Maurice started off as a Biology (Pre-Med) student but ended up with a Masters Degree in Acting. It started his freshman year during a chance meeting with Lamar Alford, Morehouse College’s only acting teacher and former Broadway great in his own right. No one could have told Maurice he would one day read critics raving, “Maurice McRae is marvelous to watch and virtually stopped the show with his ingenious performance as Avery, the novice preacher and exorcist.”

It was just after receiving his Bachelor’s Degree, Maurice made the difficult decision to forgo medical school. With nothing but a dream and a dollar… $223 to be exact, Maurice hopped on a one-way plane ride to New York City. After working various odd jobs, Maurice landed a spot with Living the Dream, a newly formed cutting-edge theatre company who tackled controversial subjects. Here Maurice honed his improvisation skills in what he recalled as, "Live and in living color." The writer/director/sometimes performer had a habit of improving at whim during often-times sold-out performances in major venues.

It wasn’t long before Maurice would receive glowing reviews from the likes of Show Business Weekly who exclaimed, “If (Richada Abrams) in ‘Genitalia’ threatens to eat the audience, then Maurice McRae in ‘Dreamin’ in Church’ threatens to explode, leaving a pile of radioactive dust for every theater-goer!”

His first television appearance was on the then top-rated primetime show NYPD Blue. However, it was his burgeoning career as a print model that kept the bills paid in between acting gigs. In 2001, the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers occurred at the same time he was in rehearsals for the leading role in Eugene O'Neil's play, All God's Chillun' Got Wings. Despite the demanding rehearsal schedule, Maurice became involved in the response and recovery efforts like thousands of other volunteer citizens.

Despite this very emotional time, exactly a month after the attacks, Maurice received one of the most glowing reviews to-date by Backstage Newspaper: "The Peccadillo Theater Company finds in Maurice McRae an ideal interpreter. Attractive, well groomed, modest, and so passionate that in one speech he brought tears to my eyes. McRae melded all Jim's contradictions into a portrait of a man with driving ambition and a conflicting over-powering love. This is Off-Off Broadway at its best."

Maurice still yearned to be better… to go deeper with his work. Months later he applied and was accepted into one of the most prestigious drama conservatories in the country. In May 2006, Maurice graduated at the top of his class with his Masters from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Since school Maurice has found a second passion in directing and writing. He has two works in progress…each for the small and big screens.