From A Striptease To A Lifelong Friendship: Regina Hall And Morris Chestnut Look Back On Their Projects Together

Regina Hall and Morris Chestnut met connected the acceptable of the 1999 classical The Best Man and person remained adjacent friends to this day. Both Morris and Regina went connected to physique awesome résumés for themselves, filled with unforgettable movies and bingeworthy series, but there's thing astir seeing these 2 unneurotic onscreen that we can't get capable of.

So past month, I sat down with Regina and Morris to bespeak connected the sets they've shared, behind-the-scenes laughs on The Best Man: The Final Chapters, and what they've learned astir each different on the way.

THEN: When was the archetypal clip you 2 really met, and what were your archetypal impressions?

Morris Chestnut: Let maine spell first.

Regina Hall: We met astatine the aforesaid clip [laughs]! 

MC: It was connected a acceptable of this movie called The Best Man. We were doing a country — it was a bachelor enactment country — and idiosyncratic comes successful and they don't person immoderate clothes. Her body's each good and everything, and it was Regina [laughs]!

RH: And I was like, "Oh shit, it's Morris Chestnut!" I was precise excited. My friends were precise excited. They had a cardinal questions.

MC: We were astatine a bachelor enactment scene, and each the guys were precise excited for Regina. That was the archetypal clip we met.

NOW: After getting to cognize each different much and moving unneurotic connected aggregate projects, however has your sentiment changed astir them? And what amazed you the astir about them?

RH: Morris was and is fine, right? But I deliberation erstwhile a feline is truly handsome and is alert of it, past it's not handsome. Morris isn't alert of it. He doesn't deliberation astir it. It's not a portion of however helium presents himself. So that was astir apt the nicest — not that I would person thought astir it astatine that age. I was like, "Ooooh!" But I deliberation him being truly kind, truly inviting, and warm. 

MC: In presumption of Regina, the Candy relation was precise impactful, but it was truly conscionable a sliver of what she could bash arsenic an actress. To spot her vocation germinate and spot conscionable the scope of things that she's done passim the years, it's been very, precise impressive!

THEN: Regina, The Best Man was really your archetypal diagnostic film. Was determination immoderate archetypal hesitation erstwhile you archetypal considered taking connected the relation due to the fact that of the striptease scene? If so, what made you yet determine that that was the close determination for your career?

RH: Yeah. No! I mean, if I got it, I was gonna bash it. With the dancing, I was much truthful thinking, Was I going to beryllium capable to propulsion that off? Was I going to beryllium capable to propulsion disconnected that she's expected to beryllium enticing to the men? You wonder, are you going to beryllium charismatic enough? You cognize what I mean? 

Also, being surrounded by specified an unthinkable formed of women. You person truthful galore beauteous women who are successful the formed arsenic well, truthful I deliberation it was just, like, being caller and fitting in. There was nervousness, but the excitement was conscionable arsenic big! 

My brothers seeing it...I deliberation I besides thought astir my brothers seeing it. My begetter passed away, but I retrieve I was like, What are my brothers gonna feel?

MC: And what did they say?

RH: They were like, "Gina, you had your ass out?" I mean, it was a large woody for my brothers. 

MC: Yes, she did [laughs]. Yes. She. Did.

RH: It was a large woody for my brothers, but yeah, that was a thought that I had.

NOW: Well, you near a lasting content connected fans, and your quality was yet bumped up to the main cast. How bash you consciousness astir your character’s trajectory passim The Best Man franchise, including The Final Chapters?

RH: Well, I deliberation we've each been happy. I deliberation 1 of the things manager Malcolm D. Lee has done good is servicing everybody, without doubt, but inactive keeping existent to what the communicative is about. I consciousness blessed that I was asked backmost the 2nd and 3rd time, truthful I person nary complaints.

THEN: Speaking of the 2nd time, the formed got unneurotic again for the 2013 sequel The Best Man Holiday. What was your favourite behind-the-scenes infinitesimal from that film?

MC: We conscionable had a truly bully time! I deliberation that...

RH: ...you learning the dance?

MC: [laughs] That was fun! I was conscionable tense learning that dance, due to the fact that you cognize Harold Perrineau is an unthinkable dancer, and Taye Diggs tin truly creation — me, not truthful much...and Terrence Howard, not truthful overmuch [laughs]. So I was like, "Listen, man, erstwhile we gonna get unneurotic and do?" Terrence would ever miss rehearsal; that's why, erstwhile you really spot the movie, he's benignant of improvising and doing immoderate Michael Jackson stuff. 

RH: But with afloat assurance helium was doing the creation [laughs].

MC: With afloat assurance [laughs]! You cognize T-Howard!

RH: It was amusive doing the combat scene. It was amusive with Melissa De Sousa, particularly due to the fact that we were each together. So the full location was waking up seeing the craziness of the fight!

MC: Yeah, you guys truly went for it. They went for it!

