The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Morris Chestnut & Emayatzy Corinealdi Talk 'Reasonable Doubt', Sex Symbol Status, Female Leads + More

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Morris Chestnut & Emayatzy Corinealdi To Discuss 'Reasonable Doubt', Sex Symbol Status, Female Leads. Listen For More!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning everybody, it's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God. We are The Breakfast Club. Jess is on maternity leave, so Lauren LaRose is filling in. And we got some special guests in the building. Yes, indeed. We have Morris Chestnut, he's here. And we have Emma Yatzee Coronaldi. Did I say your name right? Well done.

I was practicing on the line. Wow. I gotta start name right. Well done. I was practicing on the front. I appreciate that. Wow. I got to start like this. Emma, does Charlamagne look anything like Morris Chester? I was just looking. I was just looking. We're here to talk reasonable doubt. No, no.

I want to start there because he's been talking so much. He thinks he's Morris Chester. Beyond the reasonable doubt. Ask her that and then ask the question. No, no, no. Beyond the reasonable doubt. Emma Yossi, does he look anything? We probably should.

I knew this was going to come up. I was prepared for this. You were prepared. Because I've heard. Squint And beyond a reasonable doubt. Emma Yossi, does he look anything? We probably should. I knew this was going to come up. I was prepared for this. You were prepared. Because I've heard. Squint your eyes a little bit. Now, here's the thing. Cover one eye. Cover both eyes.

Both beautiful, chocolate, bald-headed men. Thank you. I see that resemblance. Yes. You see a resemblance? In that, what I just said. Oh, okay. Okay.

You scared me for a second. In the factory model. In what she said. Just, okay. You scared me for a second. In the factory model. Not the details. In what I said, yes. Now Morris, does it bother you when this brother over here that looks nothing like you claims that he's you for his birthday. He posts pictures of you

and says it's my birthday. I'm telling you, somebody came to me on the street. That's a lie! No, I wasn't on the street. You're right. I was at a hotel. I was at the valet. That's what he said. Did he look like Charlemagne? He said, yo, you Charlemagne.

I don't know if he was trolling, but he did say that. You should have fought him, right? Wasn't it a dimly lit valet area? Did he have glasses? No, he didn't have glasses. But it did happen. It did happen. It did.

Yeah, that didn't go the way y'all thought it would go. No, it didn't. But welcome, guys. How are you guys feeling? We're feeling fantastic. Man, what roles excite you nowadays, Mars? Wow. You've been in the game so long.

You know what? This role did excite me. Okay. It really did. You know, the one thing I love, first of all, she's incredible. I mean, she's incredible at what she does. Incredible actress. I mean, she's incredible.

But the whole production, so the production starts, you know, with Onyx Collective. We have, you know, black female executives there. And then, of course, Kerry Washington's company is producing the show. Simpsons Street. Simpsons Street's producing it. Top notch there. Rahma Mohammed, black female showrunner. All the scripts were on time.

I had never gotten scripts on a show like that this early. I would get a script. We would be on the second day of an episode and get a script for the next episode. That normally never happens. So everything was top notch. Then working with her and the cast, this role did excite me.

Now for people that don't know, what is Reasonable Doubt about? Because you're on season two, so if they don't know, what is it about? Break it down. You know, it's about this high-powered, black female attorney who's about her business. She handles all of her business when she's in the office,

when she's in court, but she's trying to juggle it. You know, she's a mother, she's a wife. And sometimes, you know, some of the balls drop out of the air. You know what I mean? She fails at times. She makes questionable decisions, makes mistakes at times, you know, but it's about this woman. It's about this marriage, this black marriage. You know, we get to see them trying to figure it out. We get to see them making mistakes. We get to see them, you know, we get to see them trying to figure it out. We get to see them making mistakes. We get to see them, you know, really living their life in this way that we don't often get to see on television, along with the courtroom drama of it all.

