Forest Whitaker at the Launch of 'Mandela Day'. Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA. 05-14-09

RECENT CREDITS
Where the Wild Things Are (FILM)  Oct. 16, 2009
Brick City (TV)  Sep. 25, 2009
Fragments (FILM)  Jul. 31, 2009
Kassim the Dream (FILM)  May. 15, 2009
Powder Blue (FILM)  May. 8, 2009
View all Forest Whitaker Credits


HIGHLIGHTS
2009 Voiced Ira in Spike Jonze's live-action adaptation of Maurice Sendak's children's book, "Where the Wild Things Are"
2008 Co-stared with Denzel Washington (who also directed) in "The Great Debaters"
2006 Played a principal of a violent inner-city school in Aric Avelino's film debut "American Gun"; earned an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Male Lead
View all Highlights


All Credits

Film Name / TV Show Name (Episode Name)
Role
Category

The Expendables  2010 -Cast
Actor
Film


Repo Men  2010 -Cast
Actor
Film


Hurricane Season  2008 -Al Collins
Actor
Film


My Own Love Song   -Cast
Actor
Film


The Experiment (Remake)   -Cast
Actor
Film


Before the Music Dies  
Narrator
Film


Family Wedding   -Cast
Actor
Film


A Single Shot   -Cast
Actor
Film


Sweet Soul Music  
Executive Producer
TV


The Facts about Kate  
Producer
Film


The Bow Wow Club  
Producer
Film


Selling Time  
Screenplay
Film


Sins of the Father  
Producer, Actor
Film


Harlem's Finest  
Producer
Film


Jekyll and Hyde   -Cast
Actor
Film


The Girl Can't Help It (Remake)  
Director, Producer
Film


The Hardest Game  
Producer
Film


What a Wonderful World   -Louis Armstrong
Director, Actor
Film


You Only Live Once  
Director
Film


Where the Wild Things Are  2009 -Ira
Actor
Film


Brick City  2009
Executive Producer
TV
Expand


Fragments  2009 -Charlie Archenault
Actor
Film


Kassim the Dream  2009
Executive Producer
Film


Powder Blue  2009 -Charlie
Producer, Actor
Film


Crips and Bloods: Made in America  2009
Narrator
Film


The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards  2009 -Presenter
Actor
TV


Dragon Hunters  2008 -Voice of Lian Chu
Actor
Film


CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute  2008 -Cast
Actor
TV


Mary  2008 -Ted Younger
Actor
Film


Ripple Effect  2008 -Phillip
Actor, Executive Producer
Film


Street Kings  2008 -Captain Jack Wander
Actor
Film


Idol Gives Back 2  2008 -Cast
Actor
TV


The 80th Annual Academy Awards  2008 -Presenter
Actor
TV


Vantage Point  2008 -Howard Lewis
Actor
Film


The 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards  2008 -Presenter
Actor
TV


The Air I Breathe  2008 -Happiness
Actor
Film


The Great Debaters  2007 -James Farmer, Sr.
Actor
Film


BET Awards '07  2007 -Winner
Actor
TV


Even Money  2007 -Clyde Snow
Actor
Film


Idol Gives Back  2007 -Cast
Actor
TV


The 38th Annual NAACP Image Awards  2007 -Winner
Actor
TV


The 2007 Screen Actors Guild Awards  2007 -Presenter
Actor
TV


The Last King of Scotland  2006 -Idi Amin
Actor, Song, Song Performer
Film


Everyone's Hero  2006 -Voice of Lonnie Brewster
Actor
Film


American Gun  2006 -Carter
Actor, Executive Producer
Film


Jiminy Glick in Lalawood  2005 -Himself (cameo)
Actor
Film


American Dad  2007-2009 -Turlington
Voice
TV
Expand


The First Amendment Project  2004
Director
TV


First Daughter  2004 -Narrator, Soundtrack Executive Producer
Director, Actor, Executive Producer, Song, Music Producer
Film


