'He embraced me like a brother,' Shemar Moore tearfully remembers actor Kristoff St. John

Actor Shemar Moor is mourning the loss of his former costar and dear friend Kristoff St. John. He made a tearful statement about his friend in an interview with People magazine.

In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, Shemar Moore opened up about the painful loss of his close friend Kristoff St. John. He spoke out about his friend's sudden death and how much he missed him.

St. John and Moore, 48, starred opposite one another on The Young & the Restless. St. John played Neil Winters since 1991 in the series and Moore played his half-brother, Malcolm Winters.

"He opened doors for people who don’t even realize he opened doors, but he did. He opened doors and he was so committed to his craft. He always wanted to be better. He wanted to touch people and he did," Shemar Moore said about Kristoff St. John

Moore went on to talk about how close they were. He even revealed that Kristoff would often mentor him.

“I’m raised an only child, but Kristoff is truly the closest thing to a brother and a brother’s love and a brother’s mentorship that I’ve ever known,” Moore said.

Kristoff unexpectedly died on Sunday at age 52. According to in the coroner’s office, Kristoff died at his home in Woodland Hills and was found by a friend who went to check up on Kristoff.

Moore remembered when he started on the CBS’ long-running soap opera. He revealed that St. John went with him to support him.

“He didn’t have to embrace me the way he did. When I came in and was trying to find my way and he saw how scared I was, he saw how nervous I was,” Moore says. “He saw my six pack and all that, but he just saw me and he embraced me like a brother. If he hadn’t embraced me, I would have never got my sure footing in the beginning days.”

Moore ended up crying while paying tribute to his "brother," and said:

“Without Kristoff St. John, there’s no Neil Winters. Without Neil Winters, there’s no opportunity for Malcolm Winters. And without Malcolm Winters, there’s no Shemar Moore. And if Shemar Moore didn’t get my chance to try on The Young & the Restless, then I don’t sit here today with let alone this career or this life. Not in this way. And I will give Kristoff, and I always have given Kristoff — and I’m not just saying this to be cute because of what’s happening today — I told him in the beginning because he embraced me the way he embraced me is the only reason that I have the life and career that I have."

“I would have life, but it would have been on a very different tangent and a very different lane. I will always give Kristoff that credit. I will always thank The Young & the Restless for taking a chance on me so that I can have this career. Kristoff was there in the trenches with me. Victoria Rowell, Tonya Lee Williams,” he adds of his fellow The Young & the Restless castmates, “but Kristoff, day to day to day, he rooted for me. He didn’t have to. He didn’t have to, and many wouldn’t, but he rooted for me; he helped me; he held my hand; he said, ‘Stick with me, bruh, I’m going to show you the way and then you do what you’re doing.’ “