Club Shay Shay - Morris Chestnut

Episode Date: November 30, 2020

On episode 11 of Club Shay Shay, Shannon welcomes in actor, producer & author: Morris Chestnut.Shannon & Morris discuss the many projects Morris is working on, including the film ‘Spell,’ the TV series ‘The Resident,’ and his faith-based football podcast ‘Jesus vs. Big Joe.’Morris also recalls playing Ricky in ‘Boyz N The Hood,’ working with John Singleton and the rest of the star-studded cast, and the success that followed that iconic performance. He shares several other memories and stories from his 30+ year film & TV career, from working with actors like Anthony Anderson and Robert De Niro to auditioning for ‘Jerry McGuire.’Shannon also quizzes Morris on his hometown Lakers, discussing their recent NBA Title & Morris’s top 5 Lakers of all time. Morris’s passion for music, acting, and sports are all covered in this revealing conversation about his longstanding career in the film & entertainment industry.#DoSomethinB4TwoSomethin & Follow Club Shay Shay:                                                                 https://www.instagram.com/clubshayshayhttps://twitter.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.facebook.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.youtube.com/c/clubshayshay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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we also go deep with real-time wagering lines, trending prop bets, win probability, and key player projections. Download the new Fox Sports app or visit www.foxsports.com now. Let's start the show. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Che Che. I am your host and the proprietor of Club Che Che, Shannon Sharp. And the guy that's coming by to have a drink and talk today really needs no introduction, but I'll introduce him anyway.

He's actor, producer, author author 30 years in the movie game some people know him as ricky i know him as mo morris chestnut all my life been grinding all my life sacrifice hustle paid the price wanna slice got the roll of dice that's why all my life i've been grinding all my life Want a slice, got the roll of dice, that's why, all my life, I've been grinding all my life, all my life, been grinding all my life, sacrifice, hustle pay the price, want a slice, got the roll of dice, that's why, all my life, I've been grinding all my life. Mo, what's going on, bruh? Man, man, 30 years, see, I got in it when I was two, So I'm 32 right now. But yeah, I'm getting old, man. I'm getting old. But you're still in the game, though.

I'm still in the game, man. It's been a blessing. It's definitely been a blessing. So how have you been? What's been going on? What have you been up to the last couple of months? I know the pandemic. Oh, yeah. It's great.

I'm going to run down a whole bunch of stuff. So one, I just had a movie. I produced a movie that came out on streaming two weeks ago called Spell. It was with Martin Hardwick and Loretta Devine. That was a project I was really excited about. Right now, I'm in Atlanta doing the second season of The Resident. I only came on for one season, but because of the pandemic, you know, things got a little messed up. And so I came back to wrap up the character.

And so that's been fun. And I have one of the projects that I'm most excited about. I have this podcast coming out called Jesus vs. Big Joe. Okay. And it's about a high school football player who was, you know, he was one of the best linemen in the country, recruited by Bobby Bowden, Lou Holtz, everything. He got caught up, went to everything he got caught up went to went

to usc got caught up in some medical stuff had 18 surgeries and amputation um it's a faith-based project and uh he um it's about how he overcomes all that adversity uh to find god so i'm really i'm excited about that one as well back to what you're working on the uh the movie that you produce it's called spell starring omar head hard headwick loretta divine yeah what what made you go in this genre so what happened was so the producer i'd worked with the producer gordon gray uh before on another project okay and he asked me he called me to the office, hey, can you read this script? And he wanted me to do this movie. So when I read this script, the script that he had, it kind of really wasn't what I wanted to do. Okay. And so, and so I called my manager and said, listen, you know, I'm not, you know, I'm going to do it. He says, well, let's talk to Vorton about this. So we pitched him another concept of a movie. And it was this one. It was, it was Spell. concept of a movie and it was this one it was it was spell um so we we pitched him the concept he was into it we found the writers wrote the script the writers wrote the script and uh kurt wimmer who's a great writer um now i had some you know i had some uh you know everything in the movie

wasn't as i wanted it to be but uh that's that's movie making so so you went from possibly starring in the movie to help writing and co-producing the movie right so it was so when the producer gave me the script it was something completely different right um and it's not it wasn't something that i wanted to do so my writer my manager was like my brian brian my manager brian wilkins he was like listen let's pitch him you know this concept and we that this concept that Brian and I had already previously discussed. So you had already been working on this? Yeah. So my manager and I, we talk about concepts all the time.

OK. OK. For movies, for podcasts. Matter of fact, you're going to be in the call for me soon because I have a concept for a sitcom with you in mind. Oh, OK. That's what I'm talking about. You know what? I always did want to do a sitcom. I always wanted to be on TV full time and have a sitcom with you and mine. Oh, okay. That's what I'm talking about. You know what? I always did want to do a sitcom.