You know, we get to see her really in her element because the show is loosely based on Sean Hawley. Oh, that's true. Yes. She's a very high-powered defense attorney in L.A., you know, and so we have all of those elements. It's a good blend of the courtroom drama with the character-driven kind of piece. When you say handle that business in court,

is that all the place you handle the business? I mean, she does what she's got to do anywhere, anywhere and everywhere. Did you sit with Sean at all? Did what? Did you spend any time with Sean? Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. Before we started filming, she invited me to her home,

and we sat and we talked for hours. I got to really pick her brain about how she chooses the cases that she decides to take on. Because that's the thing. We really, I think, nailed that in the show with the kinds of cases that Jax chooses to accept can sometimes cause issue with her friends or her family. Why are you not defending black women? Why did you choose to defend this man? And that's what Sean is about, you know, and that's something that I admired and wanted to know a little bit more about what goes into her selecting

the kind of cases that she chooses to represent. Is it hard to leave your character on set? Is it hard? No, no. I've learned how to just make the separation. I've learned how to just make the separation. I've learned how to make the separation. And especially with someone like Jax, you know,

she has a lot going on, you know, so I'm thankful to just leave that there and go home to normalcy. You know, I wanted to ask actors, like when you have to play a traumatic scene, right, like when Ricky gets killed in Boys in the Hood, being that they play that so much on TV, does that trigger you when you see it? Like, do you feel like?

That doesn't trigger me. One thing that did trigger me, when I did the first Best Man, it was the first time that I had to be such an emotional, especially when I did the wedding scene, I was crying, and I had to be in an emotional space for so long. That triggered me for just even thinking about it for at least five to seven years.

What about when y'all did the TV show? See, I had already, as an actor, I had grown and I kind of let some stuff. You know, as actors, we use our trauma and our pain to get there. So I kind of worked on that. But it triggered me for a long time on the first Best Man. Did you ever get tired of it? Because Boys in the Hood was so long ago. Did you ever realize how impactful that was going to be when you shot it?

I didn't. I didn't. I had no clue because when I, I mean, I was a lead in the movie that nobody knew who I was. And no one knew who Cuba was. You know, people knew who Ice Cube was. Angela wasn't Angela. Nia wasn't Nia. I mean, everybody was, You know, people knew who Ice Cube was. Angela wasn't Angela. Nia wasn't Nia.

I mean, everybody was, you know, just popping off. So I didn't think it was going to be that big, no. That's interesting what you said about the best man because to be in a role when the TV show came where in that iteration of it, you know, your wife was deceased. Yes. You had to tap into that emotion of being a man who lost their wife. How did you leave that at home? Well, so it's... Oh on the set right yeah yeah so it's um okay so the so that was the

first best man i had that so the second best man was tough because she was battling cancer and i had to do a lot of emotional scenes then so i've just learned to manage kind of those emotions. I've learned to deal with some of that trauma in a different way now. And actually, acting is pretty much therapeutic because you're able to release certain things. And so over the years, that's what's happened. Were you a fan of Reasonable Doubt season one? Because you came on season two.

I was because literally, I played in the Saturday basketball game and one of the guys there, he was like, yo, he said, we normally, after we play, he's, you know, we talk about stupid stuff, dude stuff in the gym or whatever. And then he just said, Hey, you guys seen the show? Reasonable doubt. And I knew about the show cause I knew Ely was on it. I knew Emiyasi was on it, but I hadn't seen it yet.

He was like, man, it was just so odd to hear him say that on the court. You know what I'm saying? And so he said, you got to check it out. And so, yeah, so before I did the show, I was definitely a fan cause I watched it because he so odd to hear him say that on the court right you know what i'm saying and so he said you got to check it out so yeah so before i did the show i was definitely a fan because i watched it because he told me to and what was harder for you because jack's is different season one versus season two what was the harder draw for you as an actress like pulling from the experiences was it harder for season one or harder for season two for you uh i think i would definitely say season two just because of, you know, she's showing a lot more vulnerability as a result

of what happened in season one. You know, so that just it required, just like Morris was saying, you know, I got to pull from some of those places, you know, that kind of thing. So it was more of a challenge in that way. You know, I had to decide to open myself up. A lot of times when

you see people in the soap opera world, they never leave the soap opera world. But you did. So break down the soap opera world and what got you in the soap opera. First, I want to know how you got into acting because you're a military child. Yeah. Usually that means you're traveling all over the place. Your parents are heavy into education. What got you into acting from the start? It was something that I always loved. I always loved, but I didn't know that it could be a choice to be a career, you know? And for a long time, it was just fun, just a hobby. And I thought that I had it planned out. I was going to go to law school. I was going

to be a lawyer. My father wanted me to go to the military. But I said, okay, I think I'm going to be a lawyer. But in high school, I had a girlfriend who also wanted to be a lawyer and we had our whole plan. It was going to be Corneldy and Sweeney Incorporated. There you go. You know, but I realized, thankfully, before, you know, graduation, okay, no, I don't really want to be a lawyer. I'm not trying to go to law school.

