Actor
· Acting
Forest Whitaker
Born 1961-07-15
📍 Longview, Texas, USA
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.
Filmography 165
Havoc
as Lawrence Beaumont
2025
The King of Kings
as Peter (voice)
2025
Seaweed Stories
as Narrator (voice)
2024
My Generation
as Narrator
2024
Hollywood Black
as Self
2024
Emperor of Ocean Park
as Oliver Garland
2024
to Crinkle their Wrist, Perfumed Splendour
as Ghost Dog (archive footage)
2023
Big George Foreman
as Doc Broadus
2023
Extrapolations
as Auggie Bolo
2023
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
as Self (archive footage)
2022
Prophets of Change
as Narrator
2022
Andor
as Saw Gerrera
2022
The Jennifer Hudson Show
as Self
2022
Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look
as Saw Gerrera (archive footage) (uncredited)
2022
Cannes Festival
as Self - Guest
2022
Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy
as Self
2021
Respect
as C. L. Franklin
2021
By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem
as Self
2020
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
as Jeronicus Jangle
2020
Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times
as Self
2020
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
as Self
2020
Godfather of Harlem
as Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson
2019
Finding Steve McQueen
as Howard Lambert
2019
City of Lies
as Jack Jackson
2018
Burden
as Reverend Kennedy
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
The Forgiven
as Desmond Tutu
2018
Black Panther
as Zuri
2018
The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'
as Self
2017
Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival'
as Self
2017
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
as Saw Gerrera
2016
Arrival
as Colonel Weber
2016
Star Wars: Go Rogue
as Saw Gerrera (voice)
2016
Roots
as Fiddler
2016
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
as Self
2015
Southpaw
as Titus 'Tick' Wills
2015
Dope
as The Narrator (voice)
2015
Empire
as Eddie Barker
2015
Taken 3
as Inspector Frank Dotzler
2014
Star Wars Rebels
as Saw Gerrera (voice)
2014
Two Men in Town
as William Garnett
2014
Food Chains
2014
Repentance
as Angel
2014
Zulu
as Ali Sokhela
2013
Black Nativity
as Reverend Cornell Cobbs
2013
Making a Scene | 11 Performances
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
Pawn
as Will
2013
The Last Stand
as Agent John Bannister
2013
A Dark Truth
as Francisco Francis
2012
Freelancers
as Dennis Larue
2012
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
2011
Lullaby for Pi
as George
2010
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
as (archive footage)
2010
The Experiment
as Barris
2010
My Own Love Song
as Joey
2010
Repo Men
as Jake
2010
Our Family Wedding
as Brad Boyd
2010
Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life
as Lion
2010
Hurricane Season
as Al Collins
2010
Where the Wild Things Are
as Ira (voice)
2009
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
as Narrator
2009
Winged Creatures
as Charlie Archenault
2009
Powder Blue
as Charlie
2009
Street Kings
as Captain Jack Wander
2008
Vantage Point
as Howard Lewis
2008
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
2007
Before the Music Dies
as Self - Narrator (voice)
2006
The Last King of Scotland
as Idi Amin
2006
Everyone's Hero
as Lonnie Brewster (voice)
2006
The Marsh
as Geoffrey Hunt
2006
A Little Trip to Heaven
as Abe Holt
2005
Mary
as Ted Younger
2005
Odyssey in Rome
2005
Criminal Minds
as Sam Cooper
2005
American Gun
as Carter
2005
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood
as Forest Whitaker
2005
Deacons for Defense
as Marcus Clay
2005
American Dad!
as Turlington (voice)
2005
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
as Self
2005
First Daughter
as Narrator (voice)
2004
Shooting 'Panic Room'
as Self
2004
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
as Self
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self - Guest
2003
Phone Booth
as Captain Ramey
2003
The Twilight Zone
as Self - Host
2002
American Idol
as Self
2002
Panic Room
as Burnham
2002
The Shield
as Jon Kavanaugh
2002
Live from E!
as Self
2002
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
2001
The Hire
as The Employer
2001
A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon'
as Self
2001
Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
as Self
2000
Four Dogs Playing Poker
as Mr. Ellington
2000
Battlefield Earth
as Ker
2000
The Paperboy
as Narrator
2000
Witness Protection
as Steven Beck
1999
Light It Up
as Officer Dante Jackson
1999
The Early Show
as Self
1999
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
as Ghost Dog
1999
Body Count
as Crane
1998
The View
as Self
1997
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
as Mr. Rucker
1996
The Daily Show
as Self
1996
Phenomenon
as Nate Pope
1996
Mr. Holland's Opus
as Bobby Tidd as an adult (uncredited)
1995
Species
as Dan Smithson, Empath
1995
Smoke
as Cyrus Cole
1995
Prêt-à-Porter
as Cy Bianco
1994
Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso
as Self
1994
ER
as Curtis Ames
1994
The Enemy Within
as Col. MacKenzie Casey
1994
Inside the Actors Studio
as Self
1994
Blown Away
as Anthony Franklin
1994
Jason's Lyric
as Maddog
1994
Bank Robber
as Officer Battle
1993
Lush Life
as Buddy Chester
1993
Last Light
as Fred Whitmore
1993
Body Snatchers
as Major Collins
1993
Consenting Adults
as David Duttonville
1992
The Crying Game
as Jody
1992
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Article 99
as Dr. Sid Handleman
1992
Diary of a Hitman
as Dekker
1991
A Rage in Harlem
as Jackson
1991
Criminal Justice
as Jessie Williams
1990
Downtown
as Dennis Curren
1990
Johnny Handsome
as Dr. Steven Fisher
1989
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
as Self
1988
Bird
as Charlie 'Bird' Parker
1988
Bloodsport
as Rawlins
1988
Good Morning, Vietnam
as Edward Garlick
1987
Stakeout
as Det. Jack Pismo
1987
Hands of a Stranger
as Sergeant Delaney
1987
Platoon
as Big Harold
1986
The Color of Money
as Amos
1986
North and South
as Cuffey
1985
Amazing Stories
as Jerry
1985
Vision Quest
as Balldozer
1985
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
as Charles Jefferson
1982
Tag: The Assassination Game
as Gowdy's Bodyguard
1982
Cagney & Lacey
as Night Manager
1982
Hill Street Blues
1981
Diff'rent Strokes
1978
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
1975
The Oscars
as Self - Presenter
1953
The Oscars
as Self
1953
Today
as Self
1952
A Fall from Grace