Morris Chestnut to Star in Lee Daniels’ ‘Our Kind of People’ for Fox

The actor will continue to appear in the network's medical drama 'The Resident,' which is expected to return next season.

By Lesley Goldberg

Morris Chestnut will pull double duty for Fox next season.

The actor has been cast as the male lead in the network’s upcoming Lee Daniels drama Our Kind of People. Chestnut, who has also been a regular on Fox’s The Resident, will continue to recur on the medical drama as the series is expected to garner a fifth season renewal later Monday.

Fox’s first new pickup for the 2021-22 season, Our Kind of People was ordered straight to series in March following a years-long development process. The drama from Daniels (Empire) and Karin Gist (Star) is inspired by Lawrence Otis Graham’s book, Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class. The Martha’s Vineyard-set drama follows single mom Angela Vaughn (Chicago Med’s Yaya DaCosta) as she sets out to reclaim her family’s name and make an impact with her revolutionary haircare line that highlights the innate, natural beauty of black women. But she soon discovers a dark secret about her mother’s past that will turn her world upside-down and shake up this community forever.

Chestnut will play Raymond Dupont, a powerful man with swag and presence who is a top exec at a food conglomerate who has been struggling to revive the company after his white business partner’s mismanagement.

Our Kind of People marks a reunion for writer Gist with Daniels, who previously teamed on Empire offshoot Star for Fox, as well as with DaCosta and Daniels, who collaborated on The Butler. The series is a co-production between Disney’s 20th TV, where both Daniels and Gist are under overall deals, and Fox Entertainment. Tasha Smith (P-Valley, Black Mafia Family) will direct the pilot.

Chestnut has been with The Resident since its third season and also counts Fox drama Rosewood among his credits. He next reprises his role in Peacock’s limited series The Best Man: The Final Chapters. Chestnut is repped by Verve and Link Entertainment.

Fox is set to unveil its 2021-22 schedule Monday in a virtual presentation to Madison Avenue ad buyers. Our Kind of People is one of six new scripted series set to premiere sometime next season.

Keep track of all the renewals, cancellations and new series orders with THR‘s handy scorecard and click here for the latest on all the broadcast pilots.

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