Morris Chestnut Talks ‘WATSON’ Series’ Biggest Threat, Takeaways

Add Morris Chestnut to the Black Hollywood’s roster of being booked and busy. The actor has had some of the most memorable, recurring roles in television history —especially in recent years— but his latest role is as the leading man on the new CBS medical mystery drama, WATSON.

Chestnut stars as Dr. John Watson, who “resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders six months after the death of his friend and partner, Sherlock Holmes, at the hands of Moriarty,” per the official synopsis.

VIBE caught up with the Hollywood veteran to discuss his new gig, unpack his character’s strengths and weaknesses, and discover how different life on-set is from life at home.

For the ageless heartthrob, John Watson is a different type of doctor than ones he’s played before. “This is much more challenging,” Chestnut noted. “Here, I’m teaching the young fellows about medicine and the world. We’re not just doctors; we’re also detectives. It was one of the things I love about the show.”

He explained that traditional medical dramas are limited to the hospital or clinic where the show is set, but with WATSON, there’s more of a duality. “We’re doctors inside. We’re detectives outside and that combines us to be doctectives,” he said.

With Watson being such a layered character, still grieving the loss of Holmes and piecing his life back together after the accident, we asked Chestnut what he considers to be the bigger threat to his success: his intellect, his empathy, or his regret and guilt.

For the actor, he believes it’s his intellect. “When he left to go help Sherlock, he didn’t know what he didn’t know,” he answered. “He just thought it was just one last thing. He had done it before and he knew that he can handle it. He didn’t realize the depth of what was going to happen to his relationship and why—which would be revealed later on in the season.”

Chestnut feels Watson’s “empathy” is “therapeutic for him,” along with his remorse.

Despite there being a bit of a conspiracy surrounding Holmes’ actual death, the show is something you have to figure out for yourself. When he’s not juggling mysteries on-screen, Chestnut admitted that he remains the same on all fronts.

At home, he’s a family man and on set, he treats them like his family as well. “I want everyone who comes into our house, which is our stage, to feel comfortable and at home. I want everyone there to treat everybody with respect. So they’re pretty much the same person, just to a larger degree on set,” he explained.

Similar to other medical shows, Chestnut confirmed that each case and all medical terminology on WATSON have been vetted by actual doctors and noted that the series is just as educational as it is entertaining.

The series also stars Eve Harlow, Peter Mark Kendall, Ritchie Coster, Inga Schlingmann, and Rochelle Aytes. It can be viewed on Sundays via CBS and Paramount+.

Check out the full series premiere above.