Forest Whitaker
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jul 15, 1961 (age 65)
- Place of birth
- Longview, Texas, USA
- Credits
- 171
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.
Known for
Filmography
Up Against It
2027Movie
Bring Me the Horizon: L.I.V.E. in São Paulo
2026Movie
Self (archive footage)
Havoc
2025Movie
Lawrence Beaumont
The King of Kings
2025Movie
Peter (voice)
Seaweed Stories
2024Movie
Self - Narrator (voice)
My Generation
2024TV
Self - Narrator (voice)
Hollywood Black
2024TV
Self
The Emperor of Ocean Park
2024TV
Judge Oliver Garland
Big George Foreman
2023Movie
Doc Broadus
Extrapolations
2023TV
Auggie Bolo
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
2022Movie
Self (archive footage)
Prophets of Change
2022Movie
Narrator
Andor
2022TV
Saw Gerrera
The Jennifer Hudson Show
2022TV
Self
Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look
2022Movie
Saw Gerrera (archive footage) (uncredited)
Cannes Festival
2022TV
Self - Guest
Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy
2021TV
Self
Respect
2021Movie
C. L. Franklin
By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem
2020TV
Self
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
2020Movie
Jeronicus Jangle
Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times
2020Movie
Self
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
2020Movie
Self
Godfather of Harlem
2019TV
Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson
Finding Steve McQueen
2019Movie
Howard Lambert
City of Lies
2018Movie
Jack Jackson
Burden
2018Movie
Reverend Kennedy
How It Ends
2018Movie
Tom
Sorry to Bother You
2018Movie
First Equisapien / Demarius
Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace
2018Movie
Narrator (voice)
The Forgiven
2018Movie
Desmond Tutu
Black Panther
2018Movie
Zuri
Steve
2017TV
Self
The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'
2017Movie
Self
Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival'
2017Movie
Self
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2016Movie
Saw Gerrera
I Am You
2016Movie
Narrator (voice)
Arrival
2016Movie
Colonel Weber
Star Wars: Go Rogue
2016TV
Saw Gerrera (voice)
Roots
2016TV
Fiddler
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015TV
Self
Southpaw
2015Movie
Titus 'Tick' Wills
Dope
2015Movie
The Narrator (voice)
Empire
2015TV
Eddie Barker
Taken 3
2014Movie
Inspector Frank Dotzler
Star Wars Rebels
2014TV
Saw Gerrera (voice)
Two Men in Town
2014Movie
William Garnett
Food Chains
2014Movie
Repentance
2014Movie
Angel
Zulu
2013Movie
Ali Sokhela
Black Nativity
2013Movie
Reverend Cornell Cobbs
Making a Scene | 11 Performances
2013Movie
Out of the Furnace
2013Movie
Chief Wesley Barnes
Mysteries of the Unseen World
2013Movie
Narrator
The Butler
2013Movie
Cecil Gaines
Rising from Ashes
2013Movie
Narrator
Pawn
2013Movie
Will
The Last Stand
2013Movie
Agent John Bannister
A Dark Truth
2012Movie
Francisco Francis
Freelancers
2012Movie
Dennis Larue
Catch.44
2011Movie
Ronny
A Man's Story
2011Movie
Self
Serving Life
2011Movie
Narrator (voice)
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
2011TV
Sam Cooper
Lullaby for Pi
2010Movie
George
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010Movie
(archive footage)
The Experiment
2010Movie
Barris
My Own Love Song
2010Movie
Joey
Repo Men
2010Movie
Jake
Our Family Wedding
2010Movie
Brad Boyd
Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life
2010Movie
Lion
Hurricane Season
2010Movie
Al Collins
Where the Wild Things Are
2009Movie
Ira (voice)
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
2009Movie
Narrator
Winged Creatures
2009Movie
Charlie Archenault
Powder Blue
2009Movie
Charlie
Street Kings
2008Movie
Captain Jack Wander
Vantage Point
2008Movie
Howard Lewis
The Great Debaters
2007Movie
Dr. James Farmer Sr.
