Morris Chestnut Remembers Late ‘The Resident’ Co-Star Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Morris Chestnut is honoring Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

The two starred on Fox’s The Resident together, which ended in 2023 after six seasons.

Warner died in July after drowning while on a family vacation in Costa Rica. He recurred in the first season of The Resident as AJ “The Raptor” Austin, a triple-board certified surgeon in Cardiothoracic, General, and Trauma Surgery, before being bumped up to series regular for Season 2 onward. Meanwhile, Chestnut starred in Seasons 3 and 4 as Barrett Cain, a renowned neurosurgeon who is promoted to Chief of Surgery by Red Rock, a profit-driven hospital management company.

While reflecting on his career and his past co-stars with PEOPLE, Chestnut admitted he “still can’t believe that Malcolm’s no longer here. He was such a good dude.” He continued while pointing out an image of them together on set, “I remember this scene. Our characters didn’t like each other. He was very protective of everybody on the show, and that’s kind of how he was.”

It wasn’t just The Resident where the Watson star admired Warner, as Warner’s Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show “resonated” with him the most. “I can see myself, as an actor, in his character,” Chestnut shared. “I hadn’t decided to act at that time, but that probably was one of the first times I was like, ‘Wow, that’s kind of cool. This dude’s an actor on TV, we kind of look alike.’ Matter of fact, he had one of my favorite episodes on The Cosby Show with Gordon Gartrell shirt, that’s just one of my favorite all-time episodes.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Morris Chestnut (@morrischestnutofficial)

Chestnut was able to pick Warner’s brain about the episode and his experience on The Cosby Show while on the set of The Resident. “He was telling me a couple stories about working in New York,” he recalled. “When I first came to that cast, he was like, ‘Hey, let’s go grab a bite to eat.’ So we went out to dinner. [He was] just an incredible dude. I hate what happened to him. Rest in peace.”

After word got out about Warner’s passing, many celebrities and fans around the world paid tribute to him, including Chestnut. “Heartbroken to hear about the passing of Malcolm-Jamal Warner,” he wrote on Instagram. “Working alongside him on The Resident was an honor. He brought so much depth, warmth, and wisdom to every scene and every conversation. One of the nicest in the business. Rest easy, brother. Your legacy lives on.”