Rosewood: Morris Chestnut, Jaina Lee Ortiz, and Todd Harthan Preview FOX’s Newest Drama

There’s a new doctor coming to our television screens this season, but he’s not what you might expect.

FOX’s new drama, Rosewood is about Miami’s top private pathologist, Dr. Beaumont Rosewood, Jr. (Morris Chestnut) who teams up with Detective Annalise Villa (Jaina Lee Ortiz) to uncover clues no one else sees and help the Miami PD solve the city’s most challenging cases. Dr. Rosewood is also plagued with his own medical ailments, which means he has a unique perspective in exploring cases.

This summer at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, I sat down with the stars of Rosewood, Jaina Lee Ortiz and Morris Chestnut, as well as the creator and executive producer of the show, Todd Harthan, to find out what they are most excited for fans to see, and why Rosewood is a different kind of procedural drama.

Jaina Lee Ortiz:

Ortiz began by explaining her own experience on the show, particularly with the fact that this is her first role on television. “It’s exciting and it’s scary at the same time. This is such a huge opportunity. It’s my first show. I don’t know what to expect. I don’t know how it works. But I can only just make it all about the work,” Ortiz said. “It’s exciting to be on a show that’s on before Empire. It’s exciting that it’s on FOX. It’s exciting to work with Morris [Chestnut]. There’s just so much to look forward to, and it’s such a fun, light, sexy show — you have so much to play with. There’s drama, there’s humor, and I get to be physical which is like my dream role. It’s everything I wanna do.”

As for what fans can look forward to, Ortiz called the show a “fun ride” and explained why it’s different from other shows on television. “I’m excited for fans to see the chemistry and the relationships. I’m excited for them to get a taste of a lighter version of a medical drama,” Ortiz stated. “There’s really great music. It’s supposed to be a fun ride. It takes place in Miami, and Miami alone is a character in itself. It’s hot, it’s sexy, and it’s full of passion and fire. There’s no show on TV right now like this. It’s not only diverse, but there’s good content. It’s a good storyline. Yes, it’s a procedural, but you’re in for all the relationships and how they evolve.”

Morris Chestnut:

Like Ortiz, Chestnut also talked about Rosewood‘s placement on the Fall lineup, just before Empire on Wednesday nights. “I’m most excited about what’s happening in television right now — being on FOX, and being on right before Empire, which is a show that’s changing the landscape of network television. Prior to last year, network television was hemorrhaging viewers. Empire really believed that people still watch television and still watch it live.”

Chestnut also discussed his role as the cool and confident Dr. Beaumont Rosewood. “One thing I love about this role is that he is a smart doctor,” Chestnut said. “And not only is he smart, but he’s caring, he’s fun, and witty.” And like Ortiz, Chestnut said he’s right where he wants to be. “There’s really not a role on TV right now that I’d rather play. It’s so much fun, and it’s so me. I mean, I’m not a doctor and I’m not smart, but [laughs] just to have fun coming to work every day is exciting.”

Todd Harthan:

Creator and executive producer Todd Harthan shared how glad he is for Rosewood to have already made it this far in the process. “I’ve written a handful of pilots that didn’t get me to this stage of the game — that came up short. The heartbreaking thing about those is that as I’m writing these characters, I get attached to them,” he explained. “You don’t get to continue on their stories and let them evolve. What’s exciting is that I have at least twelve more hours with these characters that I know and love. I have all these big exciting plans for what I want to do with them.”

But more than that, Harthan is looking forward to having fans experience such a unique show. “I’m excited for the fans to see what we do with the show – I think it will surprise them that it isn’t just a light one-hour procedural. We’re going to do family drama, personal drama, and yes, you’re gonna laugh. But there will also be heartbreaking scenes. These are people who have issues and demons and skeletons in their closet just like everybody,” Harthan said.

“Hopefully, fans will find it diverse in storytelling. You’ll never get too comfortable watching this show. I don’t like to write things that are just comedy or just drama. I like to mix it up. I think that will be refreshing. I mean, we’re not the only show that’s done that, but I think for a one-hour procedural, you don’t get it a lot. Hopefully, it will feel seamless. You’ll be laughing one moment, and then you’ll feel a different emotion, whether it’s a conversation with the victim’s mother or it’s something we’ve revealed about one of our characters.”

Harthan was also able to speak a bit to the way television has changed over the past several years, and how those changes have affected Rosewood. “It’s an exciting landscape, but it’s an intimidating landscape. There’s all these amazing shows, but if you get a little complacent or lazy in your storytelling, and you’re not trying to surprise every week, people will go. They’ll go quickly,” Harthan explained. “So you can’t save things. You have to challenge yourself to blow through your best ideas, oftentimes sooner than you thought. The challenge is getting with your writers and going, ‘okay, that was our best stuff, and we’re only on episode four. We have all these other hours to fill.’ It’s crazy. But it also inspires you to come up with your best exciting stories. I love it. It’s stressful as hell, but it’s exciting.”

Rosewood also stars Lorraine Toussaint as Donna Rosewood, Gabrielle Dennis as Pippy Rosewood, Anna Konkle as Tara Milly Izikoff, and Domenick Lombardozzi as Captain Ira Hornstock.

Official Trailer for Rosewood on FOX:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhhYJXV508A

Rosewood premieres Wednesday, September 23rd at 8/7c on FOX.