Morris Chestnut Quotes

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

You have to be insane to direct.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

You can become really pigeon-holed in this industry.

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

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

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

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 just happy to be working consistently.

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.

I want to tell stories for everyone, primarily.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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

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

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