Iman Interviews Morris Chestnut for Shondaland (VIDEO)
First, there was Ricky Baker. Then came Jeff Carswell and Mal Robinson. Next up was Lance Sullivan, Keith Fenton, and Jackson Smith. Later, there was Dr. Beaumont Rosewood Jr. and Barrett Cain. All uniquely different characters carefully constructed with a sense of mastery by one actor — one we’ve all swooned over for the last three decades. He has been our ideal college-football hopeful and the idealistic man who needed fixing. He’s been our reason to “mmhmm” and say, “Girl, did you see ...?” He is not the first of his kind, no. The role of leading man has had its share of placeholders. Big names. Little-known names. Names we rarely hear these days and names that will always ring bells.
But, let’s face it, there are leading men, and then there is Morris Chestnut.
For starters, at 52, he is still one of the handsomest men on the planet. Chestnut’s appeal is as undeniable as it was in 1991, when he first graced the big screen in Boyz n the Hood. However, that’s not where it ends with him. Like others who are blessed with the curse of beauty, it can often overshadow the talent that lies beneath the surface. What Morris does is simple. He does not chew scenery or pull focus. His approach is simple. He listens. He responds. He is, at all times, living truthfully under imaginary circumstances. And that is why you can’t take your eyes off him.
Because the truth of the matter is it is hard to do what Morris Chestnut does with ease.
To have charm but not rely on it. To have movie star looks but also cultivate character that proceeds from the debonair presence he possesses. To be, at once, untouchably smooth and genuinely warm. You almost want him to just … disappoint you even a little bit. Have a secret lazy eye, misspeak, or something. And yet, he does not. Though you don’t feel like you’re meeting his representative. You are sure that you are an invited guest into the company of a man who knows who he is completely. Whose self-image has not been dictated by what he has done but by how he wants to make people feel. By how he, himself, truly feels. “God has blessed me,” he says with true gratitude. And you can feel it. So, as he steps into yet another life, the one of Raymond Dupont on Fox’s new hit drama Our Kind of People, he is once again making his offering to a God that has been good to him. Generous, even.
Recently, Shondaland caught up with Chestnut to discuss life, longevity, and, inevitably, his legacy.
IMAN N. MILNER: At this point in your career and in your life, who is Morris Chestnut?
MORRIS CHESTNUT: He’s still a growing human being. One of the things about being an actor, you’re constantly growing because we draw from our experiences to help us portray these characters. In that process, I learn so much about myself and others. I learn so much just from watching. Not to get too specific, but in the last four years I witnessed behaviors and perspectives that I never really thought would still be possible. Given basic information, how are those things even possible? And so, as a person, I am always evolving, growing, and learning. That’s really who I am.