Like, she was taking it serious and fill out these SATs. I'm like, I'm not doing all that. Is she a lawyer now? She's a lawyer now. She's a lawyer now. So we went in the right path. I realized, no, I think I just, I like the drama. I like the suits and, you know, all'm not doing all that. Is she a lawyer now? She's a lawyer now. She went all the way to that. So we went in the right path. I realized, no, I think I just, I like the drama. I like the suits and, you know, all of that in the courtroom.

And so that's the moment when I knew and I kind of started pursuing it at that point. And this was in, I graduated high school in Jersey. My last two years were out there in Kansas. I was all over the place. And then went back to Jersey and really started studying and back and forth up here to New York. All my off, off, off Broadway classes and all of that. And then that was it. That was it. And my first

role was that role in Young and the Restless. Young and the Restless. And that was because that was my mom's show. And she said to her, that was me making it. That you made it when you was on her soap opera. And she said, you gotta get on Young and the Restless and tell Victor I said hi. And so the bittersweet moment about that was me making it. That you made it when you was on her soap opera. And she says, you got to get on Young and the Restless and tell Victor I said hi. And so the bittersweet moment about that for me is because my mom passed before that happened, before she got to see.

And so as soon as I got on the set, I said, Victor, I just got to tell you, you know, my mom just loves you. So and that was a small, that was a really small role. And I think that's how I, the reason why I didn't get caught up in it and staying there because it was a small role but it was truly one of the most meaningful ones to me to this day because of that. Oh wow. That's so alarming for you. Your first scene Morris is a sex scene.

Right. Do you ever have to tell these studios not to objectify you? We heard Mephiman once say he always pushed back against his sex symbol status. Do you ever have to tell these studios, like, look, you know, I know I'm Morris Chestnut. You can't be a stunt double, bro.

You cannot be a stunt double. That's what you're getting to. Don't objectify me. We would know the difference. Do you ever feel like you're being objectified, maybe is a better question? I don't see it that way. You know, it's almost like, because people sometimes ask me,

they say, do you get mad when people call you Ricky all the time, when people see me on the street? And honestly, the one thing about me is I have never, ever forgotten where I come from. Right. And when I was an actor, just starting out, trying to get an agent, just trying to get a part, just say, oh, just please, somebody cast me. I just want to be seen. I want to be known so I can get more work. And so it just so happens that that role that I was dying to get, to be able to get more work, was a role that it was a blessing that it's still relevant and people still refer to it to this very day.

So now, just because people say Ricky almost every day, I'm not going to turn around and say, oh man, I hate when people call me Ricky because I was so, I would desired it so much. So to your question about, you know, studios, I don't think they objectify me. I think that I've been in the business a long time and the younger Morris would not have imagined that he would be here to this very single day after all these years. So I'm just blessed and I'm very appreciative of the fact that they still want to cast me

because in our industry, no one really retires from our industry. Our industry retires us. The phone stops ringing. So as long as the phone's still ringing, I'm going to keep picking up and I appreciate it. But it's one thing to be a great actor, which you are, but it's another to be considered a heartthrob, right? It's only like a kind of

it's like Denzel, Morris, who else fits in that lane, Lorne? Like historically. Who else? Omar Epps was there. Not like Morris and Denzel. Michael B. Jordan. Michael B. Jordan Michael B. yeah he was he kind of faded out

no what's his name from Queen Sugar Dark Skin Queen Sugar Boris Kojo Kofi Kofi

Kofi is the he's there calm down calm down where we at right now but I think honestly you

Denzel it's y'all level of it's like maybe two or three are the go-tos. Mainly you, though. You do get a lot of the posts and stuff online. A lot of them come from Charlamagne's Instagram. Shut up. I think to the answer to that question is, for me, I don't focus on it.

