Forest Whitaker Filmography: Movies and Television Credits

This Forest Whitaker filmography covers 91 movie titles and 20 television titles from the available cast credits. Multiple roles in the same title are grouped together. It is a selection of screen credits, rather than a complete record of every performance. Credits may include acting, voice work, uncredited roles and appearances as themselves.

Forest Whitaker movies by release year

The years below are film release years, not filming dates.

• Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) as Charles Jefferson
• Tag: The Assassination Game (1982) as Gowdy's Bodyguard
• Vision Quest (1985) as Balldozer
• Platoon (1986) as Big Harold
• The Color of Money (1986) as Amos
• Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) as Edward Garlick
• Stakeout (1987) as Det. Jack Pismo
• Bird (1988) as Charlie 'Bird' Parker
• Bloodsport (1988) as Rawlins
• Johnny Handsome (1989) as Dr. Steven Fisher
• Downtown (1990) as Dennis Curren
• A Rage in Harlem (1991) as Jackson
• Diary of a Hitman (1991) as Dekker
• Article 99 (1992) as Dr. Sid Handleman
• Consenting Adults (1992) as David Duttonville
• The Crying Game (1992) as Jody
• Body Snatchers (1993) as Major Collins
• Blown Away (1994) as Anthony Franklin
• Jason's Lyric (1994) as Maddog
• Prêt-à-Porter (1994) as Cy Bianco
• The Enemy Within (1994) as Col. MacKenzie Casey
• Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) as Bobby Tidd as an adult (uncredited)
• Smoke (1995) as Cyrus Cole
• Species (1995) as Dan Smithson, Empath
• Phenomenon (1996) as Nate Pope
• Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996) as Mr. Rucker
• Body Count (1998) as Crane
• Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) as Ghost Dog
• Light It Up (1999) as Officer Dante Jackson
• Witness Protection (1999) as Steven Beck
• Battlefield Earth (2000) as Ker
• Green Dragon (2001) as Addie
• The Follow (2001) as The Employer
• The Fourth Angel (2001) as Agent Jules Bernard
• Panic Room (2002) as Burnham
• Phone Booth (2003) as Captain Ramey
• First Daughter (2004) as Narrator (voice)
• A Little Trip to Heaven (2005) as Abe Holt
• American Gun (2005) as Carter
• Jiminy Glick in Lalawood (2005) as Forest Whitaker
• Mary (2005) as Ted Younger
• Everyone's Hero (2006) as Lonnie Brewster (voice)
• The Last King of Scotland (2006) as Idi Amin
• The Marsh (2006) as Geoffrey Hunt
• Even Money (2007) as Clyde Snow
• The Air I Breathe (2007) as Happiness
• The Great Debaters (2007) as Dr. James Farmer Sr.
• Street Kings (2008) as Captain Jack Wander
• Vantage Point (2008) as Howard Lewis
• Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2009) as Narrator
• Powder Blue (2009) as Charlie
• Where the Wild Things Are (2009) as Ira (voice)
• Winged Creatures (2009) as Charlie Archenault
• Hurricane Season (2010) as Al Collins
• Lullaby for Pi (2010) as George
• My Own Love Song (2010) as Joey
• Our Family Wedding (2010) as Brad Boyd
• Repo Men (2010) as Jake
• The Experiment (2010) as Barris
• Catch.44 (2011) as Ronny
• A Dark Truth (2012) as Francisco Francis
• Freelancers (2012) as Dennis Larue
• Black Nativity (2013) as Reverend Cornell Cobbs
• Mysteries of the Unseen World (2013) as Narrator
• Out of the Furnace (2013) as Chief Wesley Barnes
• Pawn (2013) as Will
• The Butler (2013) as Cecil Gaines
• The Last Stand (2013) as Agent John Bannister
• Zulu (2013) as Ali Sokhela
• Repentance (2014) as Angel
• Taken 3 (2014) as Inspector Frank Dotzler
• Two Men in Town (2014) as William Garnett
• Dope (2015) as The Narrator (voice)
• Southpaw (2015) as Titus 'Tick' Wills
• Arrival (2016) as Colonel Weber
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) as Saw Gerrera
• Black Panther (2018) as Zuri
• Burden (2018) as Reverend Kennedy
• City of Lies (2018) as Jack Jackson
• How It Ends (2018) as Tom
• Sorry to Bother You (2018) as First Equisapien / Demarius
• The Forgiven (2018) as Desmond Tutu
• Finding Steve McQueen (2019) as Howard Lambert
• Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King (2020) as Self
• Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020) as Jeronicus Jangle
• Respect (2021) as C. L. Franklin
• Andor: A Disney+ Day Special Look (2022) as Saw Gerrera (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend (2022) as Self (archive footage)
• Big George Foreman (2023) as Doc Broadus
• Havoc (2025) as Lawrence Beaumont
• The King of Kings (2025) as Peter (voice)

Forest Whitaker television roles and appearances

Television titles are listed alphabetically. An appearance date is included only where verified for Forest Whitaker; a programme's premiere year does not establish when a performer appeared in it.

• Amazing Stories as Jerry
• American Dad! as Turlington (voice)
• American Idol as Self
• Andor as Saw Gerrera
• Cagney & Lacey as Night Manager
• Criminal Minds as Sam Cooper
• Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior as Sam Cooper
• Diff'rent Strokes
• Empire as Eddie Barker
• ER as Curtis Ames
• Extrapolations as Auggie Bolo
• Godfather of Harlem as Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson
• Hill Street Blues
• North and South as Cuffey
• Roots as Fiddler
• Star Wars Rebels as Saw Gerrera (voice)
• The Emperor of Ocean Park as Judge Oliver Garland
• The Oscars as Self - Presenter; Self
• The Shield as Jon Kavanaugh
• The Twilight Zone as Self - Host

Credit information: TMDB, with additional sources listed below where used. The titles shown here do not establish the beginning or end of Forest Whitaker's career, and omissions should not be treated as evidence that a credit does not exist.