toni was a fun ride, but Halle was a necessary experience. It made me much stronger as a man, and knowing the caliber of woman I want in the future.

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