Forest Whitaker is an American actor, producer and director.
Whitaker started his career in early roles in films such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Vision Quest (1985), The Color of Money (1986), Platoon (1986), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) before his leading role in Clint Eastwood's Bird (1988). Whitaker continued acting in films such as The Crying Game (1992), Blown Away (1994), Prêt-à-Porter (1994), Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), and Panic Room (2002) He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Last King of Scotland (2006). He has since acted in The Great Debaters (2007), Vantage Point (2008), Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013), Arrival (2016), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), The Forgiven (2017), and Black Panther (2018).
Whitaker made his television debut in the CBS sitcom Making the Grade (1982). He has since had roles as Curtis Ames in the NBC medical drama ER (2006–2007), Lt. Jon Kavanaugh in FX crime drama The Shield (2006–2007), and Sam Cooper in the CBS police drama Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (2011). Whitaker's recent roles include Eddie Barker in the Fox musical drama series Empire (2017–2018) and Bumpy Johnson in the Epix crime drama Godfather of Harlem (2019–present). He made his Broadway debut in the revival of Eugene O'Neill's play Hughie (2016).
Film
editActor
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Tag: The Assassination Game | Gowdy's Bodyguard | ||
| Fast Times at Ridgemont High | Charles Jefferson | |||
| 1985 | Vision Quest | Jean-Pierre "Balldozer" Baldosier | ||
| 1986 | The Color of Money | Amos | ||
| Platoon | Harold "Big Harold" | |||
| 1987 | Stakeout | Detective Jack Pismo | ||
| Good Morning, Vietnam | Private Edward Garlick | |||
| 1988 | Bloodsport | CID Agent Rawlins | ||
| Bird | Charlie "Bird" Parker, Jr. | |||
| 1989 | Johnny Handsome | Dr. Steven Fisher | ||
| 1990 | Downtown | Dennis Curren | ||
| 1991 | Diary of a Hitman | Dekker | ||
| A Rage in Harlem | Jackson | Also co-producer | ||
| 1992 | Article 99 | Dr. Sid Handleman | ||
| The Crying Game | Jody | |||
| Consenting Adults | David Duttonville | |||
| 1993 | Bank Robber | Officer Battle | ||
| Body Snatchers | Major Matthew Collins | |||
| Last Light | Fred Whitmore | |||
| 1994 | Blown Away | Officer Anthony Franklin | ||
| Prêt-à-Porter | Cy Bianco | |||
| Jason's Lyric | "Maddog" | |||
| 1995 | Species | Dan Smithson | ||
| Smoke | Cyrus Cole | |||
| Mr. Holland's Opus | Adult Bobby Tidd | Uncredited | ||
| 1996 | Phenomenon | Nate Pope | ||
| 1998 | Body Count | Crane | ||
| 1999 | Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai | "Ghost Dog" | ||
| Light It Up | Officer Dante Jackson | |||
| 2000 | Battlefield Earth | Ker | ||
| Four Dogs Playing Poker | Mr. Ellington | |||
| 2001 | The Fourth Angel | FBI Agent Jules Bernard | ||
| Jew Balloons | Jeremiah Shultze | Short film | ||
| The Hire: The Follow | The Employer | Short film; uncredited | [1] | |
| Green Dragon | Addie | Also executive producer | ||
| 2002 | Panic Room | Burnham | ||
| Phone Booth | Captain Ed Ramey | Release delayed due to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks | [2] | |
| 2004 | Jiminy Glick in Lalawood | Himself | ||
| First Daughter | Narrator | Also director and executive producer | ||
| 2005 | A Little Trip to Heaven | Abe Holt | ||
| American Gun | Carter | Also executive producer | ||
| Mary | Ted Younger | |||
| 2006 | Even Money | Clyde Snow | ||
| The Marsh | Geoffrey Hunt | |||
| Everyone's Hero | Lonnie Brewster | Voice | ||
| The Last King of Scotland | Idi Amin | Academy Award for Best Actor | ||
| 2007 | The Air I Breathe | Happiness | ||
| Ripple Effect | Philip | Also executive producer | ||
| The Great Debaters | James L. Farmer, Sr. | |||
| 2008 | Vantage Point | Howard Lewis | ||
| Street Kings | Captain Jack Wander | |||
| Dragon Hunters | Lian Chu | Voice role; English-language version | ||
| Winged Creatures | Charlie Archenault | |||
| 2009 | Powder Blue | Charlie | Direct-to-video; also producer | |
| Where the Wild Things Are | Ira | Voice role | ||
| Hurricane Season | Al Collins | Direct-to-video | ||
| 2010 | Repo Men | Jake Freivald | ||
| Lullaby for Pi | George | |||
| My Own Love Song | Joey | |||
| The Experiment | Barris | Direct-to-video | ||
| Our Family Wedding | Bradford Boyd | |||
| 2011 | Catch .44 | Ronny | Direct-to-video | |
| 2012 | Freelancers | Dennis LaRue | ||
| A Dark Truth | Francisco Francis | |||
| Ernest & Celestine | Ernest | Voice role; English-language version | ||
| 2013 | The Last Stand | FBI Agent John Bannister | ||
| Repentance | Angel Sanchez | Also producer | [3] | |
| Zulu | Ali Sokhela | |||
| Pawn | Will | Direct-to-video | ||
| Lee Daniels' The Butler | Cecil Gaines | |||
| Black Nativity | Reverend Cornell | |||
| Out of the Furnace | Chief Wesley Barnes | |||
| 2014 | Two Men in Town | William Garnett | ||
| Taken 3 | Inspector Frank Dotzler | |||
| 2015 | Dope | Narrator | Also producer | |
| Southpaw | Titus "Tick" Wills | |||
| 2016 | Arrival | Colonel Weber | ||
| Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Saw Gerrera | |||
| 2017 | The Forgiven | Archbishop Desmond Tutu | ||
| 2018 | Sorry to Bother You | First Equisapien / Demarius | Also producer | |
| Burden | Reverend David Kennedy | |||
| Black Panther | Zuri | |||
| How It Ends | Tom | |||
| City of Lies | Jack Jackson | |||
| 2019 | Finding Steve McQueen | Howard Lambert | ||
| 2020 | Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey | Jeronicus Jangle | [4] | |
| 2021 | Respect | C. L. Franklin | ||
| 2023 | Big George Foreman | Doc Broadus | ||
| 2024 | Havoc † | Post-production |
Filmmaker
edit| Year | Title | Director | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Strapped | Yes | No |
| 1995 | Waiting to Exhale | Yes | No |
| 1998 | Hope Floats | Yes | No |
| 2003 | Chasing Papi | No | Yes |
| 2004 | First Daughter | Yes | No |
| 2009 | Powder Blue | No | Yes |
| 2013 | Fruitvale Station | No | Yes |
| Repentance | No | Yes | |
| 2015 | Dope | No | Yes |
| 2016 | Songs My Brothers Taught Me | No | Yes |
| 2017 | Roxanne Roxanne | No | Yes |
| 2018 | Sorry to Bother You | No | Yes |
| 2021 | Passing | No | Yes |
| 2023 | To Live and Die and Live | No | Yes |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Making the Grade | Episode: "Marriage David Style" | |
| 1983 | Cagney & Lacey | Night Manager | Episode: "The Grandest Jewel Thief of Them All" |
| 1984 | Trapper John, M.D. | Lewis Jordan | Episode: "School Nurse" |
| Hill Street Blues | Floyd Green | Episode: "Blues for Mr. Green" | |
| 1985 | Diff'rent Strokes | Herman | Episode: "Bully for Arnold" |
| The Grand Baby | Television movie | ||
| The Fall Guy | Friend | Episode: "Spring Break" | |
| North and South | Cuffey | Miniseries | |
| 1986 | Amazing Stories | Jerry | Episode: "Gather Ye Acorns" |
| North and South, Book II | Cuffey | Miniseries | |
| 1987 | Hands of a Stranger | Sergeant Delaney | Television movie |
| 1990 | Criminal Justice | Jessie Williams | |
| 1993 | Lush Life | Buddy Chester | |
| Last Light | Fred Whitmore | ||
| 1994 | The Enemy Within | Colonel MacKenzie "Mac" Casey | |
| 1996 | Rebound | Mr. Rucker | |
| 1999 | Witness Protection | US Marshal Steve Beck | |
| 2001 | Feast of All Saints | Daguerreotypist Picard | Television movie; also executive producer |
| 2002 | Door to Door | Television movie; co-executive producer | |
| 2003 | Deacons for Defense | Marcus Clay | Television movie |
| 2002–2003 | The Twilight Zone | Host / Narrator | 44 episodes; also consulting producer |
| 2006–2007 | ER | Curtis Ames | 6 episodes |
| 2006–2007 | The Shield | Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh | 13 episodes (seasons 5 and 6) |
| 2007–2009 | American Dad! | The Turlingtons | Voice; 3 episodes |
| 2010 | Criminal Minds | Sam Cooper | Episode: "The Fight" |
| Brick City | 11 episodes; executive producer | ||
| 2011 | Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior | Sam Cooper | Lead role; 13 episodes |
| 2012 | Serving Life | Narrator | Documentary; also executive producer |
| 2013 | Africa | Narrator | Documentary series |
| 2016 | Roots | Henry (Fiddler) | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Star Wars Rebels | Saw Gerrera | Voice; 4 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | Empire | Eddie Barker | 11 episodes |
| 2019–present | Godfather of Harlem | Bumpy Johnson | 30 episodes; also executive producer |
| 2022 | Young Rock | Himself | 3 episodes |
| Andor | Saw Gerrera | 2 episodes | |
| 2023 | Extrapolations | August Bolo | Episode: "2068: The Going-Away Party" |
| 2024 | The Emperor of Ocean Park | Judge Oliver Garland | |
| TBA | Gossamer | Voice; upcoming animated series |
Theatre
edit| Year | Title | Playwright | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Hughie | Eugene O'Neill | Erie Smith | Booth Theatre, Broadway debut |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | Saw Gerrera | Voice, likeness, and motion capture | [5] |
Music videos
edit| Year | Artist | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Whitney Houston | "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" | Director | |
| 2001 | Jagged Edge | "Goodbye" | [6] | |
| 2009 | Jamie Foxx ft. T-Pain | "Blame It" | ||
| 2019 | Bring Me the Horizon | "In the Dark" |
References
edit- ^ "The Follow". CineArchive. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ^ "'Phone' release delayed". Amarillo.com. Associated Press. October 18, 2002. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
- ^ "Repentance – In Theaters February 28, 2014". Code Black. Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 30, 2018). "Forest Whitaker To Star In David E. Talbert's Netflix Holiday Family Musical 'Jingle Jangle'". Deadline. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ Sarkar, Samit (June 8, 2019). "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order features Rogue One's Saw Gerrera". Polygon. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ "Burning Question". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 5, 2021.