Because, you know, this is the type of industry, there's going to be somebody else tomorrow. There's going to be somebody else the next day. So I just focus, honestly, I just try to focus on doing the best job I can as an actor with each job. And if that comes with it, I'm appreciative of it. If that's what people say, I'm appreciative of that.

But I don't focus on that. I just have to focus on the work because that's going to keep me here longer than if people consider it sex symbol. I don't focus on that. I just have to focus on the work because that's going to keep me here longer than being, being a, you know, if people consider sex symbol, the real Morris chestnut was the sexiest man alive in 2015.

The reason I got to say that is because sometimes he puts his face there and acts like I've never done that. But if you wanted to call him the sexiest man alive, that's fine. And if you want to use me to do that, that's fine. I've never done it. That was wild.

I was going to ask, how does your wife deal with it all? You know, with women hollering when y'all out and the comments, how does she, how does she handle it? Well, I mean, my wife is a star in our family for sure. I mean, she's the one that, uh, I mean, she's a star in the family and she knows, and I'm a homebody. I mean, I'm a star in the family. And I'm a homebody. I'm home all the time. And honestly, the older I've gotten, I mean, she's just not even,

she's not stressed by it. She's not even, she's not really interested in the industry. It's like we've been together a long, long time. And so she knows what it is. I'm not going nowhere. Hopefully she's not going anywhere. But she's she's cool with it. What about your kids? That's a good that's an interesting question we've never really had the

conversation about it my son has made has made comments about it. Does he have jokes? No no he doesn't he doesn't he doesn't he doesn't have jokes he doesn't have jokes about it. What are the comments that he's making to you well so that's a good question um we have we have my son and my son's uh 26 years old right now no 20 he's just turning 27 and we just basically have a lot of father-son conversations and and my conversations um are more geared toward preparing him for life and trying to get him to see the world from different perspectives. Yes. Primarily from a business perspective, a young man who's going to be taking care of a family perspective.

And he'll make comments just in terms of when I'm trying trying to explain certain things to him how things go in life he he feels sometimes he'll make a comment like well you haven't had to deal with such and such because such and such you know but you know and i keep having to tell him i keep having to remind him that um you know i you know i slept in a room with my brother until, I mean, I was in a room with my brother until we went to college, and we couldn't even open the door. It was so tight in the room. We had bunk beds.

We put the bunk bed down. We couldn't even open the door. So I wasn't born into this, you know. And so there's a lot of discipline and hard work that has, and a blessing, you know, from God, but discipline and hard work that has me where I am today. What did you all two learn from each other on set? Oh, well, I would say I definitely learned.

You know, when I heard, when they told me that they were, you know, when they asked me how I felt about Morris coming onto the show, number one, I was just excited. I mean, it's Morris the chestnut. You know, I mean, it's Morris D. Chestnut. I mean, it's true. You know, just it's just he brings a level of professionalism and and ease, but yet very just approachable and and and kind and giving, you know what I mean? In a way that you just may not expect for someone who's been in the business for so long, for someone who knows that they have this particular status,

you know what I mean? But he didn't have any of that. So I definitely just appreciated and respected that about you. And I appreciate, so the one thing on a set, the number one on the call sheet is the heartbeat of the set. The set goes how the number one goes. If the number one's not feeling good today, the set's not going to have a good day.

If the number one's not a good person, it's not a set that you want to be on. She is literally one of the best number ones that I've ever worked with. She, I mean, this is so hard because when you come to a set, you know, we have the scenes, we have our lines, and we have to worry, we have our lines, and we have to worry about our character.

She knew everybody's name on the set. Everybody's name. And I've been on set right now for six months. I still only know probably about seven names out of like 100 people. And that was just so impressive to me. And she was really inspiring to me just to see how she was doing that.

And she made me mad one day day because I always like to be, when they call us to set, I like to be the first one there. And she beat me one time. I was like, oh, I can't have that. I cannot have her beat me to set because I got to be there. He said that too. Yeah, I can't have that. So she's just in everything that she does.

