Forest Whitaker: And Let Us Say, “Amin.”

Forest Whitaker: I think you’re always careful, particularly as an African American, about the kind of image being depicted by black figures — particularly men, and particularly leaders. It crossed my mind at the beginning, but the only image I had was of a mad, brutal dictator, y’know, and it wasn’t even a real image, it was just something I’d seen in a newspaper or something — it was that shallow of an understanding. And I thought, "Okay, if I play this man, and if I go underneath and try to understand his motivations and his thoughts, I won’t excuse some of the things he thought; I’ll try to understand them, which I think is important to aid in people’s understanding of these types of figures."

Forest Whitaker: I do, unfortunately and fortunately. The book [from which the film was adapted] is a fictional book; you’d go to websites, and many times they’d quote the book, but it’s a fictional novel which is accepted many times as the truth. What’s important is the message of this film, because I do think that people who see this film are going to take it to be the life of Idi Amin unless they go home and start to do research. But I think it’s really important to people’s understanding of Idi Amin that they understand the essence of what happened there under his regime, and what the west did there at that time and place. I think that’s most important. I think his character was represented far worse before than it is now.

Forest Whitaker: There were things, speeches that I thought needed to be included — like his statements about the country, about rebuilding it, about why he was kicking the Asians out; different political moments that were correct that I felt were important and so I would speak to the director and ask if he could include that. It was important for me to stay as true as I could to the real man.

Forest Whitaker: It did play a part, because there were certain things I’d listen to. I worked up all these songs because Idi Amin loved to play the accordion. I’d listen to songs that he liked and I’d try to understand them and play some of them, and that helped me figure out the character. It helped me understand how Idi liked to approach people…and the party aspect of Idi Amin.

Forest Whitaker: On the days down, I’d continue to do research. Whenever I wasn’t working I was off exploring, off eating with somebody’s family; and it was a great gift for me but it turned into research to understand the customs of how you eat and what you eat with what. [Other days off could be] as complicated as trying to set up a meeting with a minister or going to the side of the road and eating at a wooden shack. I was continually searching to make sure I knew everything I could to play the character. I wasn’t upset, and I didn’t become a tyrant, y’know, but I did stay in the energy of the character.

I would have liked to have kept some more Kiswahili. I know some words, some phrases, and there was no reason for me to let it go. There have been times when I wanted to drop the character — like when I was playing [Charlie] Bird [Parker], I didn’t want to continue playing the sax because I had associated the sax with so many emotions that I had to put it away.

MPM: Does working with Clint Eastwood on Bird feel like more or less than 18 years ago?

Forest Whitaker: It feels like a long time ago, it does, but that movie resonates very strongly to me all the time. I still reference it, and reference the experience. It was a very important moment for me. I was really young and it was when I was first embraced internationally as an artist and when people started looking at me as an artist here, so it was a really important film for me.

Clint introduced me to musicians and to Charlie Parker’s wife. He sort of just has this way of working, and some of his crew had been working with him for 15 years, so they have this shorthand so there was never any waiting. You’d be ready for the scene and they’d shoot it, and you’d walk over to the next set and they’d be ready and everybody would be calm and it was all about the work. It was a great opportunity, and he trusted me — which was a big deal for me. I wasn’t sure I trusted myself; I was really afraid.

Forest Whitaker: Telling the complete, the whole, story. Seeing the whole universe. I can do that inside myself as an actor, but you do it from the outside as a director. It’s pretty amazing, bringing that kind of thing to life.

Forest Whitaker: I’m really happy that people like the movie, because I worked really hard on the character. I did everything I could do, honestly, to play this character. I left Uganda thinking there was nothing else I could do; I gave myself to it. I’m proud of the movie, too, and I’m not always proud of the movies I do. I’m not always happy; many times I’m not happy with my work.

Forest Whitaker: I believe in a higher power. I believe in the spark that exists inside of us, and I believe in the energy of our ancestors and that their energy hasn’t left us. I believe that the elements of the earth are aligned. I do have a clarity on that for myself.

Forest Whitaker: Forest is actually my grandfather and my father’s name. My family calls me by my middle name, which is Steve. While my grandfather was alive…when my grandfather and my father were together, they’d call my grandfather "Forest," they’d call my dad "Junior," and they’d call me "Steve."

Forest Whitaker: Fast Times at Ridgemont High was the first part I got, but it didn’t really translate into me getting to play many other parts. Honestly, The Color of Money was a big break for me… I had been working, but then after The Color of Money, [New Yorker critic] Pauline Kael wrote a great review of my work and Disney hired me to do Good Morning, Vietnam and a lot of things started opening up for me. I did that one scene where I hustled Tom Cruise’s character. It was interesting because they had hired someone else and they fired him, and I fought for that break; they asked me if I’d fly myself to audition for Martin Scorsese, and I said, "Yeah." And then when I got the job, they reimbursed me. That was cool. It paid off.