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.
 |
The King of Kings | Peter (voice) | 2025-04-07 |
 |
Havoc | Lawrence Beaumont | 2025-04-25 |
 |
Seaweed Stories | Narrator (voice) | 2024-10-05 |
 |
to Crinkle their Wrist, Perfumed Splendour | Ghost Dog (archive footage) | 2023-11-26 |
 |
Big George Foreman | Doc Broadus | 2023-04-27 |
 |
Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look | Saw Gerrera (archive footage) (uncredited) | 2022-09-08 |
 |
Prophets of Change | Narrator | 2022-10-12 |
 |
Clint Eastwood, la dernière légende | Self (archive footage) | 2022-11-13 |
 |
Respect | C. L. Franklin | 2021-08-12 |
 |
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King | Self | 2020-08-30 |
 |
A Fall from Grace | 2020-01-17 | |
 |
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey | Jeronicus Jangle | 2020-11-06 |
 |
Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times | Self | 2020-09-19 |
 |
Finding Steve McQueen | Howard Lambert | 2019-03-15 |
 |
City of Lies | Jack Jackson | 2018-09-06 |
 |
Burden | Reverend Kennedy | 2018-08-05 |
 |
Black Panther | Zuri | 2018-02-13 |
 |
The Forgiven | Desmond Tutu | 2018-03-09 |
 |
Sorry to Bother You | First Equisapien / Demarius | 2018-07-06 |
 |
Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace | Narrator (voice) | 2018-03-23 |
 |
How It Ends | Tom | 2018-07-13 |
 |
Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival' | Self | 2017-02-14 |
 |
The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' | Self | 2017-04-04 |
 |
I Am You | Narrator (voice) | 2016-12-12 |
 |
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Saw Gerrera | 2016-12-14 |
 |
Arrival | Colonel Weber | 2016-11-10 |
 |
Southpaw | Titus 'Tick' Wills | 2015-03-24 |
 |
Dope | The Narrator (voice) | 2015-06-19 |
 |
Food Chains | 2014-04-26 | |
 |
Taken 3 | Inspector Frank Dotzler | 2014-12-16 |
 |
Repentance | Angel | 2014-02-28 |
 |
La Voie de l‘ennemi | William Garnett | 2014-05-07 |
 |
The Butler | Cecil Gaines | 2013-08-16 |
 |
The Last Stand | Agent John Bannister | 2013-01-12 |
 |
Out of the Furnace | Chief Wesley Barnes | 2013-11-12 |
 |
Rising from Ashes | Narrator | 2013-08-02 |
 |
Mysteries of the Unseen World | Narrator | 2013-11-01 |
 |
Black Nativity | Reverend Cornell Cobbs | 2013-11-27 |
 |
Zulu | Ali Sokhela | 2013-12-04 |
 |
Pawn | Will | 2013-04-23 |
 |
Freelancers | Dennis Larue | 2012-08-10 |
 |
A Dark Truth | Francisco Francis | 2012-11-29 |
 |
Catch.44 | Ronny | 2011-12-08 |
 |
Witness Protection | Steven Beck | 2011-04-14 |
 |
A Man's Story | Self | 2011-10-08 |
 |
Serving Life | Narrator (voice) | 2011-07-28 |
 |
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift | (archive footage) | 2010-08-03 |
 |
My Own Love Song | Joey | 2010-04-07 |
 |
Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life | Lion | 2010-03-02 |
 |
The Experiment | Barris | 2010-07-15 |
 |
Lullaby for Pi | George | 2010-10-11 |
 |
Our Family Wedding | Brad Boyd | 2010-03-12 |
 |
Repo Men | Jake | 2010-03-18 |
 |
Hurricane Season | Al Collins | 2010-02-09 |
 |
Crips and Bloods: Made in America | Narrator | 2009-08-14 |
 |
Powder Blue | Charlie | 2009-05-08 |
 |
Winged Creatures | Charlie Archenault | 2009-07-08 |
 |
Where the Wild Things Are | Ira (voice) | 2009-10-16 |
 |
Street Kings | Captain Jack Wander | 2008-04-10 |
 |
Vantage Point | Howard Lewis | 2008-02-01 |
 |
The Air I Breathe | Happiness | 2007-02-07 |
 |
Ripple Effect | Philip | 2007-06-21 |
 |
Even Money | Clyde Snow | 2007-03-13 |
 |
The Great Debaters | Dr. James Farmer Sr. | 2007-12-25 |
 |
Everyone's Hero | Lonnie Brewster (voice) | 2006-08-04 |
 |
The Marsh | Geoffrey Hunt | 2006-05-18 |
 |
The Last King of Scotland | Idi Amin | 2006-09-27 |
 |
Before the Music Dies | Self - Narrator (voice) | 2006-11-02 |
 |
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood | Forest Whitaker | 2005-05-08 |
 |
Odyssey in Rome | 2005-09-30 | |
 |
American Gun | Carter | 2005-09-15 |
 |
A Little Trip to Heaven | Abe Holt | 2005-12-26 |
 |
Deacons for Defense | Marcus Clay | 2005-04-05 |
 |
Mary | Ted Younger | 2005-11-18 |
 |
Shooting 'Panic Room' | Self | 2004-03-30 |
|
The Misbehavers | Self | 2004-12-04 |
 |
First Daughter | Narrator (voice) | 2004-09-24 |
|
Making of Phone Booth | Self | 2003-03-25 |
 |
Phone Booth | Captain Ramey | 2003-01-06 |
 |
Panic Room | Burnham | 2002-03-29 |
 |
Green Dragon | Addie | 2001-05-17 |
 |
The Follow | The Employer | 2001-05-24 |
|
Ghost Dog: The Odyssey: The Journey Into the Life of a Samurai | 2001-08-14 | |
 |
Feast of All Saints | Daguerreotypist Picard | 2001-11-11 |
 |
A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon' | Self | 2001-01-01 |
 |
The Fourth Angel | Agent Jules Bernard | 2001-08-15 |
 |
The Paperboy | Narrator | 2000-01-01 |
 |
Battlefield Earth | Ker | 2000-05-12 |
 |
Four Dogs Playing Poker | Mr. Ellington | 2000-06-06 |
 |
Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows | Self | 2000-09-27 |
 |
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai | Ghost Dog | 1999-10-06 |
 |
Light It Up | Officer Dante Jackson | 1999-11-04 |
 |
Body Count | Crane | 1998-04-28 |
 |
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault | Mr. Rucker | 1996-11-23 |
 |
Phenomenon | Nate Pope | 1996-07-05 |
 |
Smoke | Cyrus Cole | 1995-06-09 |
 |
Mr. Holland's Opus | Bobby Tidd as an adult (uncredited) | 1995-12-29 |
 |
Species | Dan Smithson, Empath | 1995-07-07 |
 |
The Enemy Within | Col. MacKenzie Casey | 1994-08-24 |
 |
Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso | Self | 1994-12-11 |
 |
Prêt-à-Porter | Cy Bianco | 1994-12-23 |
 |
Blown Away | Anthony Franklin | 1994-07-01 |
 |
Jason's Lyric | Maddog | 1994-05-22 |
 |
Bank Robber | Officer Battle | 1993-12-03 |
 |
Body Snatchers | Major Collins | 1993-06-09 |
 |
Lush Life | Buddy Chester | 1993-10-01 |
 |
Last Light | Fred Whitmore | 1993-08-22 |
 |
Article 99 | Dr. Sid Handleman | 1992-03-13 |
 |
Consenting Adults | David Duttonville | 1992-10-16 |
 |
The Crying Game | Jody | 1992-09-02 |
 |
Diary of a Hitman | Dekker | 1991-11-20 |
 |
A Rage in Harlem | Jackson | 1991-05-03 |
 |
Downtown | Dennis Curren | 1990-01-12 |
 |
Criminal Justice | Jessie Williams | 1990-09-08 |
 |
Johnny Handsome | Dr. Steven Fisher | 1989-09-12 |
 |
Bloodsport | Rawlins | 1988-02-26 |
 |
Bird | Charlie 'Bird' Parker | 1988-06-01 |
 |
Stakeout | Det. Jack Pismo | 1987-08-05 |
 |
Good Morning, Vietnam | Edward Garlick | 1987-12-23 |
 |
Hands of a Stranger | Sergeant Delaney | 1987-05-10 |
 |
The Color of Money | Amos | 1986-10-17 |
 |
Platoon | Big Harold | 1986-12-19 |
 |
Vision Quest | Balldozer | 1985-02-15 |
 |
Fast Times at Ridgemont High | Charles Jefferson | 1982-08-13 |
 |
Tag: The Assassination Game | Gowdy's Bodyguard | 1982-04-20 |
|
Rose's Baby | ||
|
Sewing Hope | Narrator (voice) |
