‘Reasonable Doubt’: Morris Chestnut Teases Corey’s Motivation for Taking Shanelle’s Case

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Reasonable Doubt Season 2, Episode 5, “Guilty Until Proven Innocent.”]

Morris Chestnut is no stranger to taking on a role on an established show, and such is the case with his seamless introduction as Corey Cash, the newest lawyer at Jax Stewart’s (Emayatzy Corinealdi) firm.

Taking the lead on the defense case of Jax’s friend Shanelle (Shannon Kane), who stands trial for murdering her husband, Corey’s entrance into the courtroom and Jax’s day-to-day life have sparked some tensions, but are fences finally mending? By the end of the latest episode, “Guilty Until Proven Innocent,” the duo had made a pact to be more direct with one another and shift focus from being pitted against one another by their white colleagues to directing their energy toward best servicing their Black clients and sticking together as a team.

Joining the mix of this established show was a no-brainer for Chestnut, who first became a fan after hearing about the show from a friend during a casual basketball game. “Most of the time we always talk about sports or something stupid that guys talk about in the gym, and he said, ‘You should check this show out,'” he recalls. Ultimately, he was hooked, so when he met with showrunner Raamla Mohamed and executive producer Larry Wilmore, the actor says he just knew “I had to hop on.”

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Part of his interest came from the show’s enticing storylines. “One of the great things about Raamla’s writing [is] there’s very few series that I’ve been a part of that when I would read the episode, I couldn’t wait to see what’s going to happen next,” Chestnut gushes. Below, the actor opens up about Corey and Jax’s latest professional milestones and teases what’s to come as Season 2 unfolds. Plus, he weighs in on Corey’s possible future with the firm.

We’ve been teased about some of the reasons behind Corey’s draw to Shanelle’s case, but will we learn more about his motivation to be involved?

Morris Chestnut: I love Raamla so much. I can’t say enough good things about her. She wrote a very layered character with a lot of depth. So, Corey is there to help his friend and associate, Jax, he wants to help Shanelle get off, but he also has a personal interest in the case. This case for Corey is somewhat of a redemption for some things that have happened in the past that will unravel throughout the season, and the audience will come to know why he is so invested in the case he wants to win.

When Corey agreed to join the team, do you think he expected so much tension between himself and Jax?

He respects Jax, she respects him. Corey’s used to doing his own thing, and he felt like it was going to be easier and much more seamless, but it wasn’t.

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One particular conflict Corey and Jax had was about press coverage of Shanelle’s case. Why is that aspect so important to him?

The way Corey feels is there’s one chef in the kitchen. If we’re cooking this meal, you can help me out, you can be my assistant, but I have to be the one to make the decisions. We have to have a clear philosophy on how things should go and who is [running] point. We don’t want to be fragmented. We have to be a team. And that was Corey’s goal, that was his aspiration. He’ll use the press, he’ll use the interview. He’s doing separate things to sway the jury or public opinion. Jax is messing things up, she’s messing up his game.

What should viewers expect from their dynamic going forward now that they’re on better terms?

I think there’ll be a little bit of everything. One thing about the way Raamla wrote the show and what makes it interesting is the fact that we do have that conflict and continue to have slightly different philosophies about how things should go. That’s what makes it interesting because it’s not life or death, but it’s a very serious charge that Shanelle is facing and we need to be on the same page to make it happen. So there’s still going to be a few bumps in the road down the line.

How do you envision Corey’s future with the firm? Is he sticking around?

I’ve always envisioned Corey sticking around. Corey loves the firm. He loves the people he is working with.

Reasonable Doubt, Season 2, New Episodes, Thursdays, Hulu