Forest Whitaker
After taking home an Oscar for his remarkable, menacing portrayal of dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, Forest Whitaker has gone down an all-too-typical post-Oscar route. He has received more roles as a result of his win, but few are worthy of his talents. Most recently, he gave very little for a part opposite Liam Neeson in the third Taken film, which only proved how interesting a thriller could be with Whitaker as the pursuant, not the pursuer.
With a history of smaller roles in big ensembles, for films as diverse as Platoon, The Crying Game and Out of the Furnace, Whitaker is primed for more headlining material. Although he was excellent in Lee Daniels’ inconsistent The Butler, he was just as much a prop as a person in that film. The actor could use a lean thriller to show off his heft as a searing dramatic actor.
In The Last King of Scotland, he gave a multifaceted portrayal of a barbaric man that showed audiences just how deep he could submerge into a character. In Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, he earned rave reviews for playing an enigmatic gangster with a strict moral code. If Whitaker can find a role that blends the scope of the former with the street cool of the latter, he has what it takes to show off a new set of skills to audiences unfamiliar with his dramatic work.