Ripple Effect
2007Movie
Philip
Even Money
2007Movie
Clyde Snow
The Air I Breathe
2007Movie
Happiness
Before the Music Dies
2006Movie
Self - Narrator (voice)
The Last King of Scotland
2006Movie
Idi Amin
Everyone's Hero
2006Movie
Lonnie Brewster (voice)
The Marsh
2006Movie
Geoffrey Hunt
A Little Trip to Heaven
2005Movie
Abe Holt
Mary
2005Movie
Ted Younger
Odyssey in Rome
2005Movie
Criminal Minds
2005TV
Sam Cooper
American Gun
2005Movie
Carter
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood
2005Movie
Forest Whitaker
Deacons for Defense
2005Movie
Marcus Clay
American Dad!
2005TV
Turlington (voice)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2005TV
Self
The Misbehavers
2004Movie
Self
First Daughter
2004Movie
Narrator (voice)
Shooting 'Panic Room'
2004Movie
Self
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003TV
Self
Making of Phone Booth
2003Movie
Self
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003TV
Self - Guest
Phone Booth
2003Movie
Captain Ramey
The Twilight Zone
2002TV
Self - Host
American Idol
2002TV
Self
Panic Room
2002Movie
Burnham
The Shield
2002TV
Jon Kavanaugh
Live from E!
2002TV
Self
Feast of All Saints
2001Movie
Daguerreotypist Picard
The Fourth Angel
2001Movie
Agent Jules Bernard
Ghost Dog: The Odyssey: The Journey Into the Life of a Samurai
2001Movie
The Follow
2001Movie
The Employer
Green Dragon
2001Movie
Addie
The Hire
2001TV
The Employer
A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon'
2001Movie
Self
Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
2000Movie
Self
Four Dogs Playing Poker
2000Movie
Mr. Ellington
Battlefield Earth
2000Movie
Ker
The Paperboy
2000Movie
Narrator
Witness Protection
1999Movie
Steven Beck
Light It Up
1999Movie
Officer Dante Jackson
The Early Show
1999TV
Self
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
1999Movie
Ghost Dog
Where Are They Now?
1999TV
Self
Body Count
1998Movie
Crane
The View
1997TV
Self
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
1996Movie
Mr. Rucker
The Daily Show
1996TV
Self
Phenomenon
1996Movie
Nate Pope
Mr. Holland's Opus
1995Movie
Bobby Tidd as an adult (uncredited)
Species
1995Movie
Dan Smithson, Empath
Smoke
1995Movie
Cyrus Cole
Prêt-à-Porter
1994Movie
Cy Bianco
Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso
1994Movie
Self
ER
1994TV
Curtis Ames
The Enemy Within
1994Movie
Col. MacKenzie Casey
Inside the Actors Studio
1994TV
Self
Blown Away
1994Movie
Anthony Franklin
Jason's Lyric
1994Movie
Maddog
Bank Robber
1993Movie
Officer Battle
Lush Life
1993Movie
Buddy Chester
Last Light
1993Movie
Fred Whitmore
Body Snatchers
1993Movie
Major Collins
Consenting Adults
1992Movie
David Duttonville
The Crying Game
1992Movie
Jody
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992TV
Article 99
1992Movie
Dr. Sid Handleman
Diary of a Hitman
1991Movie
Dekker
A Rage in Harlem
1991Movie
Jackson
Criminal Justice
1990Movie
Jessie Williams
Downtown
1990Movie
Dennis Curren
Johnny Handsome
1989Movie
Dr. Steven Fisher
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988TV
Self
Bird
1988Movie
Charlie 'Bird' Parker
Bloodsport
1988Movie
Rawlins
Good Morning, Vietnam
1987Movie
Edward Garlick
Stakeout
1987Movie
Det. Jack Pismo
Hands of a Stranger
1987Movie
Sergeant Delaney
Platoon
1986Movie
Big Harold
The Color of Money
1986Movie
Amos
North and South
1985TV
Cuffey
Amazing Stories
1985TV
Jerry
Vision Quest
1985Movie
Balldozer
The Grand Baby
1983Movie
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1982Movie
Charles Jefferson
Tag: The Assassination Game
1982Movie
Gowdy's Bodyguard
Cagney & Lacey
1982TV
Night Manager
Hill Street Blues
1981TV
Diff'rent Strokes
1978TV
Saturday Night Live
1975TV
Self - Host
The Oscars
1953TV
Self - Presenter, Self
Today
1952TV
Self
Sewing Hope
Movie
Narrator (voice)