Black Hollywood is a term affectionately used to describe actors and
actresses who have conquered Hollywood, proved their acting ability, and
remain a treasure to the Black community. While White America is often
clueless when it comes to acknowledging urban talent, there are several
stars who have created illustrious careers focusing mainly on the
blockbuster phenomenon that is Black Hollywood. Morris Chestnut is
undeniably the reigning king of said club.
With a career that spans 25
years and has remained consistent and without scandal, Chestnut has
managed to effortlessly do what few actors have been able to achieve —
remain on top. His roles in urban classics like Boyz N the Hood, The Best Man, Best Man Holiday, Two Can Play That Game, The Brothers, The Inkwell
and countless others have earned his royal pedigree with the Black
audience, but don’t eclipse his mainstream appeal. Although Black
audiences claim ownership to Chestnut’s signature heartbreaking smile,
he has experienced mainstream success as well, starring in “ER,” “Nurse
Jackie,” “Bones,” “American Horror Story,” and the list goes on.
Adding
to his acting credits, Chestnut has managed to maintain his sex symbol
good looks and six-pack abs, recently being named as one of People magazine’s sexiest men alive in 2015.
At the time of this interview, Chestnut is being followed by a team
of at least five as he preps for scenes in his new prime-time drama
“Rosewood.” The intense schedule includes 14- to 16-hour shoot days and
daily scripts to memorize. Chestnut’s team praises him with “focused”
and “professional” being words consistently used when explaining the
experience of being a part of his team.
During his interview, Chestnut
is earnest but focused, warm but professional and it’s apparent he is
polished when it comes to answering questions. It’s that dignified yet
warm persona that caused Taraji P. Henson, one of his many leading
ladies, to aptly nickname him “Dark Gable.” His classic good looks,
unintentional charm and easy smile make him an obvious choice for
leading male roles even if he didn’t have the acting chops to match. The
assumption that his looks have opened doors for him is something
Chestnut has struggled with throughout his career.
“A lot of people think this business is just about looks and keeping
your body right. That is important, but models are the only people that
the external is the focus of what they do. I’m not a model; I’m an
actor, so I want to always lead with the work. The work is most
important,” Chestnut says.
Earlier this year, audiences were elated to see Chestnut star opposite Sanaa Lathan and Michael Ealy in David E. Rosenthal’s The Perfect Guy.
Press for the film bled into Chestnut’s new television series on Fox,
giving audiences a double dose of Chestnut in 2015 on the big screen and
small screen. The role was one that audiences have come to expect from
Chestnut: leading man that comes to the aid of his damsel in distress.
Chestnut is excited that his new series has consistently received
great ratings and has been renewed for a sophomore season. “We were
lucky to be scheduled right before ‘Empire,’ which has a huge audience,
so that was a great beginning. I wish we could’ve been slated after
‘Empire’ to get some of those 13 million viewers,” Chestnut joked, “but
we got a great slot.”
On Fox’s “Rosewood,” Chestnut’s plays the title role, Beaumont
Rosewood, a Miami-based pathologist, who is contracted by law
enforcement to solve crimes. In addition to his intelligence and action
hero status, Rosewood is dealing with a debilitating disease, which adds
to the internal conflict of the character.
“Rosewood has all these physical limitations going on: he’s going
blind, he knows that he could literally die any day, yet he is operating
like superman,” Chestnut explains.
In addition to Rosewood’s action hero side, audiences get a glimpse
into the character’s family life. Veteran actress Lorraine Toussaint
plays his mother and newbie Gabrielle Dennis plays his
tell-it-like-it-is sister.
“You get a chance to see a Black family interact. We’ve got issues.
There’s some dysfunction, but it’s family. We’re not the Huxtables, but
we’re not ‘Love & Hip Hop either,’ ” Chestnut says, laughing.
The overall complexity of the Rosewood character offers a challenge,
something Chestnut looks for in the roles he considers at this point in
his career.
“I look for opportunities to sharpen my skills. I want to continue to grow as an actor and keep getting better,” he says.
Chestnut was so focused on his work being taken seriously that he
voiced concern over his Rosewood character being portrayed as eye candy
only. “The script for the first few episodes had me in scenes with my
shirt off,” he recalls. “I told the director that I didn’t want to be in
every episode without my shirt on. I just want to make sure this is
bigger than that. It’s about the character, and I’d like to be able to
eat something every now and then,” he adds laughing.
Even if Chestnut could remove the eye candy element from the show,
his on-screen chemistry with Jaina Lee Ortiz (Detective Villa) is one of
the highlights fans are looking forward to seeing develop.
“There is a lot of sexual tension between the two but there won’t be a
quick fix to that. Taye Diggs’ character comes in and blocks for a
bit,” Chestnut reveals before the show’s much-talked about mid-season
finale.
“Rosewood’s” mid-season finale will air Wednesday, Dec. 2, and the
season will return after the top of 2016. Several hit shows have had
success with splitting a series in half to keep audiences connected
without burning out on the series in the long run. With 22 episodes in
season one, “Rosewood” has managed to gain momentum every week and
Chestnut’s character has begun building a favorable rapport with
audiences.
When asked how his career has remained consistent at a time when many
Black actors have found themselves out of work, even after being the
“it” guy or girl for the moment, he likens acting to any other career
where constant coaching would be needed.
“Kobe Bryant is the best at what he does, but he has a coach. You
should never get to the place where you aren’t able to be coached,” he
says.
His self-awareness is something else he attributes to remaining
consistent; that and his hard work and ability to transform failure to
internal motivation.
“I have failed countless times over my career,” he says. “It’s
impossible to be successful in this business, and probably any business,
without failure. I have learned to get back up and keep going and with
every failure you learn something along the way.”
Instead of being driven by Emmys or Oscars, Chestnut says he focuses
on perfecting his craft and works toward a flawless performance.
“I have learned to critique myself. There is nothing someone else can
tell me about Morris that I don’t already know,” he says candidly.
Chestnut will return to the silver screen in 2016, starring alongside Oscar-winning actress Regina Hall in When the Bough Breaks. He also has a recurring role on TNT’s “Legends,” so fans will be able to catch a double dose of Chestnut on television.
From television to film and even a few live plays thrown in here and
there, Chestnut is amongst a small group of privileged Black male actors
who audiences have been able to grow consistently with over the last
two decades. His acting skills are probably underrated but with
opportunities like “Rosewood,” Chestnut is still looking to prove that
he is more than just a pretty face. With his shirt on or off, Chestnut’s
female fans aren’t going anywhere. Almost 25 years after hearts
collectively broke after Tre’s tall, dark and handsome friend Ricky was
gunned down in John Singleton’s cult classic, Boyz N the Hood, audiences are still swooning over Morris Chestnut.
Credit:RollingOut
No comments:
Post a Comment