Morris Lamont Chestnut (born January 1, 1969) is an American actor. He first came to prominence for his role as Ricky in the 1991 film ''
Boyz n the Hood
''Boyz n the Hood'' is a 1991 American coming-of-age hood drama film written and directed by John Singleton in his feature directorial debut. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long, Regina King, and An ...
''. He has appeared in feature films and on television series, including the starring role of
FBI Agent Will Keaton in the
NBC TV series ''
The Enemy Within''.
Early life
Chestnut was born in
Cerritos, California on January 1, 1969, the son of Morris and Shirley Chestnut.
His mother was a teacher, while his father worked as a medical salesman.
He studied finance and drama at
California State University, Northridge
California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...
.
Chestnut worked as a bank teller prior to being an actor.
Career
Chestnut's first professional acting role was as Jason in ''
Freddy's Nightmares – A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series'', season 2, episode 19 ("A Family Affair"), which aired on February 18, 1990. His first feature film role was as Ricky Baker in ''
Boyz n the Hood
''Boyz n the Hood'' is a 1991 American coming-of-age hood drama film written and directed by John Singleton in his feature directorial debut. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long, Regina King, and An ...
'' (1991). He followed that up with roles in various TV movies. Chestnut also played a role on
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman.
LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul".
She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...
's short-lived
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
''Out All Night''. His career continued to rise steadily with co-starring roles in standard big-budget studio films such as ''
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory'' (1995) opposite
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...
and
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Marie Heigl ( ; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the ABC television medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2010, a role that brought her recognition and ...
and ''
G.I. Jane
''G.I. Jane'' is a 1997 American war drama film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, and Anne Bancroft. The film tells the fictional story of the first woman to undergo special operations training similar to the ...
'' (1997) opposite
Demi Moore
Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After making her film debut in 1981, Moore appeared on the soap opera '' General Hospital'' (1982–1984) and subsequently gained recognition as a member of the Br ...
. He was also a regular cast member on
''C-16'', in the role of Special Agent Mal Robinson, from 1997 to 1998.
In 1998, he won the annual
Madden Bowl video game competition. In 1999, Chestnut starred in ''
The Best Man'' with
Taye Diggs and
Nia Long, as a professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
player on the eve of his wedding. ''The Best Man'' earned positive reviews from the press and did well at the
box office
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is fre ...
. For his performance, Chestnut earned an
NAACP Image Award
The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...
nomination. He again played a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
player in ''
The Game Plan'' (2007).
Chestnut starred in ''
The Brothers'' (2001), a film centering on the themes of fidelity and success among young professionals. That same year, he portrayed Keith Fenton, the love interest of
Vivica A. Fox, in ''
Two Can Play That Game'' and appeared as basketball player Tracey Reynolds in 2002 film ''
Like Mike''. In 2004, he played a firefighter named Tommy Drake in ''
Ladder 49''.
He has worked with
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...
three times: ''
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory'' (1995) as Seagal's reluctant partner and lead male villain in ''
Half Past Dead'' (2002) and ''
Prince of Pistols'' (2008).
Chestnut joined the cast of ''
Nurse Jackie
''Nurse Jackie'' is an American medical comedy-drama television series. It premiered on Showtime on June 8, 2009, and its seventh and final season premiered on April 12, 2015. The series finale aired on June 28, 2015.
The show stars Edie Fal ...
'' in 2013, playing war veteran Dr. Ike Prentiss. The following year, he won the
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
In 2015, Morris Chestnut played Derrick Dog Prince in the movie
''Heist''.
''People'' magazine named Morris Chestnut as one of the "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2015.
To prepare for his role as professional football player, Lance Sullivan, in the movie ''
The Best Man Holiday'' Chestnut had to get back into shape. His fitness training experience with Celebrity Fitness Trainer Obi Obadike inspired him to become Obadike's co-author on the health and fitness book, ''The Cut''. ''The Cut'', published on April 18, 2017, contains exercise drills and recipes. Chestnut earned himself an NAACP image Award nomination for acting in the sequel.
Chestnut played the lead role of pathologist Dr. Beaumont Rosewood Jr. in ''
Rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues.
True rosewoods
All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated ...
'', receiving another NAACP image Award nomination. He appeared as Raymond Dupont in the short-lived drama ''
Our Kind of People
''Our Kind of People'' is an American drama television series that premiered on Fox on September 21, 2021, as a fall entry during the 2021–22 television season. The series, created by Karin Gist and Wendy Calhoun, is inspired by the 1999 boo ...
''.
Personal life
Morris Chestnut has been married to Pam Byse-Chestnut since 1995. The couple have two children, son Grant and daughter Paige. He was raised in the
Baptist church
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul comp ...
, and he is a practicing
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
.
In March 2022, Chestnut was inducted to the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
with a star that was unveiled in his presence.
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatrical performances
*''Love In The Nick of Tyme'' (2007)
*''What My Husband Doesn't Know'' (2011)
*''The Nutcracker'' (2013)
Published work
*
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
Morris Chestnuta
''Yahoo!'' Movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chestnut, Morris
1969 births
Living people
African-American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
California State University, Northridge alumni
Male actors from California
People from Cerritos, California
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
African-American Christians
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people