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).
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 | ||
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 |
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 |
Year | Title | Playwright | Role | Venue |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Hughie | Eugene O'Neill | Erie Smith | Booth Theatre, Broadway debut |
Year | Title | Voice role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | Saw Gerrera | Voice, likeness, and motion capture | [5] |
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" | ||
Anne Hampton Potts is an American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Corvette Summer (1978) and won a Genie Award for Heartaches (1981), before appearing in Ghostbusters (1984), Pretty in Pink (1986), Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Who's Harry Crumb? (1989), Ghostbusters II (1989), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024). She voiced Bo Peep in the Toy Story franchise and in various Disney video games.
Jim Broadbent is an English actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1972, he came to prominence as a character actor for his many roles in film and television. He has received various accolades including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, an International Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award.
Anna Paquin is a New Zealand actress. She made her acting debut in the romantic drama film The Piano (1993), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 11, becoming the second-youngest winner in Oscar history. As a child actress, she had roles in Fly Away Home (1996), Jane Eyre (1996), Amistad (1997), The Member of the Wedding (1997), and A Walk on the Moon (1999), as well as in Cameron Crowe's comedy drama film Almost Famous (2000).
Jimmy L. Smits is an American actor. He is best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s–1990s legal drama L.A. Law, NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s–2000s police drama NYPD Blue, Matt Santos on the political drama The West Wing, and for appearing in Switch (1991), My Family (1995), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), and In the Heights (2021). He also appeared as Bail Organa in the Star Wars franchise and as ADA Miguel Prado in Dexter. From 2012 to 2014, he joined the main cast of Sons of Anarchy as Nero Padilla. Smits also portrayed Elijah Strait in the NBC drama series Bluff City Law.
David Stephen Caruso is an American retired actor and producer, best known for his roles as Detective John Kelly on the ABC crime drama NYPD Blue (1993–1994) and Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the CBS series CSI: Miami (2002–2012). He appears in the feature films An Officer and a Gentleman, First Blood (1982), Twins (1988), King of New York (1990), Kiss of Death (1995) and Proof of Life (2000).
Wendy Jane Crewson is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film The Doctor.
Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer and director. 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.
James Frain is an English actor. His best known television roles include Thomas Cromwell in the Showtime/CBC historical drama The Tudors (2007–2009), Franklin Mott in the HBO drama True Blood (2010), Warwick the Kingmaker in the BBC drama serial The White Queen (2013), John Sumner in the Sky/Canal+ crime drama The Tunnel (2013), Ferdinand Chevalier in the BBC/Space sci-fi thriller Orphan Black (2015–2017), Theo Galavan/Azrael in Fox's Gotham (2015–2016), and Sarek in Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2019). He also played leading roles in the BBC dramas Armadillo (2001), The Buccaneers (1995) and The Mill on the Floss (1997).
Vincent Anthony Vaughn is an American actor and comedian. He is known for starring as a leading man in numerous comedy films during the late 1990s and 2000s. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Saturn Award.
Blair Erwin Underwood is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film Krush Groove and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series L.A. Law.
Marton Paul Csokas is a New Zealand actor of film, stage, and television. A graduate of the Toi Whakaari drama school, he has worked extensively in Australia and Hollywood, along with his native country, and often portrays villainous roles.
Erik Ki La Salle, professionally known as Eriq La Salle, is an American actor, director, writer and producer. La Salle is known for his performance as Dr. Peter Benton in the NBC medical drama ER which earned him three NAACP Image Awards and nominations for a Golden Globe Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards.
Mykelti Williamson is an American actor best known for his roles in the films Forrest Gump, 12 Angry Men (1997), Con Air, and Ali, and the television shows Boomtown, 24, and Justified. In 2016, he portrayed Gabriel Maxson in Denzel Washington's acclaimed film adaptation of August Wilson's play Fences, reprising his role from the 2010 Broadway revival.
Lorraine Toussaint is a Trinidadian-born actress based in the United States. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Black Reel Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Rae Dawn Chong is a Canadian-American actress. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film Stony Island, and in 1981 starred in the fantasy film Quest for Fire, for which she received the Genie Award for Best Actress.
David Krumholtz is an American actor. Krumholtz is best known for portraying Bernard in The Santa Clause franchise (1994–present), Michael Eckman in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Goldstein in the Harold & Kumar film trilogy (2004–2011), Charlie Eppes in the CBS drama series Numb3rs (2005–2010), and Isidor Isaac Rabi in Oppenheimer (2023).
Eamonn Roderique Walker is an English actor. On television, he began in the BBC sitcom In Sickness and in Health (1985–1987), the ITV crime dramas The Bill (1988–1989) and Supply & Demand (1998), and the HBO series Oz (1997–2003), for which he won a CableACE Award.
Kenneth Leung is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has gained attention for playing Miles Straume in the ABC drama series Lost (2008–2010) and Eric Tao in HBO drama series Industry (2020–present).
Bokeem Woodbine is an American actor. In 1994, he portrayed Joshua, the main character's troubled brother, in Jason's Lyric. He won a Black Reel Award and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for his role as Kansas City mob enforcer Mike Milligan in the second season of Fargo. Woodbine also portrayed Daniel in season 2 of the WGN series Underground, Herman Schultz/Shocker in the film Spider-Man: Homecoming, and saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman in the Oscar-winning Ray Charles biopic Ray.
Lucas Black is an American actor. He played Sean Boswell in the films for Fast & Furious, including The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Furious 7 (2015), and F9 (2021). He also starred in the television series aired on CBS, including American Gothic (1995–1996) and NCIS: New Orleans (2014–2019). His other notable films include Sling Blade (1996), Flash (1997), Crazy in Alabama (1999), All the Pretty Horses (2000), Friday Night Lights (2004), Jarhead (2005), Get Low (2009), Legion (2010), Seven Days in Utopia (2011), and 42 (2013).