I always wanted to be on TV full time and have a sitcom. Amen. Hey, don't just talk about it. I'm telling you. I mean, you're saying that now on the camera on Club Shay Shay. You'll get that call from the network. Hey, Shannon, you're available. So, hey, watch out now.

Oh, I'll definitely be available. I'll make myself available. Okay. Yeah, yeah. So, I'll talk to you about that because I have a couple of concepts in one. And I'll talk to you about it. But, yeah, so my manager and I, so my manager was, you know, we were talking about this concept and we pitched it to Gordon.

Gordon liked it. So that's when we got – it was nothing. It was nothing, just a concept between my manager and I. Right. And we got the writer, Kurt Wimmer, who's an incredible writer. I mean, he got the – we met with a few writers, Kurt came in he immediately got the story and he turned the script around really

quick and it went into production and matter of fact when I was on this show when it started going into production but initially I was intending to star in it So let me ask you, so it's because of, I noticed a lot of people are doing streaming, a lot of people are doing like Netflix, not the other big budget.

Is that because of COVID? Have you had to find a different way to still do your craft? I can't say it's just because of COVID. Okay. You know, even the movies that are released now, normally if they're like the big Marvel blockbusters, you know, it's very rare that the low budget independent can find an audience. And so the great thing about streaming, you know, with the Netflix and Amazons is, you know, you get global exposure and you get a platform. So whatever you produce, you know, it gives people opportunity to see what you do. Right. Back in the day, I know people who've made

independent movies for 50, $60 million and they're sitting on a shelf somewhere and nobody saw it. This would be before streaming even, streaming even, you know, took over the game. Right. So do you think streaming is like, how do I say this?

Is this what we're going to see more and more of until we come out of this pandemic? I think until we come out of the pandemic, yes. However, you know, like I said, I have a couple other movies that I'm actively producing, and I really want them to go to the theater because to me, there's nothing like, you know, I have a comedy experience, you know, everybody's there sharing the same thing, and the laughter, the feeling, the something. There's nothing like that experience.

So I can't wait. I can't wait for it to come back. The smell of the popcorn, you know, the people talking in the background, you know. For me, I mean, I'm a movie guy. But I just find myself, if I'm watching a movie at home, I'm like, I wonder what else is on television. Where'm at the movie I can't I can't just flip that I can't just get up and I'm gonna stay very it's a very captive audience that's why you know for a long time you know when you have

when you have people as quote-unquote movie stars because you go into this you go into this this theater it's blacked out and you're just so captivated on that screen for right you know two and a half hours that's why it's you know as an artist sometimes you know we're very responsible about about you know the messages that we send because people really absorb and absorbing those messages so you're also doing the residence you say you were only going to do one season, but you came back because of the pandemic. You came back fulfilling an obligation. So are you done after this season,

or are you going to have a reoccurring role? Well, so, you know, things are always fluid. I mean, you never know what's going to happen. I love, listen, I love the cast. I love the producers. I love the environment, you know, here. Tell the people about your character. Tell the people. You're a neurosurgeon.

Yes, I play a neurosurgeon. And what attracted me to this character is I play a neurosurgeon that's based off of a real-life person, or I say a couple of people. Please don't say it's Ben Carson. No, no. No, no. Not Ben Carson.

But, uh, oh, no. I wasn't going to say something I wasn't going to say. No, so it's based off the character. And so the one thing I really want, one of the reasons why I really wanted to play this character, because it's completely different than anything I've played before. Right. And this character, out of probably everything that I've done, the response when I'm in public is most passionate about this character. Really?

In a negative way. Oh, okay. Yeah, because I play a doctor who is a neurosurgeon who is basically, he's more concerned about the bottom line of the hospital instead of the patient. So you come in and I see that you don't need this invasive surgery, but it's good for the bottom line of the hospital, I'm going to recommend that you get that surgery. Well, you sound like a real doctor to me.

Well, I mean, what's the problem? No, no, no. That's supposed to be for the well-being of the patient. Yeah. So, but I remember you on a far phone you did a fox show called rosewood yes where you were a forensic guy right right right right right so you you like playing these doctor's roles well you know one thing i love one thing i do love about playing doctors because it does they do they convey a certain amount of intelligence um you know they make me sound

smarter than i am with all that dialogue. I have to rehearse that dialogue all night, but I get it down. Yeah. But yeah, so the one thing about Rosewood, the one thing that really drew me to this character, because the Rosewood character was extremely optimistic about every single situation.

Right. This character is not so much. So it's playing a doctor in a different light. When you played Rosewood, did you meet with any forensic guys So it's playing a doctor in a different light. When you played Rosewood, did you meet with any forensic guys to understand what they do, how they do it, how they go about their business? Did you meet with anybody to learn

how to better play that role? Yes, yeah, we had a technical advisor on set all the time and asking, you know, I was always asking them a ton of questions about it. It's a very interesting job. But one of my, I mean, I was always asking him a ton of questions about it. It's a very, it's a very interesting job. But one of my, I mean, my favorite shows, I mean, if I'm not watching sports, I'm either watching for forensic files or the Dateline. Yeah. So those, so Rosewood was right up my alley in that sense.

