You know, looking back at Forest Whitaker’s amazing career, you’d be hard pressed to find an actor with a more versatile list of performances. Sure, he won Best Actor in 2007 for his portrayal of the horrifying Ida Amin in The Last King of Scotland. But, this is a guy who also played an introspective hitman in Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai (which is legitimately one of my favorite movies), a White House servant in Lee Daniel’s The Butler, and even an alien in Battlefield Earth.
However, I think one of his finest roles was actually his first leading one in which he played the troubled saxophonist, Charlie Parker. He portrayed him in Clint Eastwood’s 1988 biographical musical drama, Bird, and I think Whitaker should have won an Academy Award for his performance. Here’s why.
