Morris Chestnut
About
Biography
Biography
Having given up his dream of playing professional football, Morris Chestnut received immediate recognition in his first feature role as Ricky Baker, the promising young athlete cut tragically down in John Singleton's powerful coming of age film, "Boyz N the Hood" (1991). His impressive debut led to supporting work in "In the Line of Duty: Street War" (NBC, 1992) and the title role of the Disney Channel's "The Ernest Green Story" (1993), as well as a part in Matty Rich's feature "The Inkwell" (1994). Chestnut showed his action hero chops for "Under Siege II: Dark Territory" (1995), with Steven Seagal, and was one of the Navy SEAL recruits alongside Demi Moore in "G.I. Jane" (1997). His first experience as a series regular came in the short-lived NBC sitcom "Out All Night" (1992-93), starring Patti LaBelle, and he returned to series work (this time in a drama) for ABC's "C-16" (1997-98), playing an FBI recruit fresh out of training. He also acted in Malcolm Lee's directorial debut, "The Best Man" (1999). In 2001, Chestnut starred in the "The Brothers," solidifying both his acting talent and sex symbol status and in 2002, he joined Steven Seagal and Ja Rule for the surprise hit action crime feature "Half Past Dead." The actor continued to demonstrate his versatility, appearing in dramas like "Confidence" (2003), comedies like "Breakin' All the Rules" (2004) and horror-thrillers like "Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid" (2004). A minor role in "Ladder 49" (2004) was followed by a slightly more pivotal role in the sci-fi thriller, "The Cave" (2005), in which he played a cave explorer who helps lead a pair of biologists into an elaborate cave system beneath the newly discovered ruins of a 13th century Romanian abbey. A role supporting Dwayne Johnson in the family sports comedy "The Game Plan" (2007) was followed by the lead in a Christmas fantasy, "The Perfect Holiday" (2007). Chestnut teamed up with Taraji P. Henson for the romantic drama "Not Easily Broken" before returning to television with arcs on the rebooted science fiction thriller "V" (ABC 2009-2011) and the first season of Ryan Murphy's "American Horror Story" (FX 2011- ). Supporting roles in the romantic comedy "Think Like A Man" (2012), Melissa McCarthy vehicle "Identity Thief" (2013), crime thriller "The Call" (2013) and superhero comedy "Kick Ass 2" (2013) kept Chestnut busy on the big screen prior to "The Best Man Holiday" (2013), a reteaming of the cast of his hit film from nearly 15 years before. After stints on "Nurse Jackie" (Showtime 2009-2015) and "Legends" (TNT 2014), Chestnut starred on the procedural comedy-drama "Rosewood" (Fox 2015- ) as an unconventional pathologist. That same year, he returned to the big screen, starring in the thriller "The Perfect Guy" (2015) opposite Michael Ealy and Sanaa Lathan.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1990
Landed first professional acting role on an episode of syndicated series "Freddy's Nightmares"
1991
Appeared on an episode of "Drexell's Class" (Fox)
1991
Made feature acting debut playing Ricky Baker in John Singleton's "Boyz n the Hood"
1992
Landed first regular role in a series, "Out All Night," an NBC sitcom starring Patti LaBelle
1992
Made TV movie debut in "In the Line of Duty: Street War" (NBC)
1993
Played title role in TV movie "The Ernest Green Story," (Disney) about one of the nine black students who integrated at Central High School in Little Rock, AK in 1957
1994
Co-starred in coming-of-age film "The Inkwell"
1995
Displayed action hero chops alongside Steven Seagal in "Under Siege II: Dark Territory"
1997
Featured in action drama "G.I. Jane," starring Demi Moore
1997
Landed first regular role in a dramatic series, as Mal Robinson on ABC's "C-16"
1999
Acted in Malcolm Lee's directorial debut "The Best Man"
2000
Co-starred in romantic comedy "The Brothers" with Gabrielle Union
2001
Co-starred in Showtime drama "The Killing Yard," about an uprising at Attica
2001
Re-teamed with Gabrielle Union for "Two Can Play That Game"
2002
Re-teamed with Steven Seagal for action feature "Half Past Dead"
2003
Appeared with Ed Burns, Andy Garcia, and Dustin Hoffman in "Confidence"
2004
Co-starred with Jamie Foxx and Gabrielle Union in comedy "Breakin' All the Rules"
2004
Joined John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix in "Ladder 49"
2005
Co-starred with Cole Hauser in thriller "The Cave"
2007
Re-teamed with Gabrielle Union for Christmas feature "The Perfect Holiday"
2007
Co-starred with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in "The Game Plan"
2009
Cast as Ryan Nichols, a visitor posing as a human on ABC's remake of "V"
2009
Co-starred with Taraji P. Henson in film adaptation of T.D. Jakes' novel "Not Easily Broken"
2011
Co-starred in first season of FX drama "American Horror Story"
2012
Joined ensemble cast including Taraji P. Henson and Gabrielle Union in "Think Like a Man"
2013
Cast opposite Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy in "Identity Thief"
2013
Co-starred with Halle Berry in thriller "The Call"
2013
Co-starred in action comedy "Kick Ass 2"
2013
Re-teamed with Malcolm Lee for "The Best Man Holiday"
2013
Joined the cast of Showtime comedy-drama "Nurse Jackie" as Dr. Prentiss
2014
Co-starred on TNT action series "Legends"
2015
Starred in action thriller "The Perfect Guy"
2015
Starred as pathologist Dr. Beaumont Rosewood Jr. in the Fox procedural comedy-drama "Rosewood"
2018
Began starring as Hakeem Rashad on "Goliath"
