Inside the Actors Studio
Guests 
Forest Whitaker
Season 13, Episode 1302
Original Airdate: December 11, 2006
The multi-talented Forest Whitaker started out as a football star in school and went on to study as a classical tenor before shifting to acting.
After playing athletes in teen flicks “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Vision Quest,” Whitaker gained notice with a range of supporting parts in A-list films including “Platoon,” “The Color of Money,” “Good Morning, Vietnam,” and “The Crying Game.”
It was the breakout lead portrayal of the tortured jazz icon Charlie “Bird” Parker in Clint Eastwood's “Bird,” for which Whitaker won the Cannes Film Festival award for best actor and a Golden Globe nomination.
Widening his horizons, Whitaker gained respect behind the camera. He made a successful directorial debut with “Waiting to Exhale” and went on to direct “Hope Floats” and “First Daughter.”
A star of both film and television, Whitaker has recently taken on challenging roles in the acclaimed dramas “The Shield” and “ER.”
Recently, Whitaker tackled the role of a lifetime in “The Last King of Scotland,” playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and is generating Oscar buzz.