2004 IFP/Independent Spirit Awards  2004 -Presenter
Actor
TV


Chasing Papi  2003
Producer
Film


Phone Booth  2003 -Captain Ramey
Actor
Film


Deacons For Defense  2003 -Marcus
Actor
TV


American Storytellers  2003 -Himself
Actor
Film


The Twilight Zone  2002-2003 -Host
Consulting Producer, Actor
TV
Expand


Fast Times At Ridgemont High  2002 -Charles Jefferson
Actor
Film


Door to Door  2002
Co-Executive Producer
TV


Green Dragon  2002 -Addie
Actor, Executive Producer
Film


Panic Room  2002 -Burnham
Actor
Film


The Shield  2006-2007 -Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh
Actor
TV
Expand


The Feast of All Saints  2001 -Daguerreotypist Picard
Executive Producer, Actor
TV


Intimate Portrait: Lela Rochon Fuqua  2001 -Interviewee
Actor
TV


Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows  2000 -Interviewee
Actor
TV


Battlefield Earth  2000 -Ker
Actor
Film


Ghost Dog: the Way of the Samurai  2000 -Ghost Dog
Actor
Film


Four Dogs Playing Poker  2000 -Ellington
Actor
Film


Witness Protection  1999 -U S Marshal Steve Beck
Actor
TV


Light It Up  1999 -Officer Dante Jackson
Actor
Film


Hope Floats  1998 -executive soundtrack producer
Director, Music Producer
Film


Body Count  1998 -Crane
Actor
TV


Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault  1996 -Holcolm Rucker
Actor
TV


