Shemar Moore Says Being a Dad Helped Bring More of Himself to the Role of Hondo in Season 7

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For three decades, Shemar Moore has made a name for himself playing badass characters on TV. With heart-pumping moments on The Young and the Restless, Criminal Minds and S.W.A.T., fans loved seeing each of his characters break down a rough-around-the-edges facade to reveal a softer side when it comes to loved ones. While he's been able to portray tough guys on screen for most of his life, his current character Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson is embracing a role Shemar is experiencing for the first time as well.

As S.W.A.T.'s final season of episodes roll out Friday nights on CBS, fans are witnessing Hondo become a family man for the first time. While folks primarily watch him fight crime alongside his fellow S.W.A.T. crew during the day, they also see the life the LAPD cop leads at home. Unlike previous seasons, Hondo is now married, embracing newfound parenthood with wife Nichelle Carmichael (Rochelle Aytes) and their infant daughter Vivian.

While this version of his character feels different than what viewers have seen throughout the series, Shemar explained to Good Housekeeping showcasing this outlook is important to help flesh out Hondo's last storyline.

"The last we saw in season 6, Hondo got engaged," he says about his new family arc. "I didn't want to do the whole Hallmark, beautiful marriage thing because I felt like that would take time away from where we could just be running and gunning. But we still touch on that Hondo is a married man, a family man. It's nice to see the softer edges of Hondo because he's such a badass."

As for how Shemar taps into his more affectionate side on TV, that comes from being a father himself. He surprised his followers by welcoming daughter Frankie with his partner Jesiree Dizon in January 2023, and he adores watching his "baby girl" grow into what he declares is "this bubbly personality." He not only gushes how she's getting ready to start walking, he jokes Frankie is definitely his daughter as "she loves the mirror, talking to herself [and] kissing herself."

Given how Shemar is enjoying being a dad at the same time as his character is on television, one would think he'd try to separate what happens at home from what folks see on the screen. It's actually the opposite, he notes, as he loves having the ability to blend the two worlds in a way he never had with previous jobs.

"It's been nice to kind of incorporate a little bit of me personally into my character," he says about infusing more of himself into S.W.A.T. than ever before. "For Hondo to have a family, have a baby... it was literally [at] the same time. I am a year in being a Papa, so it's easy for me to play it. It's because I'm experiencing it in real life."

Both Shemar and his TV persona are happily embracing this milestone in their lives, but S.W.A.T. is a procedural drama at its core. Therefore, Hondo wouldn't be Hondo without grappling with tougher moments as well.

As the final installment of the CBS series finds Hondo wrestling through an episodes-long arc digesting the trauma he suffered from an international case he worked on a decade before, Shemar adds the feelings fans watch Hondo bury deep within him don't come from just anywhere. Hondo's unraveling sentiments are a direct reflection of things Shemar himself has felt while enduring hard knocks throughout his life.

"This season is tough on Hondo," he shares. "When you see Hondo fight and protect emotionally, when you see Hondo go to bat emotionally — that's me giving myself permission to dig deep within me, Shemar. That's therapeutic and fun to bring, to give Hondo some of my heart. I care about the show — you'll feel that, because I feel that."

While fans will need to keep on watching to see how Hondo fares in the final hard-hitting case of the series, Shemar is proud of the work he's put into his character over the years. As he prepares to say goodbye to Hondo, he's taking the lessons he's learned from the role and carrying them into how he approaches raising Frankie as she gets older.

"Frankie's given me a new lease on life. She's now my purpose," he concludes. "Everything's a little brighter. Everything's exciting again. "I'm not being fabulous for me anymore. It's not about me anymore. It's about her. Yes, I'm going to take care of myself. Yes, I'm going to still strive for success. But I'm doing that to make Frankie proud."

"You know, most of my whole life was trying to make my [late] mother [Marilyn] proud," he concludes. "Now, I want to do that for Frankie. Because I ain't gonna be here forever. So, in that time, I'm going to give Frankie everything I got, just like my mother did for me."

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