Morris Chestnut Quotations

I am just another fireman because the story focuses on Joaquin Phoenix's character, but I play Joaquin's close friend and I get burned up a little bit, but I don't die.

I did a film which was considered an independent movie with Dustin Hoffman and Andy Garcia called Confidence, and that's the type of film I was willing to take a chance on that because of the caliber of people involved with the film.

It's hard when you see a scene where it's raining, and we have the rain machine, and you see it for 5 minutes, but that scene takes all day to shoot, and you do it with rain, and the dry off, and go back and do it again.

I'm not going to take my shirt off in every movie.

A lot of times, women don't get the male perspective in regards to a relationship, what men go through when they're not really dealing well.

Showtime has given new, young filmmakers - black, white, across the board - an opportunity to make films, as well as actors who want to cross over into directing.

Unless you are really grounded and have a true sense of reality, you can get lost in that and a lot of people do and that's why you see so many people with successful careers but with destructive lives.

I think the best type of action movie combines a love story with the action.

When you are the lead in a romantic comedy, you have to worry about people really liking you.

I want viewers to relate to me on a different level, not just a sexual level.

I've been in a situation where I was after the money.

Oh yeah, I'm a huge romance fan. And some women like action.

Some people make a career out of doing one thing, but I wanted to diversify my body of work.

I hate being cold and I hate being wet and around 80% percent of this film I was cold and another 60% I was cold and wet, so it wasn't the best shoot for me.

You go from movies where you are wearing nice clothes and you're trying to smell good to a movie where you are in water and you are wet all day, and you are dealing with that elements, it gets rough, but it was definitely something I wanted to try.

Nah, I'm not a prima donna, but I just don't like being cold and wet.

Producing is easier, I can just be at the set overseeing the story.

You can become really pigeon-holed in this industry.

And I think from a male perspective, we have men talking about their feelings and it being okay.

At one point, people thought that Eddie Murphy would only reach one sector of the audience, but now everyone sees everything Eddie Murphy does.

I enjoy what I do, but it's more challenging than people think.

I want to tell stories for everyone, primarily.

I would like more challenging roles. I definitely would like to something that's more challenging.

I'm getting to the point where they see me as a good actor, rather than just a good guy who can act.

I don't have to be in charge of every single angle, every single word, should he wear the blue shirt or the red shirt, or the light red shirt?

I felt it was important to convey to people, especially younger people, that everything on the surface is not always what it seems.

I can't say that we went through the academy because we weren't being tested and we knew we had a job, but we did set some fires and put them out.

I think that we have to hit the mark, and once we hit that, a trend develops in order for a lot of those types of films to be made.

I would never want any of my kids to go into this industry; not until they are old enough to understand and if this is something that they really want to do.

There are a lot of people in this business that don't work consistently.

This film is what it is. It's a campy thriller horror movie where you go and have fun. With these types of films, you can't take it too seriously. They are what they are.

This industry is very make-believe and you caught in a false sense of what reality is.

When people are courting, many of them think that when they get married, that's it, and everything will be on Easy Street. But you really have to work even harder once you're married, because the challenges are that much greater.

I read so many scripts, that I don't do that much leisurely reading of books.

I like to eat sweets. When I go to a restaurant, I'll read the dessert menu before I even look at the entrees.

I try to keep in shape and I always have to check myself. Whenever I binge eat, sweets are the one temptation.

A lot of people come to quote-unquote Hollywood thinking that all they just have to be different or do something outlandish or have a huge personality to become a star. But I think that if you just focus on the craft, you'll have a better chance at longevity.

You really don't have to worry about your spouse, as long as you trust him or her. If you trust your spouse or whoever you're in a relationship with, everybody else doesn't matter.

Action films are emotionally and physically draining, and you're dirty and sweaty. In a romantic comedy, you have to have your fingernails perfect, you're in air-conditioned rooms the whole time.

My idea of a perfect holiday is spending time with the family, waking up on Christmas morning or Thanksgiving morning, watching football all day, having the family come over, people you haven't seen.

For me it's really tough because you have to go to that place where you really, really don't want to go to or revisit. After the first movie, when I was crying at the altar, whenever I would think about it, I would get chills for months after the first "Best Man" because I had to go to that place. And then, here we are with this one, and we are going to that place again. It's just extremely emotional to just have to keep revisiting it, but it can also be therapeutic.

I didn't pursue acting to become famous. I was actually just trying to make a living.

I remember when we were in rehearsals and we were going through it, because we rehearsed before we went to Toronto, and it's more of the same. She and I had to deal with a lot of stuff in this movie and we really have to take ourselves there. It actually started in rehearsals, and just revisiting that piece of it all. Just the way Monica is and what she says and the way she looks at me, it really affects me throughout rehearsals and throughout the scenes.

Sometimes the stereotypes that a lot of people have are of black men in jail or who don't take care of their kids, so I think it's always important to have that.

I do feel that movies and music do have the power to slightly influence a person's decision. I believe that if violence is not in a person, then the film is not going to encourage them [people].

I'm an R&B and Hip-Hop type guy. When I work out, which I do at least four or five times a week, I love to get the latest Hip-Hop because it really pumps me up and inspires me to get that workout on.

One thing I love about making an ensemble film is that you can have ten people come away from it with ten different messages.

I think it's just growth, and development, timing. I've been fortunate to be around for a long time. Allowed me to get better as an actor. Allowed me to play better roles.

In a lot of things I'm reacting to a lot of things. I'm reacting to a lot people around me. Sometimes not necessarily saying anything but I just have to be thinking it.

I've had some physically challenging roles.

I've done a lot of different things. I would say, it's really hard for me to say what the ultimate role would be. You look at a film if it comes to you.

To me the work is so much more interesting, the parts that don't require you just to take your shirt off.

If someone had said to me ten years ago "Yo, we have this role of this pimp who wants to be a rapper, he lives in Memphis", I'd be like, "Really?" But then when you read it and you see it, you say "That's a great role."

You start making movies and people start seeing when you go to places, and all of a sudden you are getting clothes for free and all of a sudden you are getting food for free.

You have to be insane to direct.

Ultimately what I want to do, I want to go back and do some more action movies.

I don't really know where the rumors started. They just started. Because I saw a number of people rumored for the role and there was never any discussion, never any conversations. I think Chadwick Boseman is a great actor. I saw Get on Up and he killed that role. So, I think he's going to do a great job.

I think that Mos Def is the best actor, but when you talk about rappers in films, I don't really think the quality of the acting is most important because most rappers are put in movies because of the personality and people want to see that.

I think there's a bit of me in every character. Basically it just depends on what happens with the character.

California is like the Mecca of the film industry. Everyone's seen California.

I'm just happy to be working consistently.

I like being New Orleans. Different aspects. You have the lake house. You have a huge, almost plantation-style house, so I like the different elements of the city and what the city has to offer and putting it on the screen.

99% of the people in the world would say there's something that they'd like to change about their lives, because nothing's perfect, and nobody's perfect. I suppose I could look at the glass half-empty instead of as half-full.

It's not always about the money.

I'm kind of a private person, and sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get me to talk.