It was a humor. There was a lot of humor to it. But Rosewood was right up in my alley. lot of humor to it but rosewood was right up in my alley and being able to talk to that forensic um forensic um uh professional it was very uh it's a very i definitely couldn't do in real life i'll just say that you're basically a black quincy i don't know if you are you old enough to remember quincy oh come on man i definitely remember Quincy. Yeah. You mentioned your faith-based podcast, Jesus and Big Joe. And it's based loosely on a USC football player. What made you decide to go this route?

Okay. So I was always looking for something because I did a movie with T.D. Jakes called How Did He Be Broken about a number of years ago. Right. And that was one of the projects. It was basically a project about this married couple whose wife got into an accident and their marriage was being tested. Right. Financially, emotionally, sexually.

And she had one of her, you know, her mother was in the house with her. So it was about, you know, their marriage vows being tested, not easily broken. And it is one of the projects that I say, people come up to me for various projects, that project, people really come up, you know, brothers come up to me all the time, man, you know what? I was going through some situation just like that. And I saw that movie and my wife and I watched that movie and we kept the faith. We kept the faith. So I always knew I wanted to get back to doing something faith-based. I recently, before everything came out, I guess about two years ago, I saw, I heard the podcast, Gladiator. I don't know if you've heard.

It's Aaron Hernandez' podcast. Yes. Okay. Yes. And I didn't know all the information. So I'm listening to this podcast and I'm hearing the story. I said, man, I really enjoyed that podcast. Okay. Yeah. Yes. And I didn't know all the information. So I'm listening to this podcast and I'm hearing the story. I said, man, I really enjoyed that podcast. So I met this, uh, this young, passionate, uh, very, very talented producer named Kyle Hogan. Um, and he, uh, we sat down at lunch and he told me the story of, of big Joe. And that's why the project is

Jesus versus big Joe. And it was something that I, it was a space that I always wanted to get back into. And when I heard the passion of Kyle, I met Big Joe and I said, this is it. This is what I want to do. Speaking of USC football players, you play a role in the hood classic. Now it's a Mount Rushmore in the hood, Friday, maybe house party. Iiday maybe house party i don't know i don't know the other guy but i know those three is gonna be on everybody's mount rushmore when i mentioned boys in the hood and ricky your first feature role what what goes through your mind oh man you know uh it's uh first honestly now uh you know john singleton just you know uh

rest his soul i mean he gave me an opportunity uh so i it's it's it's uh it's sad in that regard but i always go back to uh you know just when i was just starting out i was just starting out and i just wanted to to be involved in a project that that people would see and people would see me and recognize me for. And he gave me an opportunity. And, you know, the one thing I just love, you know, about being involved in that project. I mean, you know, to this day, Nia, Fishburne, Regina, Cuba, you know, everybody is still, Angela, everybody's still going. And it was a special, special project. Obviously, it's my first big screen, first real movie, actually.

And it's something I'm always going to hold dear. How did you land the role? Yeah, so I just got an agent. And actually, it was a little bit of, I got a little bit lucky for the role, of course. Okay. But here's where the luck is. So, when I was coming up as an actor, I started, after I graduated from high school, I started acting. And I was taking acting classes at this junior college in Long Beach, Long Beach City Junior College.

And I said, okay. So, I was getting some pretty good feedback. So, I said, you know what? I want to go to Hollywood and take an acting class there and see what people think now at that time uh marla gibbs who was on uh the jeffersons 227 27 she had an acting studio right in lemur park it was right right in the hood and so i said let me but her acting studio the people from the jeffersons and 227 they would come teach in the class so i so I said, let me, and she, but her acting studio, the people from the Jeffersons and 227, they would come teach in the class.

So I said, I'm gonna get in front of the people who, Who actually do it. Exactly. And so I went there. And so cut to, my agent gave me the information to go to this audition for this movie, Boys in the Hood. I get excited, I go, meet the cast director, Jackie Brown.

Get the call back, it's John Singleton's in the call back. So I'm like, oh man, this cat, Boys in the Hood. I get excited, I go meet the cast director, Jackie Brown. Get the call back, it's John Singleton's in the call back. So I'm like, oh man, this cat, he's my age. And I got this young cat. So that was a little bit easier then. But then after the second meeting, when I met John, my agent calls me like, listen, you have a screen test. And I'm like, oh, so back then, Hollywood screen test, you go down to the studio, they have all the cameras and all the crew and everything just for a screen test.

So I'm like, man, this is my first big Hollywood screen test. So I'm getting all excited. I had a pager back then, and I was excited and stuff. And so I said, OK, so where is it? And I'm thinking he's going to say Columbia, Warner Brothers, somewhere like that. He says it's at Crossroads Academy, Leimert Park. I'm like, Leimert Park, that's an acting school? That's what a screen test is?

