When The Bough Breaks is psychological drama that takes the audience through the emotional and traumatic experience of what it’s like to entrust the life of your child and future of your family to someone else. Following the Taylor Family, played by Regina Hall and Morris Chestnut, the film highlights what happens when a surrogate pregnancy goes wrong in more ways than one. When their surrogate, Anna, develops an unhealthy infatuation with John Taylor, the trust and relationship between Anna and the Taylors begins to take a twisted turn. During press for the film, we caught up with Chestnut, who plays John Taylor, who talked his thoughts on marriage, children, and the importance of this film.
The Source: Do you think it’s problematic when couples think a child will solve marital problems?
Morris Chestnut: I think that within a marriage, you always have to work on your relationship before anything else. If there’s a problem, focus on the problem and try to fix that. Trying to do anything other than fix the core of the relationship won’t help.
In the film the Taylor’s are successful individuals yet still feel incomplete because of their inability to conceive. Why do you think people feel like children make a big happy family or define success?
There are different reasons for different people as to why they may or may not see children as a marker of success. of people. They have a nice house, car,, great jobs, and yet they still feel the need for children. I think this film shows that no one has everything. Even though they had all of these other things, the one thing they could have was a child. You never know what people are wanting to but can’t have, and how that affects their decisions and desires.
On what it was it like working in an emotionally intense environment:
It’s an emotional film and was challenging for me but working with professionals (like Regina and Jaz) was pretty much just another day at the office. They came prepared and ready to work. Regina has a great sense of humor which lightened the mood a bit. It was work as usual.
On how he approached the role being a father yourself:
As an actor, we try and put ourselves in our character’s shoes. My approach was to imagine what it’d be like to have to go through what the Taylor’s went through in order for my kids to be here. To imagine how that would feel and what that experience would be like.
On what was it like to be an executive producer on the film:
You get to have input in the process in the film beyond acting which is always great. I loved the perspective and voice of the film and I was excited to work with Regina again. After talking to the film’s director, Jon Cassar, I was excited to be working with help to bring the film to life.
On working with newcomer Jaz Sinclair:
I think she did a great job approaching the character. Also, at her age, she approached the job was such professionalism. Her talent is amazing, she did a great job at embodying the role.
On what he credits to his longevity in Hollywood?
You have to be courteous and respectful of the people you work with. When you’re around people 14 hours a day, you don’t want to create tension friction or conflict. You don’t want to become known for being difficult to work with.
