NAACP Image Award-winning actor, producer, and certified heartthrob Morris Chestnut was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Chestnut’s star was unveiled at a special ceremony at 6353 Hollywood Boulevard, Calif., on Mar. 23, which was live-streamed for fans exclusively on the Hollywood Walk of Fame’s official website. The 2,716th star was dedicated in the category of Motion Pictures.
“What a day! A dream come true. It’s even more special to be celebrating it on mom’s birthday. Thank you,” he wrote in an Instagram post uploaded to his page on Mar. 25.
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Hollywood Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez previously released a statement praising the actor for his talent and achievements.
“Morris Chestnut is a man of many talents and one of Hollywood’s favorite leading men who has been seen in some of the entertainment world’s most popular television shows and films. We are proud to welcome him to our famed Walk of Fame where all his fans can come and visit his star.”
The 53-year-old kicked off his legendary career as the iconic “Ricky Baker” in the cult-classic John Singleton-directed and produced film, Boyz N The Hood (1991).
He then went on to star in a string of hit movies, including The Best Man (1999), The Brothers (2001), Two Can Play That Game (2001), The Perfect Holiday (2007), and The Best Man Holiday (2013).
As of late, Chestnut has been starring as a powerful businessman named Raymond Dupont in the FOX drama series, Our Kind of People. He has also been portraying a neurosurgeon named Dr. Barrett Cain on The Resident and preparing to reprise his role as Lance Sullivan in the Peacock limited series, The Best Man: The Final Chapters.
The Los Angeles-born icon has appeared in numerous other television shows over the years, including Rosewood (2015), for which he received his fourth NAACP Image Award nomination in the category of “Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series.” He also starred in Legends (2014), Nurse Jackie (2014), for which he earned an NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series,” and THE ENEMY WITHIN (2019), among others.
His seemingly endless list of accomplishments has also extended to his involvement with numerous charities, including the American Cancer Society and Autism Speaks.
In a recent interview with Variety, he revealed that he couldn’t even land a role in commercials at one point. As such, he considered changing careers.
“I could never get a commercial to save my life. It was tough. It crossed my mind that maybe, I just need to focus on something else.”
Thankfully, he didn’t give up, and he attributed his will to keep going to the fact that he wouldn’t be able to deal with the regret of abandoning acting.
“At one point, I said to myself, ‘They’re going to be making movies for the rest of my life. They’re going to be making TV shows for the rest of my life.’ I don’t want to turn on the TV or go to a movie and say, ‘I shoulda, woulda, coulda,'” Chestnut said. “I didn’t want to be reminded of the fact that I quit and didn’t give it my all.”
He has proved to be a household name many years later, as proven by his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Lately, he has been planning to step behind the camera.
“I have a couple of concepts and ideas…honestly, I also want to produce projects that I’m not in. There’s a lot of talent out there. Being in an industry a long time and seeing what I’ve seen, I think that I would be perfect mentoring someone and bringing someone along.”