And she, with all of that, you know, she had her daughter there. She's taking care of her daughter. She has, you know, she's carrying the load on this show she did it so gracefully eloquently and just an incredible actress so i just have a huge she's inspiring now is there somebody you talked about number ones is there somebody that you say no matter how much they pay you without saying names that you just won't do a movie with them because they just don't act right? Oh, no. No, no. The oof was a maybe.

The oof was a maybe. No, because someone popped into my head, but that's just based off of what you hear. I don't know. You know what I mean? I can't judge someone based on that. So, no, I wouldn't say that. Morris?

Oh, yeah, I have one. He said, what's that? I have one. Yeah, he doesn't. I'm not sure if he's, I don't think he's done anything too much lately. But yeah, it can be a really, really, really bad set. It's just not a good, it's not a working, it's not a free working environment to be an artist when you have everyone walking on eggshells and This person just dictates the whole mood just of the of the set and it just makes it so challenging

Not even to just do your job just to even be there because we spend 12 13 hours a day. It's like a family, you know, you spend more time on a set than you do your family So yeah a day it's like a family you know you spend more time on a set than you do your family so yeah let me ask you i have a question for you i had heard erica alexander talk about how when black women play strong roles on tv it boxes them in it's like a good thing because your representation but it can be a bad thing because it boxes you into this like you always have that power you always have to be tough and rough do you think about that when you're picking roles i know because jacks is becoming a household now, household name now, like people

love the show. Do you think about that? Do you think how that will affect you? Has that been, you know, something that you and your team have talked about? You know, I understand what she's saying about that because that is, you know, it's almost can even be a stigma even that's placed upon us as black women. But it's not something that

I think about because there's an element of it that is true. It's there. We are strong. We've had to be strong for so long for so many reasons. So, you know, it's not something that I feel like I have to lead with or something that I have to be cognizant of because I don't, it doesn't, it doesn't, it doesn't bother me in that way. You know what I mean? And so I think I do choose roles not necessarily if I see a role and it says, okay, she's a strong woman or what have you.

You know, I know I'm going to put my own spin on it and I may not feel like she's strong in the way that they think she's strong. You know what I mean? So I can make a different interpretation on it.

Got you. I know y'all got to go. So I got my final question. Other than when I'm around, Mars, do you ever walk in the room and say I'm the'all got it. I got my final question. Other than when I'm around, Mars, do you ever walk in the room and say, I'm the most handsome man in here?

Oh my God. No, no, I never say that. You did say that one day when we were, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. No, I would never say that. You were in the Family Feud video, right? Jay-Z's Family Feud? Yes. How were you casted for that? Are you cool with the fam? Or how did that happen? Ava. Ava.

Because Ava directed it. Ava DuVernay. I think that's how we met. We met at Ava's house. Yeah. Yeah, we did. And you didn't think it was Morris Chestnut when you were there? Be honest.

Not even close. I didn't. I didn't. You thought he was the help. I didn't. He thought he was the help. I was't. He thought he was the help. I was like, well, five years ago, five, six years ago? Yeah, something like that.

Yeah, we were watching a movie or something and gambling. No, the fight. The fight. Mayweather, Conor McGregor. That's what it was. That's what it was. But yeah, that's how that came about, when Ava was the director.

Yeah. Well, we appreciate it. I know you guys got to run. Yeah, but let me just say, I want to say something to you guys. I really appreciate what you guys are doing for the culture. I mean, I see the guests you guys have on. I see the topics that you guys talk about. I really appreciate what you guys are doing for the culture. I mean, I see the guests you guys have on. I see the topics that you guys talk about.

And I appreciate what you guys are doing. Because especially now in our community, you talk about therapy a lot. I love that. You guys bring up current topic, current event topics, politics. And so you guys are, I was really excited to come back because I've been here before. But I was really excited to come back because I appreciate you guys, what you guys are doing for the culture. So thank you guys. Thank you very much. Reasonable Doubt Season 2 is out now on Hulu.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's The Breakfast Club. It's Morris Chestnut and Emeyati Coronado. Thank you so much. Thank you for having us. It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning.