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.
172 acting credits · 4 directing credits
Acting · 172
Criminal Minds
2005
The Daily Show
1996
American Dad!
2005
Saturday Night Live
1975
ER
1994
The View
1997
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2005
Hill Street Blues
1981
The Shield
2002
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
American Idol
2002
The Jennifer Hudson Show
2022
Empire
2015
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Andor
2022
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
Star Wars Rebels
2014
Cagney & Lacey
1982
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015
Godfather of Harlem
2019
Amazing Stories
1985
The Oscars
1953
Black Panther
2018
North and South
1985
Arrival
2016
The Twilight Zone
2002
Taken 3
2014
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2016
Havoc
2025
Where Are They Now?
1999
Bloodsport
1988
Extrapolations
2023
Platoon
1986
Southpaw
2015
Live from E!
2002
Today
1952
Steve
2017
Species
1995
Roots
2016
Panic Room
2002
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
2011
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1982
The Hire
2001
The Last Stand
2013
The King of Kings
2025
Phone Booth
2003
Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy
2021
Big George Foreman
2023
First Daughter
2004
Phenomenon
1996
Hollywood Black
2024
The Emperor of Ocean Park
2024
Battlefield Earth
2000
Street Kings
2008
The Butler
2013
Where the Wild Things Are
2009
Sorry to Bother You
2018
The Color of Money
1986
Vantage Point
2008
Repo Men
2010
The Last King of Scotland
2006
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
1999
My Generation
2024
Out of the Furnace
2013
Blown Away
1994
City of Lies
2018
The Great Debaters
2007
Stakeout
1987
The Early Show
1999
Good Morning, Vietnam
1987
Prêt-à-Porter
1994
By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem
2020
Johnny Handsome
1989
How It Ends
2018
Mr. Holland's Opus
1995
Dope
2015
The Experiment
2010
Everyone's Hero
2006
Respect
2021
The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'
2017
Smoke
1995
Body Snatchers
1993
Consenting Adults
1992
The Crying Game
1992
Diff'rent Strokes
1978
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
2020
Zulu
2013
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
2020
Catch.44
2011
Freelancers
2012
American Gun
2005
Vision Quest
1985
Winged Creatures
2009
The Air I Breathe
2007
Pawn
2013
Bird
1988
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
1996
Powder Blue
2009
Black Nativity
2013
Inside the Actors Studio
1994
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood
2005
Article 99
1992
Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look
2022
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
2022
Green Dragon
2001
Star Wars: Go Rogue
2016
A Dark Truth
2012
Cannes Festival
2022
The Follow
2001
Our Family Wedding
2010
Even Money
2007
A Rage in Harlem
1991
Hurricane Season
2010
Light It Up
1999
The Forgiven
2018
My Own Love Song
2010
A Man's Story
2011
The Fourth Angel
2001
A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon'
2001
Feast of All Saints
2001
Burden
2018
Last Light
1993
Mary
2005
Tag: The Assassination Game
1982
Finding Steve McQueen
2019
Repentance
2014
The Marsh
2006
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010
Bank Robber
1993
Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
2000
Downtown
1990
Jason's Lyric
1994
The Enemy Within
1994
Body Count
1998
A Little Trip to Heaven
2005
Ghost Dog: The Odyssey: The Journey Into the Life of a Samurai
2001
Two Men in Town
2014
Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso
1994
Diary of a Hitman
1991
Deacons for Defense
2005
Criminal Justice
1990
Witness Protection
1999
Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times
2020
Four Dogs Playing Poker
2000
to Crinkle their Wrist, Perfumed Splendour
2023
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
2009
Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life
2010
Lush Life
1993
Ripple Effect
2007
Lullaby for Pi
2010
Mysteries of the Unseen World
2013
Food Chains
2014
Prophets of Change
2022
Shooting 'Panic Room'
2004
Odyssey in Rome
2005
Hands of a Stranger
1987
Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival'
2017
Rose's Baby
2027
Before the Music Dies
2006
The Misbehavers
2004
A Fall from Grace
—
The Paperboy
2000
Serving Life
2011
Making of Phone Booth
2003
Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace
2018
Making a Scene | 11 Performances
2013
The Grand Baby
1983
Seaweed Stories
2024
Rising from Ashes
2013
Sewing Hope
—
I Am You
2016
