
Forest Whitaker
Known for Acting · 172 credits
- Born
- 1961-07-15 (age 64)
- Place of birth
- Longview, Texas, USA
- Also known as
- Forest Steven Whitaker III · Forest Steven Whitaker · פורסט ויטאקר
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
TV Shows (43)

Criminal Minds
2005
as Sam Cooper

The Daily Show
1996
as Self

American Dad!
2005
as Turlington (voice)

Saturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host

ER
1994
as Curtis Ames

The View
1997
as Self

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2005
as Self

Hill Street Blues
1981

The Shield
2002
as Jon Kavanaugh

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
as Self / Self - Guest

American Idol
2002
as Self

The Jennifer Hudson Show
2022
as Self

Empire
2015
as Eddie Barker

LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
as Self

Andor
2022
as Saw Gerrera

The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
as Self

Star Wars Rebels
2014
as Saw Gerrera (voice)

Cagney & Lacey
1982
as Night Manager

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992

Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015
as Self

Godfather of Harlem
2019
as Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson

Amazing Stories
1985
as Jerry

The Oscars
1953
as Self - Presenter

North and South
1985
as Cuffey

The Twilight Zone
2002
as Self - Host
Where Are They Now?
1999
as Self

Extrapolations
2023
as Auggie Bolo

Live from E!
2002
as Self

Today
1952
as Self

Steve
2017
as Self

Roots
2016
as Fiddler

Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
2011
as Sam Cooper

The Hire
2001
as The Employer

Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy
2021
as Self

Hollywood Black
2024
as Self

The Emperor of Ocean Park
2024
as Judge Oliver Garland

My Generation
2024
as Self - Narrator (voice)

The Early Show
1999
as Self

By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem
2020
as Self

Diff'rent Strokes
1978

Inside the Actors Studio
1994
as Self

Star Wars: Go Rogue
2016
as Saw Gerrera (voice)

Cannes Festival
2022
as Self - Guest
Movies (129)

Black Panther
2018
as Zuri

Arrival
2016
as Colonel Weber

Taken 3
2014
as Inspector Frank Dotzler

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2016
as Saw Gerrera

Havoc
2025
as Lawrence Beaumont

Bloodsport
1988
as Rawlins

Platoon
1986
as Big Harold

Southpaw
2015
as Titus 'Tick' Wills

Species
1995
as Dan Smithson, Empath

Panic Room
2002
as Burnham

Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1982
as Charles Jefferson

The Last Stand
2013
as Agent John Bannister

The King of Kings
2025
as Peter (voice)

Phone Booth
2003
as Captain Ramey

Big George Foreman
2023
as Doc Broadus

First Daughter
2004
as Narrator (voice)

Phenomenon
1996
as Nate Pope

Battlefield Earth
2000
as Ker

Street Kings
2008
as Captain Jack Wander

The Butler
2013
as Cecil Gaines

Where the Wild Things Are
2009
as Ira (voice)

Sorry to Bother You
2018
as First Equisapien / Demarius

The Color of Money
1986
as Amos

Vantage Point
2008
as Howard Lewis

Repo Men
2010
as Jake

The Last King of Scotland
2006
as Idi Amin

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
1999
as Ghost Dog

Out of the Furnace
2013
as Chief Wesley Barnes

Blown Away
1994
as Anthony Franklin

City of Lies
2018
as Jack Jackson

The Great Debaters
2007
as Dr. James Farmer Sr.

Stakeout
1987
as Det. Jack Pismo

Good Morning, Vietnam
1987
as Edward Garlick

Prêt-à-Porter
1994
as Cy Bianco

Johnny Handsome
1989
as Dr. Steven Fisher

How It Ends
2018
as Tom

Mr. Holland's Opus
1995
as Bobby Tidd as an adult (uncredited)

Dope
2015
as The Narrator (voice)

The Experiment
2010
as Barris

Everyone's Hero
2006
as Lonnie Brewster (voice)

Respect
2021
as C. L. Franklin

The Stories: The Making of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'
2017
as Self

Smoke
1995
as Cyrus Cole

Body Snatchers
1993
as Major Collins

Consenting Adults
1992
as David Duttonville

The Crying Game
1992
as Jody

Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
2020
as Self

Zulu
2013
as Ali Sokhela

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
2020
as Jeronicus Jangle

Catch.44
2011
as Ronny

Freelancers
2012
as Dennis Larue

American Gun
2005
as Carter

Vision Quest
1985
as Balldozer

Winged Creatures
2009
as Charlie Archenault

The Air I Breathe
2007
as Happiness

Pawn
2013
as Will

Bird
1988
as Charlie 'Bird' Parker

Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
1996
as Mr. Rucker

Powder Blue
2009
as Charlie

Black Nativity
2013
as Reverend Cornell Cobbs

Jiminy Glick in Lalawood
2005
as Forest Whitaker

Article 99
1992
as Dr. Sid Handleman

Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look
2022
as Saw Gerrera (archive footage) (uncredited)

Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
2022
as Self (archive footage)

Green Dragon
2001
as Addie

A Dark Truth
2012
as Francisco Francis

The Follow
2001
as The Employer

Our Family Wedding
2010
as Brad Boyd

Even Money
2007
as Clyde Snow

A Rage in Harlem
1991
as Jackson

Hurricane Season
2010
as Al Collins

Light It Up
1999
as Officer Dante Jackson

The Forgiven
2018
as Desmond Tutu

My Own Love Song
2010
as Joey

A Man's Story
2011
as Self

The Fourth Angel
2001
as Agent Jules Bernard

A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon'
2001
as Self

Feast of All Saints
2001
as Daguerreotypist Picard

Burden
2018
as Reverend Kennedy

Last Light
1993
as Fred Whitmore

Mary
2005
as Ted Younger

Tag: The Assassination Game
1982
as Gowdy's Bodyguard

Finding Steve McQueen
2019
as Howard Lambert

Repentance
2014
as Angel

The Marsh
2006
as Geoffrey Hunt

2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010
as (archive footage)

Bank Robber
1993
as Officer Battle

Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
2000
as Self

Downtown
1990
as Dennis Curren

Jason's Lyric
1994
as Maddog

The Enemy Within
1994
as Col. MacKenzie Casey

Body Count
1998
as Crane

A Little Trip to Heaven
2005
as Abe Holt
Ghost Dog: The Odyssey: The Journey Into the Life of a Samurai
2001

Two Men in Town
2014
as William Garnett

Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso
1994
as Self

Diary of a Hitman
1991
as Dekker

Deacons for Defense
2005
as Marcus Clay

Criminal Justice
1990
as Jessie Williams

Witness Protection
1999
as Steven Beck

Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times
2020
as Self

Four Dogs Playing Poker
2000
as Mr. Ellington

to Crinkle their Wrist, Perfumed Splendour
2023
as Ghost Dog (archive footage)

Crips and Bloods: Made in America
2009
as Narrator

Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life
2010
as Lion

Lush Life
1993
as Buddy Chester

Ripple Effect
2007
as Philip

Lullaby for Pi
2010
as George

Mysteries of the Unseen World
2013
as Narrator

Food Chains
2014

Prophets of Change
2022
as Narrator

Shooting 'Panic Room'
2004
as Self

Odyssey in Rome
2005

Hands of a Stranger
1987
as Sergeant Delaney

Xenolinguistics: Understanding 'Arrival'
2017
as Self
Rose's Baby
2027

Before the Music Dies
2006
as Self - Narrator (voice)
The Misbehavers
2004
as Self

A Fall from Grace

The Paperboy
2000
as Narrator
About 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 Sam… With 172 credits spanning from 1952 to 2027, Forest Whitaker has appeared in 129 films and 43 TV shows.
Fans searching for Forest Whitaker movies, Forest Whitaker filmography, or the latest projects starring Forest Whitaker can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Forest Whitaker Movies
- Black Panther (2018) — as Zuri
- Arrival (2016) — as Colonel Weber
- Taken 3 (2014) — as Inspector Frank Dotzler
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) — as Saw Gerrera
- Havoc (2025) — as Lawrence Beaumont
Where to Watch Forest Whitaker Films
Most Forest Whitaker movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Forest Whitaker, check our movies catalogue and browse page.