Back in his make-believe life, he is in the summer sequel Kick-Ass 2 due out June 28, taking over for Omari Hardwick, who was in the original, as Sergeant Marcus Williams, who is now guardian to the main female lead, Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl, played by Chloë Grace Moretz. Although the film is about superheroes and has lots of, well, kick ass moments, don’t look for Chestnut to get in on the fun. Ever the responsible one, Chestnut explains that his character could not partake “because I’m a police officer and, basically, she’s out there falling into the wrong footsteps of her father [played in the original by Nicholas Cage] and I try to pull her back on the right side.”
There won’t be any Chestnut lapses between The Call and Kick-Ass 2, though. In the fifth season of Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie,” Chestnut plays the hospital’s incoming chief of staff. But don’t look to him for giggles, he says. “I’m involved in some funny scenes but I’m not providing the humor.”
To what does he owe his longevity and recent good streak of work? “Timing. First and foremost, God,” he answers. “Being here is a blessing from God, but it’s [also] timing and understanding things a little bit better and doing things a little differently.”
