Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor, producer, director, and activist. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. After making his film debut in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Whitaker went on to earn a reputation for intensive character study work for films, such as Platoon (1986), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Bird (1988), The Crying Game (1992), Phenomenon (1996), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), The Great Debaters (2007), The Butler (2013), Arrival (2016), and Respect (2021). He has also appeared in blockbusters, such as Panic Room (2002), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) as Saw Gerrera, and Black Panther (2018) as Zuri. For his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the British historical drama film The Last King of Scotland (2006), Whitaker won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Whitaker made his directorial debut with the television film Strapped (1993), and directed the films Waiting to Exhale (1995), Hope Floats (1998), and First Daughter (2004). Apart from his film career, Whitaker is also known for his humanitarian work and activism. In 2011, he was inducted as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, later receiving a promotion to Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, and serves as the CEO of Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI), a non-profit outreach program. Description above from the Wikipedia article Forest Whitaker, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · The King of Kings as Peter (voice)
- 2024 · My Generation as Narrator
- 2022 · Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend as Self (archive footage)
- 2022 · Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look as Saw Gerrera (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2022 · Cannes Festival as Self - Guest
- 2020 · Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King as Self
- 2020 · Burden as Reverend Kennedy
- 2018 · The Forgiven as Desmond Tutu
- 2014 · Two Men in Town as William Garnett
- 2014 · Repentance as Angel
- 2013 · Black Nativity as Reverend Cornell Cobbs
- 2013 · Pawn as Will
- 2012 · Freelancers as Dennis Larue
- 2010 · 2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift as (archive footage)
- 2010 · My Own Love Song as Joey
- 2010 · Our Family Wedding as Brad Boyd
- 2009 · Hurricane Season as Al Collins
- 2009 · Crips and Bloods: Made in America as Narrator
- 2008 · Dragon Hunters as Lian-Chu (voice)
- 2006 · The Marsh as Geoffrey Hunt
- 2005 · A Little Trip to Heaven as Abe Holt
- 2005 · Mary as Ted Younger
- 2005 · American Gun as Carter
- 2005 · Jiminy Glick in Lalawood as Forest Whitaker
- 2001 · Feast of All Saints as Daguerreotypist Picard
- 2001 · The Fourth Angel as Agent Jules Bernard
- 2001 · The Follow as The Employer
- 2001 · Green Dragon as Addie
- 2000 · Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows as Self
- 1999 · Witness Protection as Steven Beck
- 1999 · Light It Up as Officer Dante Jackson
- 1999 · The Early Show as Self
- 1996 · Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault as Mr. Rucker
- 1994 · Jason's Lyric as Maddog
- 1994 · The Enemy Within as Col. MacKenzie Casey
- 1993 · Lush Life as Buddy Chester
- 1992 · Consenting Adults as David Duttonville
- 1992 · Article 99 as Dr. Sid Handleman
- 1991 · Diary of a Hitman as Dekker
- 1991 · A Rage in Harlem as Jackson
- 1990 · Downtown as Dennis Curren
- 1989 · Johnny Handsome as Dr. Steven Fisher
- 1978 · Diff'rent Strokes as
- Future · Havoc as
- 2024 · Seaweed Stories as Narrator
- 2024 · Emperor of Ocean Park as Oliver Garland
- 2023 · to Crinkle their Wrist, Perfumed Splendour as Ghost Dog (archive footage)
- 2023 · Big George Foreman as Doc Broadus
- 2023 · Extrapolations as Auggie Bolo
- 2022 · Prophets of Change as Narrator
- 2022 · Star Wars: Andor as Saw Gerrera
- 2021 · Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy as Self
- 2021 · Respect as C. L. Franklin
- 2020 · Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey as Jeronicus Jangle
- 2020 · Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times as Self
- 2020 · A Fall from Grace as
- 2019 · Godfather of Harlem as Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson
- 2019 · Finding Steve McQueen as Howard Lambert
- 2018 · City of Lies as Jack Jackson
- 2018 · How It Ends as Tom
- 2018 · Sorry to Bother You as First Equisapien / Demarius
- 2018 · Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace as Narrator (voice)