Phenomenon  1996 -Nate Pope
Actor
Film


Waiting to Exhale  1995
Director
Film


Species  1995 -Dan
Actor
Film


Smoke  1995 -Cyrus Cole
Actor
Film


Ready to Wear  1994 -Cy BiancoFashion Designer
Actor
Film


Jason's Lyric  1994 -Maddog
Actor
Film


ER  2006-2007 -Curtis Ames
Actor
TV
Expand


Blown Away  1994 -Anthony Franklin
Actor
Film


Lush Life  1994 -Buddy Chester
Actor
TV


Body Snatchers  1994 -Doctor Collins
Actor
Film


Bank Robber  1993 -Officer Battle
Actor
Film


Last Light  1993 -Fred Whitmore
Actor
TV


Strapped  1993
Director
TV


The Crying Game  1992 -Jody
Actor
Film


Consenting Adults  1992 -David Duttonville
Actor
Film


Diary of a Hitman  1992 -Dekker
Actor
Film


Article 99  1992 -Dr Sid Handleman
Actor
Film


ABC in Concert  1991
Actor
TV


A Rage in Harlem  1991 -Jackson
Actor, Co-Producer
Film


Criminal Justice  1990 -Jesse Williams
Actor
TV


Downtown  1990 -Dennis Curren
Actor
Film


Johnny Handsome  1989 -Dr Steven Resher
Actor
Film


Bird  1988 -Charlie "Bird" Parker
Actor
Film


Bloodsport  1988 -Rawlins
Actor
Film


Good Morning, Vietnam  1987 -Edward Garlick
Actor
Film


Stakeout  1987 -Jack Pismo
Actor
Film


Hands of a Stranger  1987 -Sergeant Delaney
Actor
TV


Platoon  1986 -Big Harold
Actor
Film


The Color of Money  1986 -Amos
Actor
Film


North and South: Book II  1986 -Cuffey
Actor
TV


North and South  1985 -Cuffey
Actor
TV


Vision Quest  1985 -Bulldozer
Actor
Film


The Marsh   -Cast
Actor
Film


The Enemy Within   -Colonel MacKenzie "Mac" Casey
Actor
Film


The Fourth Angel   -Agent Jules Bernard
Actor
Film


A Little Trip to Heaven   -Holt
Actor
Film




To suggest updates to this information, click here

Highlights

2009 Voiced Ira in Spike Jonze's live-action adaptation of Maurice Sendak's children's book, "Where the Wild Things Are"
2008 Co-stared with Denzel Washington (who also directed) in "The Great Debaters"
2006 Played a principal of a violent inner-city school in Aric Avelino's film debut "American Gun"; earned an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Male Lead
2006 Offered an award winning performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland"
2006 Guest starred in five episodes of the NBC medical drama, "ER" as a carpenter who ends up being paralyzed by a stroke after being admitted for a cough; earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest A
2005 Joined the cast of FX's "The Shield" for the fifth season, playing a cop from internal affairs
2004 Directed (also produced) Katie Holmes in "First Daughter"
2003 Appeared in the Showtime movie "Deacons for Defense"; received a SAG nomination for Best Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
2003 Cast as senior officer Captain Ramey in the suspense thriller "Phone Booth"
2002 Played one of a trio terrorizing a woman and her child while looking for missing money in "Panic Room"
2002 Hosted the classical mystery series "The Twilight Zone"
2001 Starred opposite Jeremy Irons in the thriller "The Fourth Angel"
2001 Had featured role in the Sundance-screened "The Green Dragon"
2000 Portrayed Ker in "Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000"; picture based on novel by Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard
1999 Starred as the titular character of Jim Jarmusch's "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai"
1999 Played a Federal Marshall in HBO's "Witness Protection"
1998 Helmed second film, "Hope Floats" starring Sandra Bullock
1998 Signed development deal with Columbia-TriStar
1995 Feature film directorial debut, "Waiting to Exhale"; co-starred Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston
1994 Returned to the world of jazz as trumpeter Buddy Chester, a top sideman who discovers he has a malignant brain tumor, testing his friendship with Jeff Goldblum and Kathy Baker in Showtime's "Lush Life
1993 TV-movie directing debut, "Strapped"; an urban drama for HBO which earned the director's award for best first feature at the Toronto Film Festival; Kiefer Sutherland acted in film and Whitaker repaid
1992 Played British soldier kidnapped by IRA terrorists in Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game"
1991 Feature producing debut (also acted), "A Rage in Harlem"; directed by Bill Duke
1988 First starring feature role as jazz legend Charlie Parker in Clint Eastwood's "Bird"
1987 Had high-profile supporting role in "Good Morning, Vietnam" opposite Robin Williams
1986 Acted in Martin Scorsese's "The Color of Money" and Oliver Stone's "Platoon"
1986 Reprised role of Cuffey in "North and South: Book II" (ABC)
1986 Directed first major stage production, "Dreams Across the Realm"
1985 TV miniseries debut as Cuffey in "North and South" (ABC)
1982 Film acting debut as a high school football player in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"
Moved with family to Los Angeles at young age
Performed in Los Angeles productions after college, including "School Talk" (Mark Taper Forum) and "The Greeks" (Drama Studio London); also acted in "Jesus Christ Superstar," and "Beggar's Opera" (bot
Appeared in various TV series including "Different Strokes" (NBC), "Hill Street Blues" (NBC, directed by Bill Duke), "Cagney and Lacey" (CBS), and "Amazing Stories" (NBC)
Directed music videos for Cheryl Pepsi Riley ("Thanks For My Child"), and for rappers Low Key, Soula, and M.C. Supreme for Warner Bros. Records
Formed Spirit Dance Productions


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Recently Worked With...

Max Records
Where the Wild Things Are
Released: Oct. 16, 2009

Guy Pearce at the New York Premiere of 'Traitor' at Regal Union Square Stadium 14. New York City, USA - 08-21-08
Guy Pearce
Fragments
Released: Jul. 31, 2009

Kassim Ouma
Kassim the Dream
Released: May. 15, 2009

Jessica Biel
Jessica Biel
Powder Blue
Released: May. 8, 2009

Skipp
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
Released: Jan. 23, 2009


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