RH: [laughs] We truly did!

NOW: When you archetypal heard that Peacock was funny successful creating a bid alternatively of a movie to adjacent retired the franchise, what were your thoughts?

MC: I deliberation it was a batch of intrigue due to the fact that it's a antithetic platform. We had work a publication that was successful diagnostic film–length version, but past we were like, "Okay, it could beryllium benignant of absorbing exploring 8 episodes alternatively of conscionable a two-hour movie." It's fundamentally 8 hours of our characters, truthful it was intriguing.

Was determination immoderate behind-the-scenes speech astir making that decision? Like, did you each get unneurotic beforehand oregon sermon it via text?

MC: There was down the scenes, but it wasn't astir sticking with the movie. I deliberation erstwhile we heard it was going to beryllium connected Peacock, we were unfastened to it.

RH: Yeah, I deliberation it was much conscionable corporate clip frame, and we were conscionable committing to bash it together. It wasn't astir like, "Well, I'm not definite astir this if it's going to beryllium a constricted series." I deliberation we were like, "Oh, okay. Let's spot if we tin find 4 and a fractional months." 

MC: Yes. 

RH: The model of clip was truly the issue.

THEN: Morris, fans were shocked by the plotline of The Best Man Holiday aft yet learning that we’d beryllium saying goodbye to Monica Calhoun’s character, Mia. Your tears brought maine to tears. What was the astir challenging and rewarding portion for you astir making the sequel?

MC: There were 2 peculiar moments with the tears. The archetypal 1 was astatine the casket, and Malcolm says, "Okay, erstwhile you're there, you're not breaking, but erstwhile the casket starts to spell down, that's erstwhile you commencement to outcry and interruption down." I said, "Okay." So those days are ever tough, due to the fact that the formed is each determination and they're implicit determination having amusive and laughing, portion I'm implicit present by myself with my earphones connected and everything. On the archetypal take, the casket didn't spell down. He said, "Action," and it didn't spell down. I was conscionable waiting, holding it in, and waiting. And past I wasn't crying, truthful helium goes, "Cut, cut. Morris, what are you doing?"

Another portion of that was erstwhile I returned home, and we're crying successful the bed; that was a lot. I don't cognize wherefore we did that country truthful galore times. So astatine immoderate point, I was conscionable dry. I would conscionable spell into the closet, and I was waiting and conscionable listening successful the closet. I was conscionable trying to get to a spot that I was conscionable emotionally fatigued, but it worked out. But that was the astir challenging — the affectional worldly was the astir challenging. I deliberation the astir rewarding was conscionable seeing the full happening enactment together, conscionable the full formed and the stories, and everybody coming together. That was the astir rewarding for me.

And however is your quality dealing with Mia's absence? How has your storyline progressed without her?

MC: I'm grieving! She's inactive determination with me, and I'm inactive precise overmuch grieving implicit her. I'm coping.

THEN: A fewer years later, you and Regina reunited for When the Bough Breaks and had astonishing onscreen chemistry, conscionable similar we remembered. What was it similar filming successful New Orleans, and did you get to acquisition immoderate of the nightlife during your downtime?

RH: We liked filming successful New Orleans! But these 2 [points to herself and Morris], we don't bash nightlife.

MC: We don't.

RG: We're not retired late.

MC: Well, determination was a time when...damn, that's crazy. God remainder his soul. Remember you and Michael K. Williams went retired during Mardi Gras?

RG: Yeah, we did Mardi Gras!

MC: They didn't invitation me, but yeah.

RH: Another amusive time I retrieve with Morris, erstwhile we were shooting — retrieve the beignets?

MC: Oh yeah! It was the full bag. 

RH: We couldn't halt eating the beignets.

MC: They were truthful bully and warm!

RH: Whew, they were bully [laughs].

NOW: Lastly, I noticed clip doesn’t look to substance erstwhile it comes to The Best Man franchise, due to the fact that years volition spell by successful betwixt projects, and fans inactive amusement up anxious and acceptable to watch. What does that mean to you arsenic an actor, and what are you hoping fans volition instrumentality distant from The Final Chapters?

RH: Well, that feels great! You person fans who enactment thing you bash for decades? I mean, that's the biggest reward of all.

MC: It truly is. I don't deliberation anybody who's done each azygous movie that they've done person radical who person conscionable been waiting to spot it. To person a task that spans implicit the magnitude of clip that this has and having radical eagerly anticipating seeing it, it's precise rewarding.

RH: There's nary words for that. People don't get to spot what that means to us, but it's wherefore we travel back. We get excited. It means truthful overmuch to america due to the fact that we privation the fans to beryllium blessed and satisfied.

As a fan, I tin confidently accidental we are some blessed and satisfied!

For much of Morris and Regina, beryllium definite to cheque retired The Best Man: The Final Chapters. All 8 episodes are present streaming connected Peacock.