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