And he's like, yeah, that's what it is. And so, you know, John wanted to keep everything in South Central. But where that played into my favor is because when I had to go for the screen test, I was already in a comfortable environment. I was already comfortable there. And so that played into me getting the part. Did you know it would turn out to be what it is? And here we are 30 years later and people are still talking about that movie. I'm sure that's one of the first thing when people meet you, that's one of the first things they talk about. Man, I remember you in the Boy in the Hood, boy, you were great. Yeah, you know what? It's two things.

So it's one of the movies that people from... People literally from around the world say they learned English from watching Boys in the Hood. Okay. One movie that they see that. But at the time, I didn't. I was literally on set. I'll never forget. I was absorbing everything. At the time, didn't i was literally on set i'll never forget i was absorbing

everything at the time you know cube had an album you know fish burn he wasn't fish at the time you know he had worked right cuba had been in a few holding deals at some studios but he hadn't been on the show that last one so i'm like so i'm looking around like okay you know it's the movie i'm a lead in the movie nobody knows me i didn't think the movie was like, okay, you know, it's a movie. I'm a lead in the movie. Nobody knows me. I didn't think the movie was going to do anything. You know, I thought it would be, you know, I thought we were making a good movie, but there's no way I thought it was going to be to the magnitude

that it turned out to be. You mentioned the names, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Lawrence Fishburne, Neil Long, Regina King, Angela Bassett. Yeah. And as you mentioned earlier, the majority of these are still going strong Regina I think Regina is uh has a uh a show on HBO she has a show she has a movie she directed a movie yes won an Oscar won an Oscar yeah yeah yeah we have three so uh Q Cuba was nominated Fishburne was nominated I think Angela won uh regina won right so you got hey

so what's up i mean what's up bro i mean yeah you know what it was one of those things you know exactly it was it was one of those things i i was it i didn't go through a point so i was like man i gotta i gotta get i gotta get right when that movie came when we did that movie, I was crazy green. You know, I was someone that was just happy to be on set and, you know, walking around and being around all these experienced actors. And it's one of those things, man. Yeah, they all got nominated. I've never gone for that. I would love to have an opportunity for a role like that to be nominated. But I'm just to be honest, I'm just happy to still be here and still be kicking, you know. nominated, but I'm just, to be honest,

I'm just happy to still be here and still be kicking, you know? Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone.

So I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe.

This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends.

And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis

delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media.

That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl.

I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Are you, I mean, you think about your first role and it's a movie like that now obviously at the time you don't know it's going to be a movie like that right how does that make you feel now to know that man i did that i haven't i can say i haven't really reflected on it that way. Okay.

You know, I just, when people like, when you ask me about the movie, the things that I think about, like, I'll never forget. When I think about how green I was, because I never had a mentor or anybody in this industry. As a matter of fact, you know, we talk about an Oscar. I literally, after I did Boys in the Hood, it was one of the biggest movies, you know, out. I literally went

from that to a sitcom. And back then you didn't do that. Back then it was either you were either in movies or on television show, but that's how much guidance I didn't have. I wish I had somebody, but I think back, there's a, this is how green I was. My agent called me. The movie was performing well. I mean, the movie was finished. And he said, hey, your movie's going to go to the Cannes Film Festival. I was like, Cannes? I said, well, how come they're not going to release it here? And that's just how green I was at the time. And not knowing that that was, it was a great response over there and that was a catapult globally for the film you mentioned that back then you know

you you would you know you did the movie and you did a sitcom do you regret doing the sitcom or do you wish you had just stuck with movies why why did you bring that up uh because it was it was a when i look back like i said i've never really had a mentor in the industry like i had an agent at that time to um an agent at that time who just wanted me just to do another job right so when i talk about that obviously if i had to go back and do things all over again there's a lot of things I would do differently. But I always like to bring that up because a lot of times people come up to me, especially in LA, I'm at the gym working out or playing ball. Hey man, you know, I want to get put on, what do I have to do? I was like, all right, man. So I always say like, you know, at that time

I wish I would have been, I never really, I was in acting classes, but I wasn't really acting. I was like, all right, man. So I always say like, you know, at that time, I wish I would have been, I never really, I was in acting classes, but I wasn't really acting. I was just kind of just going for the money. So I wish I would have studied more. And then when my agent pushed me towards that. So I have the experience in the industry to where when people come up to me, I can give them some pretty good guidance because I've been around for a minute. Right.

