Editing Morris Chestnut (section)

===''Boys n the Hood'' and breakout===
Chestnut's first professional acting role was as Jason 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).<ref>{{cite news|last=Walentis|first=Al|date=July 16, 1991|title='Boyz N the Hood' an auspicious debut|page=11|newspaper=[[Reading Eagle]]}}</ref> He followed that up with roles in various TV movies, notably including the [[Peabody Award]] winning [[Disney Channel]] film ''[[The Ernest Green Story]]'', in which he played [[Ernest Green]]. Chestnut also appeared in [[Patti LaBelle]]'s short-lived sitcom ''[[Out All Night (TV series)|Out All Night]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wood|first=Bret|date=January 16, 1993|title='Out All Night' has LaBelle and much more|page=2|newspaper=[[The Dispatch (Lexington)|The Dispatch]]}}</ref> His career continued to rise steadily with co-starring roles in standard big-budget studio films such as ''[[Under Siege 2: Dark Territory]]'' (1995) with [[Steven Seagal]] and [[Katherine Heigl]], and ''[[G.I. Jane]]'' (1997) with [[Demi Moore]]. He was also a regular cast member on [[C-16: FBI|''C-16'']], in the role of Special Agent Mal Robinson, from 1997 to 1998.<ref>Terrace, Vincent. ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 Through 2007'' (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2008), p. 331.</ref>