Marine veteran Maurice P. Kerry lived in car, survived betrayal, now stars on Beyond the Gates [VIDEO]

From War to Homelessness to CBS: Maurice P. Kerry’s Raw Interview on Survival and Reinvention

Maurice P. Kerry returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom II in 2004 expecting his wife to be waiting at the base. She was not. He stood alone for an hour, refusing to leave, certain she would appear. The bus driver finally asked if he wanted a ride. Kerry said no. He shouldered his sea bag and began walking the miles to his house.

That walk, he later said, was not shame but pain. “Hurt and forgotten and unloved and uncared for.” When he finally arrived home, he made a tray with mint chocolate chip ice cream and apple juice—her favorites—and carried it upstairs, convinced she would be naked in their bed. The bed was empty. He searched under the bed, in the closet, behind the shower curtain, under the sink, even behind the refrigerator. His wife was not there.

She had been sleeping with a fellow Marine who lived next door. She was right down the street at a friend’s house, too afraid to face him. Kerry eventually learned that the cousin who picked him up that day had first stopped at a gym—to talk to the other man. Kerry has not spoken to that cousin in more than 20 years. Today, he plays Randy Parker on CBS’s “Beyond the Gates” and lives with PTSD that he has learned to make useful. The full interview is available on the “We’re Out of Time” podcast, hosted by Richard Taite CEO of Carrara Treatment, and streaming on YouTube and all major platforms.

Living in a Borrowed Car for Nearly a Year

After his marriage collapsed, Kerry remained in San Diego with nowhere to go. A fellow Marine loaned him a car—a blue 2003 Chevy Malibu—just to drive around. The owner had no idea Kerry would live in it for the next year. “I was using that as a base of operations,” Kerry said.

He was going through a divorce and had no family in California. His relatives were all back in Atlanta. To survive, he turned to MySpace, messaging strangers who seemed sympathetic. “I’d say, ‘Hey, I’m a Marine. I’m homeless… mind if I use your couch?’” He would clean and cook in exchange for a place to sleep. Three or four times, someone let him stay.

One of those people, a woman, he still plans to see decades later. “I probably wouldn’t be here without her,” he said. He slept in the Malibu when no couch was available. That period lasted roughly a year before he eventually made his way back to Georgia to restart his life.

How PTSD Affects Memorization and Performance

Kerry does not shy away from discussing his diagnosis. He said PTSD impacts his ability to memorize scripts for “Beyond the Gates,” a challenge in a medium that requires learning pages of dialogue quickly. “There’s so many words and so much memorization that I have to work especially hard,” he said.

He does not view the condition as a weakness. Instead, he has made it useful. “I’m hyper aware, hyper focused, and hyper vigilant,” he explained. When he enters a room, he immediately identifies the biggest person and calculates how to neutralize that person if a threat arises. He maps exits, estimates window heights, and processes all of it in seconds.

That same vigilance follows him behind the wheel. “Don’t box me in,” he said, “because I’m gonna figure a way out.” The discipline comes from combat training. He refuses to be a burden to castmates who depend on him, so he overprepares. “I don’t believe in being perfect, but I also don’t believe in being a drag for somebody who’s depending on me.”

Surviving an Unwanted Birth and Childhood Beatings

The interview took a deeply personal turn when Kerry revealed that both his parents did not want him. He was born from an affair his father had while married to another woman. His mother had previously had abortions and did not want to carry him to term. His father wanted her to terminate the pregnancy.

Only his grandmother’s intervention saved his life. “She told my mom, ‘Go ahead and have his baby. Have him,’” Kerry said. His mother gave birth but left him with his grandmother for months until she was ready to take him. When she did, the relationship was marked by violence. Kerry recalled being beaten beginning around age five.

“There are no bad five‑year‑olds,” the host noted. Kerry agreed. He and his mother have since reconciled; she sought help, and they speak regularly. But the pain of never feeling wanted has never fully left him. “I carry that feeling of not being adequate,” he said. “It makes me fight harder, but it also pains me because when will I ever feel good enough?”

Raising a Teenage Daughter as a Single Father

Kerry has been a full‑time single father for 16 years. His daughter turns 17 next month. He described the teenage years as difficult—particularly 14 and 15—but said 16 has been easier. He attended her concert recently and finds himself constantly telling her how proud he is.

“I’ve raised her by myself her whole life, and just to see the person that she’s becoming… AP classes, A‑B student, gifted classes her entire life,” he said. His daughter is smarter than he is, he admitted. “The only thing I have on my daughter is time and experience and wisdom. If she had my time and my experience, I couldn’t touch her.”

He also has a 17‑year‑old son who lives with his mother in Tennessee. Kerry said his son does not like the spotlight, so he respects that and rarely discusses him publicly. The two pregnancies overlapped, a period Kerry described with regret. “I would have preferred that all those special moments… would have just been with one person.”

Playing Randy Parker on a CBS Daytime Drama

Kerry landed his first major television role on CBS’s “MacGyver” reboot in 2018. Since then, he has worked with Morgan Freeman, Viola Davis, and other notable names. But his current role as Randy Parker on “Beyond the Gates” has given him his highest profile yet.

He described Randy as a con artist with thug‑like tendencies, surrounded by danger and death. A character named Mona offers something different. “She’s safe, she’s kind. She’s not like us,” Kerry said. “I don’t think it’s romantic as much as it’s like an oasis. There actually is a good person, and that good person sees me as a good person.”

Kerry confirmed he has already shot a love scene for the show. “I did have a love scene,” he said. He called it relatively clean by daytime standards but said he is proud of it after seeing the edit. He also expressed interest in more physical roles, name‑dropping Taylor Sheridan.

Bringing Respect Back to Struggling Veterans

When asked how he is making a difference, Kerry said he uses his platform to remind people what veterans sacrifice. “The military has done its job so well that people don’t think they need us anymore,” he said. “My goal is to bring a little bit more reverence and respect back to the military.”

He offered direct advice to struggling veterans. “Find someone who does understand. Find an organization, find an ear,” he said. “Also find something in the present and possibly the future to latch on to, because the past is where the pain is.” He acknowledged his own hypocrisy, admitting he holds onto certain pains because they are familiar. “I wouldn’t know who I would be without them.”

He closed with a request to viewers. “If you see somebody in the military or know somebody in the military, just reach out and just tell them thank you—and mean it. You don’t tell them thank you if you don’t mean it.” The full episode of “We’re Out of Time” is streaming now on YouTube and all major podcast platforms.

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