So you could give them sound advice that you didn't get when you were coming up. Without a doubt. And without a doubt. And I always like to go back to those things to tell them, hey, this is what I went through. But, you know, most of the time it falls on deaf ears because a lot of people who come to L.A., they kind of just, they want to get discovered on

the street corner or they want to, you know, they want to just go to the party and, you know, get discovered at a party and it doesn't work like that that that's only in the movies that they're not going to be in exactly so let me ask you this if i were to say okay mo give me your your top five hood classic movies of all time whether you've been in them or not, your top five. Top five. Okay. Alright, so I'm a little biased with Boys in the Hood, but I'll go back to,

I don't know, you may be too young for this, but Cooley High. I remember Cooley High. Cooley High was a classic. Okay. You know what? I have to say one of my favorites was Dead Presidents. You know,? I have to say, one of my favorites was Dead Presidents. Yes.

They put it down with Dead Presidents. Man, love New Jack. Love New Jack City. Right. And then, of course, Friday is always going to be up there. Yes. Is that four or five? How many is that?

That's five. That's five. Okay, is that four or five? How many is that? That's five. That's five. Okay, yeah. That's five. It's hard. It's hard because you leave house party out. Oh, yeah. Like you said, I go back to penitentiary.

Oh, right, right. That's right. Right, right. It is hard. You know, and I think the thing is that, I think it's the thing that most affects people. Like, like when I look back, you know, in Cooley High, I really felt emotion just as watching that movie. You know, House Party, I mean, Friday was funny. I love House Party, too. You know, but, you know, I really, I really enjoyed thinking back, Dead Presidents.

You know, I really enjoyed thinking back, Dead Presidents. Lawrence Tate's a friend of mine. Yeah. And Alan and the Hughes brothers, I mean, they put together a really good piece. And Chris Tucker in that movie was, you know, he had a dramatic side to that movie. Right. So there were a lot of nice elements to that movie. Do you wish there was a movie that there could have been a sequel to that you did in your career? Let me see.

I wish, you know, I do. Even though I wouldn't have been in it, I wish there would have been a sequel to Boys in the Hood. Or a prequel. Let's do a prequel. Right. Yeah, I think Boys. I wish Boys we could have done a sequel. We did a sequel.

We did a sequel to The Best Man, which was cool. And we may be doing something there again soon with that franchise. But yeah, that would be it. What do you remember about your first audition? My first audition, okay, so that's a tough tough one so what happened when i was starting out uh this had this thing called the drama log it would come out every every thursday you get in there you find out you know who's you know who's looking for you submit your picture so i would

send my picture out so i had auditions for student films I had auditions for films that never even made it. As a matter of fact, you mentioned Penitentiary. One of the films that I, one of my first big auditions was for Penitentiary. And one of my other first big auditions, it was an open call for 227. Okay. So not Penitentiary. It wasn't Penitentiary. It was, I think it was penitentiary two.

Two. I forgot the director. I think it was the same director. So that's, so is there a role that you turned down that you wish you hadn't? Or there's a role that, man, man, I wish I'd have got an opportunity to play that. Oh, yeah.

There's always those. But there was, and i can say this there was a role that uh there was a role that i had an audition for and i'll tell you what it was in a minute but at the time after boys in the hood came out obviously you know cuba and i we had some attention i was very green i had a long way to go in my development as an actor. Cuba was already there. Cuba has always been on point. Right. And so we get auditioned for a lot of the same roles. And so, like, even for Boys in the Hood, everyone, when they first came in, they read for the lead character.

And then they placed me as Ricky. Right. But there was a role, Cuba did it, and Jerry Maguire that he got nominated for. It was a football player. It was fun. And I thought, I was like, man, I really worked on that script. I really worked on it. It was a Tom Cruise movie.

I really worked on the script. And I went in there, and I thought, I thought I did a really good job in that reading, right? Yep. When I saw the movie, I didn't have a chance because it was just Cuba just knocked it out the park. Right. You know, with his choices.

His choices, he was just incredible. So, you know, that happens. That's happened a couple of times, actually, to where, you know, if I read for something. And because sometimes, you know, that's the one thing that I've learned and I try to tell young actors because, you know that's the one thing that i've learned and i try to tell young actors because you know you have these roles to where you figure it's going to be like a life

changing game right role and then you don't get it but the thing about this industry is as long as you work hard and you do the work what's for you is for you you know what's for you is for you nobody's going to be able to take that away. Jerry Maguire wasn't for me, you know? That was for Cuba. When I mentioned you worked alongside Omar Epps, Taye Diggs, Jamie Foxx, Terrence Howard, Kevin Hart, Lawrence Fishburne. Yeah. Of those guys, who brings out the best Morris Chestnut on camera?

Wow. Wow. That is a tough one. I would have to say, this is a true story. So the one name you didn't mention was Anthony Anderson from Black Pigeon. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I worked with Anthony Anderson on a show.

Now, Anthony is hard working with comedians. And Anthony's not a comedian. Anthony's a really funny actor, very talented actor who can be funny. Right. Kevin can be funny. And they kind of go on these riffs. Right. I'll never forget.

