September 14, 2016 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Morris Chestnut: The “When the Bough Breaks” Interview
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
M
orris Chestnut
has been appear-
ing in television
and movies for
the past two decades. In
2014, he shot the feature
ilm “Heist” (aka “Bus
657”) opposite Robert
De Niro and Jefrey Dean
Morgan, as well as “The
Perfect Guy” with Sanaa
Lathan.
The year before, he
starred in “The Best Man
Holiday,” a hit sequel
which had the ith-larg-
est opening ever for an
R-rated romantic come-
dy. The picture also gar-
nered Morris an NAACP
Image Award nomina-
tion for Outstanding Ac-
tor In A Motion Picture.
Previously, he’s starred
opposite Halle Berry in
“The Call” and opposite
Jason Bateman and Me-
lissa McCarthy in “Iden-
tity Thief.”
On TV, he was a series
regular on “Legends,”
and was featured on
“American Horror Sto-
ry,” too. And he enjoyed a
recurring role on “Nurse
Jackie,” for which he won
the 2014 NAACP Image
Award for Outstanding
Supporting Actor In A
Comedy Series.
Here, he talks about
his latest outing as John
Taylor opposite Regi-
na Hall and Jaz Sinclair
in “When The Bough
Breaks,” a psychological
thriller directed by Jon
Cassar.
Kam Williams: Hi
Morris, thanks so much
for another interview.
Morris
Chestnut:
Thank you for your time,
Kam.
KW: Congratulations
on your TV series, Rose-
wood, which has been
doing so well. The last
time we spoke was just
before the irst season’s
premiere.
MC: I love working
with her. Until now, Re-
gina only did comedy.
But I knew she had the
talent to do drama, be-
cause she’s such a terriic
actress.
Morris Chestnut and Jaz Sinclair star in the psychological thriller ‘When the Bough Breaks’
MC: Thank you. This
movie was a bit of a de-
parture from that, but
I’ve deinitely been hav-
ing a great time doing the
show.
KW: What interested
you in “When the Bough
Breaks”?
MC: Once I read the
script, I liked its fresh
perspective and how it
took a diferent take on
Sully cont’d from pg 6
triggering a ire or disintegrating upon
impact. Instead, the 155 souls aboard
found themselves simply loating
downstream as the cabin slowly illed
with icy water.
Sully ordered his passengers and
crew to disembark into the inlatable
life rats and onto the wings where they
were soon rescued by the commercial
ferries and emergency vessels rushing
to the scene. Amazingly, not a single life
was lost in the crash quickly dubbed the
“Miracle on the Hudson.”
Directed by Clint Eastwood, Sully re-
volves around not only a reenactment
of the death-defying stunt but around
the subsequent investigation by the
National Transportation Safety Board.
What we learn here is that while Cap-
tain Sullenberger was publicly being
celebrated as a national hero under an
avalanche of positive press, the wisdom
of his water landing was simultane-
ously being questioned behind closed
doors by the NTSB’s brass.
It seems that the specialists assigned
to investigate the matter suspected that
the missing Flight 1549 engine sitting
at the bottom of the sea might have
been operational, meaning the plane
could have been brought down on terra
irma without incident. If this were the
case, then a reprimand rather than ac-
claim would be in order for Sully. Ulti-
mately, divers did locate the let engine,
thereby enabling the government bu-
reaucrats to belatedly conirm that the
second-guessed skipper did deserve
his many accolades ater all.
Kudos to the team of Clint Eastwood
and Tom Hanks for successfully con-
veying the enviable amalgam of guts,
smarts and stoicism exhibited by lev-
el-headed Captain Sullenberger in the
face of impending demise. Pack the
Kleenex, if you plan to stick around for
the ilm’s closing credits featuring an
oh so sweet reunion of the real-life Sul-
ly and many of the grateful folks whose
lives he saved.
Excellent HHHH
Rated PG-13 for peril and brief profan-
ity
Running time: 96 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures
View a trailer for ‘Sully’ at TheSkanner.
com.
the genre. I was also look-
ing forward to working
with Regina Hall again
and with director Jon
Cassar. Also, it was an
opportunity for me to be
the lead in a thriller, so I
jumped at it.
KW: Well, Jon’s certain-
ly a veteran director with
dozens of credits and a
couple of Emmys on his
resume, but this is script-
writer’s Jack Olsen’s irst
produced script. Were
you at all worried about
that?
MC: No, there are peo-
ple who’ve never had
anything made before,
and their irst script can
be great. Plus scripts are
oten tweaked and nu-
anced. You can’t make
something out of nothing
with a screenplay, but
when it’s really good at
the core, you can make
some adjustments. So,
I never concern myself
with whether a script-
writer has written one
before. I might do that be-
fore reading an unsolicit-
ed script. But if a studio
or certain agents suggest
I check something out,
I don’t even ask. I just
judge it based on my irst
reading.
KW: How was it reunit-
ing with Regina Hall?
KW: What did you
think of Jaz Sinclair
performance? This is
only her second ilm,
but it might very well be
the breakout role of an
emerging ingenue.
MC: Jaz is incredible!
She’s a tremendous tal-
ent that Hollywood and
the world need to be on
the lookout for. I also en-
joyed working with Mi-
chael Kenneth Williams
the rest of the cast. We
had a great time together.
KW: The ilm certainly
does ofer a unique vari-
ation on the “obsessed
other woman” theme in
that she’s a surrogate
mother.
MC: Right! Some peo-
ple have compared it
to “Fatal Attraction” or
“The Hand that Rocks the
Cradle,” but it’s an inter-
esting take since she has
her baby inside of her.
See CHESTNUT on page 8