- 2018 · Black Panther as Zuri
- 2017 · The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' as Self
- 2017 · Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival' as Self
- 2016 · Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Saw Gerrera
- 2016 · I Am You as Narrator (voice)
- 2016 · Arrival as Colonel Weber
- 2016 · Star Wars: Go Rogue as Saw Gerrera (voice)
- 2016 · Roots as Fiddler
- 2015 · Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter as Self
- 2015 · Dope as The Narrator (voice)
- 2015 · Southpaw as Titus 'Tick' Wills
- 2015 · Empire as Eddie Barker
- 2014 · Taken 3 as Inspector Frank Dotzler
- 2014 · Star Wars Rebels as Saw Gerrera (voice)
- 2014 · Food Chains as
- 2013 · Zulu as Ali Sokhela
- 2013 · Making a Scene as Man
- 2013 · The Making of 'Making a Scene' as Self
- 2013 · Out of the Furnace as Chief Wesley Barnes
- 2013 · Mysteries of the Unseen World as Narrator
- 2013 · The Butler as Cecil Gaines
- 2013 · Rising from Ashes as Narrator
- 2013 · The Last Stand as Agent John Bannister
- 2012 · A Dark Truth as Francisco Francis
- 2011 · Catch.44 as Ronny
- 2011 · A Man's Story as Self
- 2011 · Serving Life as Narrator (voice)
- 2011 · Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior as Sam Cooper
- 2010 · Lullaby for Pi as George
- 2010 · The Experiment as Barris
- 2010 · Repo Men as Jake
- 2010 · Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life as Lion
- 2009 · Where the Wild Things Are as Ira (voice)
- 2009 · Winged Creatures as Charlie Archenault
- 2009 · Powder Blue as Charlie
- 2008 · Street Kings as Captain Jack Wander
- 2008 · Mon Clown as Self (archive footage)
- 2008 · Vantage Point as Howard Lewis
- 2007 · The Great Debaters as Dr. James Farmer Sr.
- 2007 · Ripple Effect as Philip
- 2007 · Even Money as Clyde Snow
- 2007 · The Air I Breathe as Happiness
- 2006 · Before the Music Dies as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2006 · Everyone's Hero as Lonnie Brewster (voice)
- 2006 · The Last King of Scotland as Idi Amin
- 2005 · Odyssey in Rome as
- 2005 · Criminal Minds as Sam Cooper
- 2005 · American Dad! as Turlington (voice)
- 2005 · The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson as Self
- 2004 · The Misbehavers as Self
- 2004 · First Daughter as Narrator (voice)
- 2004 · Shooting 'Panic Room' as Self
- 2003 · The Ellen DeGeneres Show as Self
- 2003 · Phone Booth as Captain Ramey
- 2003 · Making of Phone Booth as Self
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as
- 2003 · Deacons for Defense as Marcus Clay
- 2002 · The Twilight Zone as Self - Host
- 2002 · American Idol as Self
- 2002 · Panic Room as Burnham
- 2002 · The Shield as Jon Kavanaugh
- 2002 · E! Live from the Red Carpet as Self
- 2001 · Ghost Dog: The Odyssey: The Journey Into the Life of a Samurai as
- 2001 · The Hire as The Employer
- 2001 · A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon' as Self
- 2000 · Battlefield Earth as Ker
- 2000 · The Paperboy as Narrator
- 1999 · Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai as Ghost Dog
- 1999 · Where Are They Now? as Self
- 1998 · Body Count as Crane
- 1997 · The View as Self
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self
- 1996 · Phenomenon as Nate Pope
- 1995 · Mr. Holland's Opus as Bobby Tidd - Adult (uncredited)
- 1995 · Species as Dan Smithson, Empath
- 1995 · Smoke as Cyrus Cole
- 1994 · Prêt-à-Porter as Cy Bianco
- 1994 · Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso as Self
- 1994 · ER as Curtis Ames
- 1994 · Inside the Actors Studio as Self
- 1994 · Blown Away as Anthony Franklin
- 1993 · Bank Robber as Officer Battle
- 1993 · Last Light as Fred Whitmore
- 1993 · Body Snatchers as Major Collins
- 1992 · The Crying Game as Jody
- 1992 · The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as
- 1990 · Criminal Justice as Jessie Williams
- 1988 · LIVE with Kelly and Mark as
- 1988 · Bird as Charlie 'Bird' Parker
- 1988 · Bloodsport as Rawlins
- 1987 · Good Morning, Vietnam as Edward Garlick
- 1987 · Stakeout as Det. Jack Pismo
- 1987 · Hands of a Stranger as Sergeant Delaney
- 1986 · Platoon as Big Harold
- 1986 · The Color of Money as Amos
- 1985 · North and South as Cuffey
- 1985 · Amazing Stories as Jerry
- 1985 · Vision Quest as Balldozer
- 1982 · Fast Times at Ridgemont High as Charles Jefferson
- 1982 · Tag: The Assassination Game as Gowdy's Bodyguard
- 1982 · Cagney & Lacey as
- 1981 · Hill Street Blues as
- 1975 · Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self - Presenter
- 1952 · Today as Self
- Future · Sewing Hope as Narrator (voice)