I was doing a movie with Anthony. And the studio exec, he came down. He didn't always come to the set, but he came down this day. And we were doing a scene in the movie, Two Can Play That Game. And Anthony was doing his thing. You know? And okay all right cool and I thought I was doing my thing you know they said cut they're gonna do my coverage the studio executive pulled me to the side and says you know what uh he he's killing you in this thing you know Anthony is killing you in this scene I was like what and uh and right then and there so I got up and it was one of the best scenes in the scene. Anthony is killing you in the scene. I was like, what? And right then

and there, so I got up and it was one of the best scenes in the movie. So Anthony brings out a lot. You know what? I can say this, though. I did work with Robert De Niro. Working with Robert De Niro was something that I always wanted to do. I wouldn't have done this movie unless

it was with Robert De Niro. And that was the one time out of all the people i've worked with uh uh the rock dimmy moore uh john travolta he was the he was the he was the only person that i've ever worked with that i'm literally like sitting in a scene i'm'm like, and I'm like, man, that's Robert De Niro. You know, that was the only time ever that I've ever been starstruck with De Niro. As I mentioned in the reading, your career spans 30 years, 90s, 2010.

Here we are in 2020. What era does Morris Chestnut says, okay, that's the best era? In terms of my stuff or just in terms of just the industry, period? Yeah, you. Your stuff. For me, it was the 2000s. It was the 2000s. That was a good time because i think the best man came out

in like 99 and then uh i had a had a pretty good run in the 2000s you know a couple took a couple chances on a few things didn't work and then actually you know so then for the 2000s it was good and then we kind of hit dvds went down right netflix came up dvds went down and they kind of stopped making certain movies right we weren't getting a dvd revenue but i would say 2000s of all the movies you've done all of them from 90s to here we are today what's your favorite movie wow now that's a tough one because whenever, whenever someone asks me about a movie, I know the person's asking me about the movie that they saw. Right. But when I think about the movies, I think about my experience on set.

Okay. Because it's really hard for me to watch a movie over and over and over again. And it's really hard for me to watch anything with myself because I'm always cringing, worried about the choices that I made. So I'm never relaxed. So I always relate it back to the experiences. And I would say, I would say The Best Man

was one of my favorite experiences ever. I mean, the movies are all kind of like my kids. I love everything about all of them because it's a part of me. It's a part of my experience in the industry. But the best man, I had the best experience. Do you ever watch a movie with yourself and like, I should have done that different? There is not. That's why I can't do it. It's really hard. There's not one thing that I've ever done that I said, okay, cool. I mean, let me drop the mic. Not one.

Not one. Even, you know, I cringe when I watch some of this stuff now because of the choices that I've made. But, yeah, you know, like I say, I'm just fortunate. It's just a blessing to, you know, to having been able to do this for such a long time. All right. I'm going to know some of your movies and you tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. Okay.

A story. Okay. Higher learning. Higher learning. John Singleton, Omar Epps, Ice Cube. I like that movie because we got to work, we actually worked with a track coach. Okay. cube i like that movie because we got to work we actually worked with a track coach okay and one of the things that i love just about being an actor is because we always get to work with technical advisors for whatever we're doing right and um and i got a couple workouts from him at that time

so i i remember i remember working with the track coach the rehearsals the earnest green story wow wow oh you want to take me back there? The Ernest Green story. Interestingly enough, the Ernest Green story, I had a great time in Arkansas, but I go back, Eric Lanaville, who directed that movie, was at the start of my career, and I've done some real estate stuff.

What I remember most about that movie, I say it's always about the experience outside of the movie or the show, is Eric Lineville at that time, he said, listen, you know, you're just starting your career. He says, buy yourself a duplex, live in one half of the duplex, rent out the other duplex. You'll always have a place to stay. So I remember his sage real estate advice on the show. Two can play that game. Two can play that game. Two can play that game. Anthony Anderson and I had a really good time on that movie,

just laughing and having fun with Anthony. Anthony, that was my first time working with Anthony, and I knew right up at the very beginning of the rehearsals that this man will say anything. know there's nothing that will embarrass him that we can say about me himself or anybody so uh I enjoy working with and I love working with Viv I mean at that time Vivica and I had done a television show together prior to that movie and so when we came together there she was just uh she's an incredible actress actually think like a man think like a man now that experience was uh i just think about taraji taraji and i had worked together prior to that movie and just playing that role opposite her

um the one thing that is taraji henson i mean she is one she is one of the and i know everybody knows this but the finest actresses that i've ever worked with um i matter of fact when she she was in not easily broken she played my wife and at the time she i think she had done baby boy and i forgot what the other film that she had done was that everybody knew her from. And I said, listen, I want you to, you know, brought her in after to play my wife in this movie because I knew that she had such a high level. So I really appreciate, even just in that short time in that movie, all of her talent. What about Girls Trip? That's one of my favorite movies too, Girls Trip.

