A Gentle Giant of Talent
Talent comes in many forms. Whether tall or short, big or skinny, man or woman—you get the picture—a person’s talent can never be measured from a glance. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to do it that way. Take Oscar and Golden Globe winning actorForest Whitaker for instance. He could easily pass for a big brute who would be most likely to tackle you rather than inspire you on and off screen.
Forest Steven Whitaker Jr. was born in July 15, 1961 in Longview, Texas. His father, Forest Whitaker Sr., decided to move the family to South Central Los Angeles when Forest Jr. was four. Growing up in one of the most notorious areas in the United States exposed Forest to different hardships that most actors cannot claim to have gone through. However, being raised by a novelist father, and not to mention a special education teacher for a mother who not only put herself through college but also earned two masters degrees, must have kept Forest from straying off the proper track.
While in high school, Forest poured all his energy in sports, music, and theater. While being an all-league defensive tackle player in the PalisadesHigh School football team, he played alongside quarterback Jay Schroeder who eventually played for the NFL. When practice wasn’t in session, and Forest wasn’t making a pancake out of anyone, he found time to polish his vocal cords. He took voice lessons during his high school years, and played a part in musicals. It was through performing on stage that introduced Forest to acting. It wasn’t long after when, reportedly, Forest was finally bit by the “acting bug.”
After graduating from high school in 1979, Forest received a football scholarship for California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California. Unfortunately, after a debilitating back injury during practice, Forest was forced to leave the school, and football altogether. Though there is a saying that when the door of opportunity closes, a window of chance opens. Unable to commit himself through sports, Forest opted to focus his attention to his other talents, singing and acting. He applied and was accepted at the Music Conservatory at the University of Southern California (USC). While there, he went on to study opera and sang as a tenor. Not content with just his musical ability, Forest was also later on accepted into the Universities Drama Conservatory. He finished his studies at USC in 1982, and went on to pursue a scholarship at Berkeley, California branch of the Drama Studio London.
Forest, like most actors who were starting out, went on to do small, but relevant roles during his first few years in Hollywood. It wasn’t until 1988 when the movie Bird, together with Clint Eastwood, earned him a best actor award that year at Cannes. After that, Forest starred in over twenty films, most notably in The Crying Game (1992) where he plays Jody, a character who finds himself caught in a world that is wrought with racial, sexual, and social stereotypes, Blown Away (1993) where he met his wife Keisha Nash on set, and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) in the role of a paradoxically honorable hit man. Forest’s most recent success came in 2006 where he won an Academy Award for his outstanding portrayal of General Idi Amin in the The Last King of Scotland.
Despite his many roles in the past, Forest is usually regarded as the “gentle giant.” Being a man with an intimidating build, it is usually overlooked due to his good nature and soft-spoken demeanor. Nevertheless, Forest has proven over the years that even with a large frame, it still cannot compare to his ultimately grander talent.
