Early life

Chestnut was born in Cerritos, California, the son of Shirley and Morris Chestnut, Sr. He graduated from Richard Gahr High School in 1986, and subsequently studied finance and drama at California State University, Northridge.

Career

Chestnut's first professional acting role was as Jadon in Freddy's Nightmares: A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series, season 2, episode 19 ("A Family Affair"), which aired on February 18, 1990. His first feature film role was as Ricky Baker in Boyz n the Hood (1991). He followed that up with roles in various TV movies. Chestnut also played a role on Patti LaBelle's short-lived sitcom Out All Night. His career continued to rise steadily with co-starring roles in standard big-budget studio films such as Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) and G.I. Jane (1997).

In 1998, he won the annual Madden Bowl video game competition. In 1999, Chestnut starred in The Best Man with Taye Diggs and Nia Long, as a professional football player on the eve of his wedding. The Best Man earned positive reviews from the press and did well at the box office. For his performance Chestnut earned an NAACP Image Award nomination. He again played a football player in The Game Plan (2007). In 2001, he starred in The Brothers, a film centering on the themes of fidelity and success among young professionals. In 2004, he appeared as a firefighter in Ladder 49.

He has worked with Steven Seagal three times. In Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), Chestnut is Seagal's reluctant partner. In both Half Past Dead (2002) and Prince of Pistols (2008), he co-stars as the main villain.

Personal life

Chestnut married Shelbie McSpadden in the summer of 2016. The couple have two children.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Boyz n the Hood	Ricky Baker
1991	The Last Boy Scout	Locker room kid
1992	In the Line of Duty: Street War	Prince Franklin	Television film
1993	The Ernest Green Story	Ernest Green	Television film
1994	The Inkwell	Harold Lee
1995	Under Siege 2: Dark Territory	Bobby Zachs
1995	Higher Learning	Track Anchor	Uncredited
1997	G.I. Jane	McCool
1997	Firehouse	Andre	Television film
1999	The Best Man	Lance Sullivan	Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture
2001	The Brothers	Jackson Smith
2001	Two Can Play That Game	Keith Fenton
2001	Scenes of the Crime	Ray
2002	The Killing Yard	Shango	Television film
2002	Like Mike	Tracy Reynolds
2002	Half Past Dead	Donald Robert Johnson
2003	Confidence	Travis
2004	Breakin' All the Rules	Evan Fields
2004	Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid	Gordon Mitchell
2004	Ladder 49	Tommy Drake
2005	The Cave	Top Buchanan
2007	The Game Plan	Travis Sanders
2007	The Perfect Holiday	Benjamin
2008	The Prince of Motor City	Leo Moore
2009	Not Easily Broken	Dave Johnson
2012	Think Like a Man	James Merrill
2013	Identity Thief	Detective Reilly
2013	The Call	Officer Phillips
2013	Kick-Ass 2	Marcus Williams
2013	The Best Man Holiday	Lance Sullivan	Acapulco Black Film Festival Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated—Acapulco Black Film Festival Award for Best Actor Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
2014	That Awkward Moment	Harold
2015	The Perfect Guy	Dave
2016	Heist	Derrick "Dog" Prince	Completed
2016	When the Bough Breaks	John Taylor	Filming
2016	The Best Man Wedding	Lance Sullivan	Announced

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Freddy's Nightmares	Jason Woodman	Episode: "A Family Affair"
1992-1993	Out All Night	Jeff Carswell	19 episodes
1994	Living Single	Hamilton Brown	3 episodes
1997-1998	C-16: FBI	Mal Robinson	12 episodes
2000	ER	ICU Nurse Frank 'Rambo' Bacon	2 episodes
2005	Bones	Agent Oakes	Episode: "The Man in the Wall"
2009-2011	V	Ryan Nichols	22 episodes
2011	American Horror Story: Murder House	Luke	6 episodes
2013	American Dad!	Craig	Episode: "For Black Eyes Only"
2013-2014	Nurse Jackie	Dr. Prentiss	17 episodes NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
2014	Legends	Tony Rice	9 episodes
2015-present	Rosewood	Dr. Beaumont Rosewood, Jr.	10 episodes Pending—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series

Theatrical performances

• Love In The Nick of Tyme
• What Your Husband Doesn't Know (2011)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]