Girls Trip. Girl Trip. You know, so Tiffany Haddish, she's- That's her breakout role. That's her breakout role. I've worked with Tiffany. I did a stage play with Tiffany. And in the stage play, it was one of the touring plays that I did with her. Her character was, she killed it every single single night she has some stuff in the bag that nobody's seen yet and when she breaks it out it's it's it's gonna be something do you feel you've

played a role that maybe you should have gotten nominated for an Oscar. I mean, I think that I've had some, I've played a role, and I won't say what it is, because I want people coming at me, but I think I've played a role to where I've exhibited a range of emotion. I think I played a role to where I've exhibited a range of emotion. And I think it should have gotten recognized as something. But again, it's not really, I've never really, my goal has never been to get nominated because that's always something that, you know, as an actor. That's objective. That's out of your control. It's out of my control. So my thing is I just want to just keep doing what I'm doing,

whatever job I get, do it to the best of my ability and keep it moving. Who's on your Mount Rushmore of black actors? Mount Rushmore. Well, one person who is just, I mean, he can take the whole piece. And that's Denzel. Denzel. Itzel his head down and so what people don't realize what people don't realize about denzel is for a for him to do what he's done for so long so in fact uh it's it's it's incredible but what's the most challenging thing as an actor most actors at his level they're either get the critical acclaim or they get the box office acclaim right Denzel Washington movies are either making a hundred million dollars or they're getting nominated every time they do something

Denzel does both his films go past a hundred million dollars all the time and he's always getting nominated and he's done it for 30 plus years you know i'll never forget denzel did he did a movie because my mother was a an educator in uh south central los angeles um and he did a movie of the week uh a george mckinnon story about her high school and i was in i was in high school at that time so he's been doing being a leading man for a long time that's why i always kind of bother me when when people not bother me but people always say oh he's just denzel he's just being denzel first of all people don't understand you know what i'm saying

people don't understand the challenge of of being in front of a camera they think oh they can just go in front of the camera and be themselves. They don't, because they don't see the 30 million crew people around you. They don't see the technical aspect of it. Right. And Denzel makes great choices. He's always entertaining to watch.

So Denzel is up, Denzel is it, he's it. Yeah, because Denzel convinced you that he's actually the person, the character that he's playing. He, his manner that he's playing. His mannerisms was Malcolm X. His mannerisms was Hurricane. His mannerisms

are such that you're like, damn, he really that dude? But no, no, no, he's just pretending to be. Right. And to your point, to be subjective, I'll never forget. So when Training Day came out yes man i was like he did it again i i would always back then i would always run home and get online to see

what people were saying about the movie right and i literally went training day i would i ran home got online and people were trying to knock his performance. And ultimately, obviously, of course, he went to the Academy of War for it. But like you say, it's just so subjective. You can't please people. Right. Speaking of, if you could give any advice to any up-and-coming young Black actors, what would your advice be?

My advice would be something that I wish I had done a long time ago. But so the thing about acting and I've been around a long time, I've seen a lot of people come, I've seen a lot of people go. I've seen people get their shot and I've seen people not get their shot. What I truly believe in my heart of hearts, and I just truly believe this and i tell them when they come up to me they're in the gym or wherever i said are you in an acting class because the one thing that i've seen is when you're good and you and you focus on your craft you're going to get a shot right you are gonna get a shot it may be next week it may be next year it may be in the next

five years but you're gonna you're gonna get your shot you look at somebody you know who i think is i also think is talented um it's just elba have you seen luther yes he smashed luther but he was around in the wire you know he really didn't get his breakout role he did the wire to get his breakout role to later he's a supreme supremely talented talented actor so you know as long as you're good just keep focused on your craft and keep your eye on the main thing speaking of legacy uh how do you think Chadwick Boseman we lost a a great a great one a couple months ago what do you think his legacy will be how do you think he will be remembered? I think he will be remembered from Black Panther.

I mean, he's played a lot of legends. I personally believe, talk about nominated. Did you see him in James Brown? I did. He was unbelievable. How did he not get nominated for James Brown? Jackie Robinson story. He was unbelievable in the Jackie Robinson story.

In the Jackie Robinson story. So, you know, I think Black Panther and James Brown, for me, those are my signature movies for him. To be honest with you, the sad part about it, you know, and I don't want to say selfishly, but just as an admirer of his work, I still think he had a lot, a lot, a lot of them, you know, and I don't want to say selfishly, but just as an admirer of his work, I still think he had a lot, a lot, a lot of them. You know, and I would have loved to have seen whatever he had upcoming. You know what?

