SHEMAR MOORE Talks About His Sexy Image And Life Beyond `The Young And The Restless'

Just uttering the name Shemar Moore is guaranteed to bring an instant, sometimes wicked, smile to millions of female faces. And he doesn't mind that--not at all. Moore just hopes that those who are smiling also take him seriously as an actor.

And he's exploring all kinds of acting possibilities beyond his role of photographer Malcolm Winter on the daytime drama "The Young and the Restless," a part he's played for seven years.

"I can't be Malcolm forever," he pointed out. "I'm trying to branch out and go to the next level. I'm just trying to broaden my horizons and give people a different look at what Shemar Moore might be about. I'm currently doing The Fabric of a Man. It's a wonderful, come-stomp-your-feet-get-your-praise-on musical. It's not preachy, it's a comedy. It's hysterical. It's light, and there's something for the fellas and the ladies to relate to."

Regarding his sexy image, Moore said he's glad women find his looks (including those washboard abs) appealing. After all, positive attention is better than negative or none at all. He works hard at keeping his body in tip-top shape, spending at least 10 hours in the gym a week.

But he thinks it's about more than mere sex. "I'm very flattered," he said. "My looks may or may not have helped me get in the door of Hollywood. But my looks have not kept me in Hollywood. I couldn't do it with just looks. I know that I work hard. I know that I'm a talented individual. I have goals. I'm a dreamer."

Besides "The Young and The Restless," Moore co-starred in the well-received film The Brothers and the HBO movie, Butter. He is crisscrossing the country in The Fabric of a Man and he hosts "Soul Train."

He loves the springboard that the beloved soap opera has provided him, but he wants to see what else Hollywood might have to offer him.

"Any actor would love to be Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, Brad Pitt or Will Smith. They bring magic to the screen. When we talk about Black leading men, the list is very short. We've come a long way, but there is so much more room for more Black talent. As far as being a leading man, I do have this goal and dream to be one. I'm not trying to replace anyone. I'm not trying to be the next Denzel. Hopefully, I'll establish myself and have the kind of career where I'll have young people saying, `I want to do it like Shemar Moore did it.' So, if there are 10 leading Black men, I'd like to bring my own flavor, my own Shemar Moore presence and be Number 11 or Number 12."

Moore thinks women enjoy the fact that he's a son dedicated to his mother, Marilyn (she's White and his father is Black). When he won the Emmy Award last year for Best Supporting Actor in a dramatic daytime series, he carried his cell phone to the stage in New York. He told reporters later that he kept trying to get his mom on the phone to let her know he'd won. "Please answer the phone," he recalled saying. "My lucky charm could not be here tonight. I'm tripping right now. I'm calling my mother right now. Answer the phone!" He told reporters backstage: "I spent 20 minutes trying to get hold of her. I'm going to kill her for not answering the phone." He said she probably just couldn't find the phone.

When it comes to women, Moore has been quoted as saying that he romances them by baking cookies. With a laugh, he said "If a woman sees a man doing anything in the kitchen besides taking out the trash, it's "Oh, he's the one, mama. Daddy, buy your tux."

Moore, 30, was born in Oakland and traveled around the world with his parents. He had hoped to be a Major League Baseball player, but an injury quickly squashed that dream. His first big break came as a model. He recalled thinking as a kid that modeling was only for sissies. "But at 19 (and a college student) when tuition was a reality, I was like, `Okay, well maybe it's not for sissies.'" He said modeling was a lot of work and not always very much fun for him. "I was always bigger than the other models. I wasn't Black enough. They didn't know what I was. I was unirace. The other models were always skinnier than I was. Don't get me wrong, it was flattering."

And it led to his getting the role on "The Young and The Restless." Officials of the show saw a spread on him in a magazine and the next thing he knew, he was in Hollywood on sound stages.

Besides "The Young and The Restless," Moore is on the sound stage taping"Soul Train." Getting a chance to host a legendary program has been a blessing, he said. "I've been blessed and I'm having a good time. In seven years of being in this town, the best way to describe my career is in two words--who knew. Who knew?"

Speaking of ladies, Moore is still a much sought-after bachelor. And he loves keeping his private life very private.

He's handsome, he's busy and, he says, very blessed. And he's eager to see where what he calls "the ride" will take him next. "I really love what I do."