It's hard to imagine any director not wanting to cast the steamy Morris Chestnut in their movie, but the actor recently spoke about having a tough time landing roles in the beginning of his career because of his dark skin tone. During an interview with Hello Beautiful, Chestnut talked about the struggle of being in Hollywood at a time when lighter-skinned Black men were getting the attention.
"You're talking to the right person, because when I was coming up, it was all about Prince, Michael Jackson, Jesse Jackson. So it was really difficult for me coming up. Matter of fact, my first production company when I started my production company was called Dark Skin Productions, because it was difficult breaking in," Chestnut says.
While we might keep looking into the struggles Black women face in Hollywood, it's important to remember that the men have felt the cold shoulder as well. Luckily for him — and us ladies, really — Chestnut credits Wesley Snipes for paving the way and helping other dark-skinned brothers get their chance to shine.
"And then, Wesley Snipes broke through, and he opened it up for us brothers, us dark-skinned brothers. Some of my boys, Shemar Moore, they're light-skinned, they get theirs too. There's enough for everybody."
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(Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)