You play a lot of athletes. And I look at boys in the hood, the best man, all of them, game. What is it? What is it? I mean, obviously, you have the physique. you can pull it off because you seem like believe some guys like man it couldn't be no football player it couldn't be no athlete but you put up do you get do you really enjoy playing those roles i do i do i do because you know i you know i wanted to be an athlete you know when i was coming up and you know um and i guess and the thing about also also is, you know,

you somewhat get typecast. I mean, that's how people see me. You know, that's how the powers that be see me as an athlete. And I don't mind that, you know, because people always come up to me, you get tired of being typecast, you get tired of this, you get tired of that, you get tired of people calling you Ricky. And the answer is no, because I don't get tired of cashing them checks. Well, if you go to work, if you go to work every day for 25 years,

do you get tired of going to work? No, I get, I don't get tired of making this money. Exactly that. And you know, when I, I'll never forget when I first started out and I was always, man, if I could just do something that people would recognize me for, so I can get my next job. If I could just do something that people will see, right. I've never forgotten that. When, so how long does it take you to get, I mean, obviously you talk about your workout, you hoop. How long does it take you to get in shape? Or are they like, okay, I'm good. You just keep doing what you're doing. Does it really take you four weeks, six weeks,

eight weeks to get in shape for a movie? It depends on, so, you know, I've seen your Instagram. I've seen your diet. I've seen your oatmeal and all that stuff. I've been checking you out, you know, and I do that, but I have a bad, bad sweet tooth, right? And so, so I need, I just need to, I need a heads up

before like the shirtless scenes. I just need a heads up before those. Being in LA, born and raised in LA, Lakers winning the championship. Yep. It's,

man, you know, it's, it's, excuse me, it's bittersweet, you know, because Kobe wasn't there. Right. And, you know, because Kobe wasn't there.

Right. And, you know, I literally saw Kobe two weeks before he passed. But I'm glad we were able to do it for Kobe. I'm glad we were able to do it again. You know, I know you're a big LeBron James fan. And, of course, I'm glad we have LeBron. And hopefully we can get another one. Give me your top five Lakers all time.

Since you know the Lakers, you've been in L.A. your whole life. So you go way back. I go way back. Magic. I mean, magic has to be – I love Kobe. I love Shaq. But that magic, those showtime days, I mean, just the the energy we had energy with kobe and shack and even when kobe with us all but it was nothing like the showtime energy and what magic

was doing a magic plan center and so i'd have to say my top three you said top three top five top five yeah magic uh uh recency bias with Kobe and Shaq. Okay. And I'll put Kareem, of course. Okay. And Worthy. That's not a bad list. I mean, anytime you leave off Chamberlain,

the logo, Jerry West. Well, listen, I never used to watch basketball until really Magic and Showtime got me interested in basketball. I've always loved football. So going back to Jerry West and Chamberlain, the cats that I've never seen play live. Because this is the thing. For me, it's something about seeing somebody playing live in that moment. Right.

We can go back and look at the tapes, but it's not going to be the same with the game on the line, down by one. You need to look at it with that emotion there. So that's the only reason why I left off Chamberlain and the logo. There's nothing wrong with that. So rappers, you like music. Give me your top rappers. So, okay.

So I'm a little biased. I think the best lyricist is Ice Cube. I mean, people got to go back and look at Cube's lyrics. He was writing for NWA. And so I like, you know, Cube, of course, Pac, Biggie, and Jay. Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of cats out there that are doing it, though. You know, I'll say another one that, you know, he had one album that was my favorite,

my favorite, I should say tape, my favorite cassette tape was DJ Quick for a long time. Right. DJ Quick was a local war. Are you surprised? I mean, actors want to be athletes. Athletes want to be rappers. Rappers want to be entertainers. Right.

What's the appeal? What's the crossover appeal? That's interesting. I think part of it, I think to do what I do, to do what you've done, you need to have that ambition, that ambition first and foremost. And when you're ambitious, I think that you just look at opportunities. And if you have something that you feel is secure, you're looking for the next opportunity. You always want what you can't have you know so uh i feel it's just just ambitious people who uh who want to search for more opportunities a 30 i'm gonna wrap it up with this one a 30-year movie career a 15-year nfl nba career

or or a 20-year music career if you had to do I'm talking to an 18-year-old Morris Chestnut. Wow. You know what's crazy is an 18-year-old Morris Chestnut, I would have wanted to be a football player over everything. Because at 18, I wouldn't think about no acting. I wouldn't even play anything. I wouldn't want to be. That would have been the shortest career I've ever had.

Indeed, because you said, hold on. I'm 33. I can get into acting now. Yeah, exactly. And that's the thing. But at 18, you're not realizing that. You're not thinking that way. You know what you want, and you're going after what you want.

You know? Bruh, Mo, I really appreciate the time, man. Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it, man. And we're going to be watching you. Thank you, man. Let me just plug, kind of just plug Go ahead, plug it. at GFC Life on Instagram

and Instagram, Twitter, Facebook for the podcast. The Resident comes out January 6th. And, yeah, check out Spell. We're going to be watching you, bro. Thank you. Appreciate you.

Thank you, man. Thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you. Have a good one. All my life, been grinding all my life. Sacrifice, hustle, pay the price. Want to slice, got to roll the dice.

That's why all my life I've been grinding all my life. All my life. Been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Hustle paid the price. Want a slice. Got the roll of dice. That's why all my life I've been grinding all my life.

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