Morris Chestnut on playing the "good" modern doctor Watson and the demands of leading a network drama
One of the main highlights of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival opening gala, which took place on Friday, June 13, was the French debut of Watson, CBS Studios’ medical mystery drama starring Morris Chestnut (The Resident). Chestnut briefly discussed the series’ fresh twist on the detective genre on stage, now reimagined for the world of medical diagnostics. The actor and EP of the show commented "our story is a modern day telling of the story from Watson's perspective. I had some creative freedom there because I didn't have to consider so much what has been done previously... What we tried to do in making Watson different from the normal procedural is the iconic Sherlock Holmes mythology. Each episode of Watson has a very rare and unique medical case that's been fully vetted by doctors. And we also do an honest Sherlock Holmes aspect of the show. We're detectives and we're doctors. We solve, we go out and take clues to solve the cases."
Morris Chestnut
Morris Chestnut, who stars as Dr. John Watson and serves as an executive producer, sat down for a press conference following the premiere and opened up about the challenges of leading a network drama, the show’s unique medical cases, and his decades-long career in Hollywood.
Even after decades in the industry, Chestnut admitted he still critiques his own performances when asked if he watched the first episode together with the audience at the Grimaldi Forum."As an actor for me, I can say, there are moments where I wish I would have done something differently... Even after all this time, because the creative process, particularly for actors, is we make choices about certain situations. And there'll be choices that I say, ‘I should have done that.’ If I did an episode and out of 11 choices, I made 10 right choices, I'm always going to focus on that one choice that I wish I could have done differently."
The idea for Watson came from showrunner Craig Sweeny (Elementary), a devoted Sherlock Holmes fan. Chestnut explained: "He was driving his car, thinking because he just loved the [Holmes] universe so much, and he came up with the concept. So that's all him. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for that."
Unlike traditional Holmes adaptations, Watson flips the perspective, focusing on the doctor’s medical brilliance in present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Each episode features a complex medical case, inspired by real-world diagnostics. Chestnut’s character is based on a real-life physician with an uncanny ability to diagnose patients at a glance. "He’s the type of doctor who can just look at you and determine if you have some type of medical condition... He literally did that to our showrunner, Craig Sweeny. On our first Zoom, he looked at Craig and said, ‘You're this, you're that, and you're from here.’ And he was dead on."
Leading a network procedural is no easy feat. Chestnut detailed the exhausting pace of production: "A typical shoot day for me starts at 7 in the morning... I'm in practically almost every scene, and it's a machine. When you do streaming shows, they can take ten days, fifteen days for an episode. Here, we have to meet a production schedule." Weekends offer little respite—instead, they’re spent memorizing dense medical dialogue. "It really never stops... You work during the week, then on the weekend, you're studying the lines."
With Watson renewed for a second season (premiering mid-season), Chestnut teased what’s next: "We're going to focus more on the medical cases. There's going to be some love triangles, more humor... Season one was very challenging because Watson was dealing with the effects of James Moriarty messing with his prescriptions. Now that that's behind him, he's gonna have a little bit more fun." He also praised Randall Park’s against-type performance as a villain: "I love seeing people play against type... When he gets into this character, you see the switch. He has a brilliant performance."
Reflecting on his breakout role in Boyz n the Hood (1991), Chestnut acknowledged its lasting impact: "That film introduced me to generations of audiences... There are still young people running around with ‘Boyz n the Hood’ T-shirts who weren’t even born when the movie came out."
When asked about surviving Hollywood’s instability, he shared his philosophy: "I’ve made Hollywood part of my life, but not my life. When I’m done working, I go home. It’s a very insecure industry—you’re always fighting for the next job."
At its core, Watson explores ethical dilemmas in healthcare. Chestnut highlighted an episode where his character battles systemic greed over a life-saving sickle cell treatment: "Watson genuinely cares about his patients... He attempts to go outside the system to help because he’s so frustrated. That’s why I think he’s a good doctor—he’s a good person." Chestnut also added that "the particular case, with sickle cell, it's very recent that there's been a cure for sickle cell, and so I love that we're able to expose the audience to new medicine, new science, and to cures of elements that have been plaguing people for years."
As the press conference wrapped, Chestnut left fans eager for Watson’s return—and reassured that, even after 30+ years in Hollywood, his passion for storytelling remains as sharp as ever.
Even after decades in the industry, Chestnut admitted he still critiques his own performances when asked if he watched the first episode together with the audience at the Grimaldi Forum."As an actor for me, I can say, there are moments where I wish I would have done something differently... Even after all this time, because the creative process, particularly for actors, is we make choices about certain situations. And there'll be choices that I say, ‘I should have done that.’ If I did an episode and out of 11 choices, I made 10 right choices, I'm always going to focus on that one choice that I wish I could have done differently."
The idea for Watson came from showrunner Craig Sweeny (Elementary), a devoted Sherlock Holmes fan. Chestnut explained: "He was driving his car, thinking because he just loved the [Holmes] universe so much, and he came up with the concept. So that's all him. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for that."
Unlike traditional Holmes adaptations, Watson flips the perspective, focusing on the doctor’s medical brilliance in present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Each episode features a complex medical case, inspired by real-world diagnostics. Chestnut’s character is based on a real-life physician with an uncanny ability to diagnose patients at a glance. "He’s the type of doctor who can just look at you and determine if you have some type of medical condition... He literally did that to our showrunner, Craig Sweeny. On our first Zoom, he looked at Craig and said, ‘You're this, you're that, and you're from here.’ And he was dead on."
Leading a network procedural is no easy feat. Chestnut detailed the exhausting pace of production: "A typical shoot day for me starts at 7 in the morning... I'm in practically almost every scene, and it's a machine. When you do streaming shows, they can take ten days, fifteen days for an episode. Here, we have to meet a production schedule." Weekends offer little respite—instead, they’re spent memorizing dense medical dialogue. "It really never stops... You work during the week, then on the weekend, you're studying the lines."
With Watson renewed for a second season (premiering mid-season), Chestnut teased what’s next: "We're going to focus more on the medical cases. There's going to be some love triangles, more humor... Season one was very challenging because Watson was dealing with the effects of James Moriarty messing with his prescriptions. Now that that's behind him, he's gonna have a little bit more fun." He also praised Randall Park’s against-type performance as a villain: "I love seeing people play against type... When he gets into this character, you see the switch. He has a brilliant performance."
Reflecting on his breakout role in Boyz n the Hood (1991), Chestnut acknowledged its lasting impact: "That film introduced me to generations of audiences... There are still young people running around with ‘Boyz n the Hood’ T-shirts who weren’t even born when the movie came out."
When asked about surviving Hollywood’s instability, he shared his philosophy: "I’ve made Hollywood part of my life, but not my life. When I’m done working, I go home. It’s a very insecure industry—you’re always fighting for the next job."
At its core, Watson explores ethical dilemmas in healthcare. Chestnut highlighted an episode where his character battles systemic greed over a life-saving sickle cell treatment: "Watson genuinely cares about his patients... He attempts to go outside the system to help because he’s so frustrated. That’s why I think he’s a good doctor—he’s a good person." Chestnut also added that "the particular case, with sickle cell, it's very recent that there's been a cure for sickle cell, and so I love that we're able to expose the audience to new medicine, new science, and to cures of elements that have been plaguing people for years."
As the press conference wrapped, Chestnut left fans eager for Watson’s return—and reassured that, even after 30+ years in Hollywood, his passion for storytelling remains as sharp as ever.
