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ET spoke with the film's original stars about what fans can expect when 'The Best Man: The Final Chapters' premieres on Dec. 22.
It's the end of the line, Best Man fans. Allegedly that is! The Best Man: The Final Chapters premieres right before Christmas and, according to the film's original stars, it's looking like this will be the official end of their journey altogether.
Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Melissa De Sousa, Regina Hall, Terrence Howard and Harold Perrineau, reprise their iconic roles for Peacock's limited series, catching fans up on their favorite dysfunctional group as they come into a new era of their lives.
Based on the Universal movies by writer-director Malcolm D. Lee, The Final Chapters follows Harper (Diggs), Robyn (Lathan), Jordan (Long), Lance (Chestnut), Quentin (Howard), Shelby (De Sousa), Candace (Hall) and Murch (Perrineau) as their relationships evolve and past grievances resurface in the unpredictable stages of midlife crisis meets midlife renaissance.
The limited series brings several recurring guest stars together with our favorite dysfunctional friend group as Harper is given the opportunity to turn his debut novel that kicked off the wild ride over 20 years ago, Unfinished Business, into a movie.
"We've had a ball and, who knows, but I know we definitely feel a sense of a rightful circle," Hall told ET when asked whether the series will really serve as the end of the eightsome's journey.
"Without a doubt," Chestnut agreed with his co-star, noting that although most people never even expected the film to have a sequel (2013's The Best Man Holiday), let alone a spinoff series, there's a finality to the show. "I think one of the differences here is instead of getting two hours, the audience is getting basically...eight hours and eight episodes. So, I think everything comes full circle and you put a bow on it. I think they will be satisfied."
The series will have a lot to cover as it's been nearly 10 years since fans have seen the eight characters onscreen, and even longer since they were first introduced in 1999's The Best Man. The world has changed remarkably since Harper's debut novel was released and caused havoc among his friend group!
Long noted that the key difference between the franchise's first installment and their final project mainly stems from the changing landscape of media and the stories being told. "This felt different because it was a contemporary story about educated progressive Black people," she said, adding that while the characters she previously portrayed were also important to her, the Best Man budget and the story felt "bigger."
"This was the first time we saw a group of Black friends doing amazing things and [showcasing that] we have many subcultures within our culture," she said.
Diggs added on, saying, "Yeah and this was one of the first movies that did that and I was amazed -- I read the script and I was like, 'I don’t care who’s doing it, I just need to be a part of it because I am this guy and I had never seen anybody like me in the movies before.'"
De Sousa mused that the near-sacred status of the first film is partly to blame for why it took so long for a story to reunite the cast. "I think as an artist, [Lee] had to be inspired to write the next chapter," she reasoned. "Not only that but we grew as actors and as people, he banked on that and incorporated real life into the script. So he had to wait for time to pass in order for us to grow up as people and characters he could actually give a fuller story in the end, and I think it was actually great that some time has passed."
Howard added his two cents, theorizing that because The Best Man was written from Lee's experience in college with his Friday group, he had to understand how the characters could mature "in harmony and juxtapose that to how our own lives have matured and tell the story within those octaves. It’s kind of interesting!"
Still, Howard was adamant that this would be the end of the story for the eight friends. The 53-year-old actor -- who divulged to ET that he was retiring for good this time on the red carpet for the Peacock series -- joked that this time in their lives is "right before you start thinking about fillers and s**t."
"This is a strange time because when the leaf is starting to fall from the tree and that’s just the signs of natural aging," he added. "We want to hold on and maybe the egos might not allow us to come back until we're ready to go but I saw Don Cheadle the other day like, 'Damn man, we done got old.'"
De Sousa stayed on the fence about a possible second season of the series, saying that they "have to see what happens after this lands and the impact it has."
"I think at this point in television, it's just so oversaturated with so many shows that it comes out, they binge it and they move on and they've forgotten about you," she said. "And we weren't ever a part of that, our stuff was so spaced out and we did films and it was lasting and it was appreciated and it was craved. But now everything is shake and baked, and it's once you're out there, it's over -- they forget about you. But we'll see if this lasts, if this stands the test of time."
The Best Man: Final Chapters premieres on Dec. 22.
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