Forest Whitacker Interview, Street Kings

MoviesOnline recently sat down with Forest Whitaker at the Los Angeles press day to talk about his new movie, “Street Kings,” directed by David Ayer.

Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) is a veteran LAPD cop who finds life difficult to navigate after the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of his former partner, Detective Terrance Washington (Terry Crews), Ludlow sets out on a quest to find the real murderers responsible and bring them to justice. With the help of a young Robbery Homicide Detective (Chris Evans), the two team up to tackle the diverse communities of Los Angeles. Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker plays Captain Wander, Ludlow’s supervisor, whose duties include keeping him within the confines of the law and out of the clutches of Internal Affairs Captain Biggs (Hugh Laurie).

Forest Whitaker had an exceptional year in 2007. He amazed audiences with his portrayal of Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland,” for which he earned an Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG Award, and BAFTA Award, all in the leading actor category, and critics awards across the board. On the small screen, Whitaker earned an Emmy nomination for his role on last season’s “ER.”

This year, Whitaker has appeared in the already released “The Air I Breathe” and “Vantage Point” and has wrapped filming on “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Winged Creatures,” “Powder Blue” and “Repossession Mambo.”

Forest’s other credits include, “American Gun,” which received an Independent Spirit Award nomination, Clint Eastwood’s “Bird,” for which he was named Best Actor at The Cannes Film Festival as well as a Golden Globe Nomination, “The Crying Game,” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,” “Fourth Angel,” “Panic Room” and “Phone Booth,” among many others.

Whitaker has also made his mark behind the camera, beginning with his first directing endeavor of “Waiting to Exhale.” Since then, he has worked as the executive producer of “Green Dragon,” producer of “Chasing Papi,” director of “First Daughter” and “Hope Floats.”

Forest Whitaker is a fabulous guy and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about “Street Kings”:

MoviesOnline: Is this the first film you did after The Last King of Scotland?

FOREST WHITAKER: Let me think, Last King of Scotland, there was a long period of time before it ever came out. I think one of the first things I did was Vantage Point right before the movie came out. There was another movie called The Air I Breathe, and then I think I did this one.

MoviesOnline: What attracted you to this role?

FOREST WHITAKER: I thought it was a really interesting character to play. I liked his moral code, his conflicting moral code I guess, and the power that he possesses. It was an interesting thing to try to explore. So that was one of the things I was attracted to. The story was interesting, because of the whole family thing -- I thought to myself too, about Keanu and the team – [it] was something interesting to explore what you do for family and when you’re right and when you’re wrong and what are the lines.

MoviesOnline: Did you think about your experience on The Shield in terms of this?

FOREST WHITAKER: I did, but you know it’s interesting because the character on The Shield, he has a hard time, and when he finally does cross the line it destroys him because he’s so morally – he’s almost like an arch angel, he can only work one way, and if he crosses that line it destroys him. When he tries to do that, his character falls and he has to admit he can’t handle it. Whereas this character is clean, clear on the other side. To me they are totally just such different people.

MoviesOnline: This character could be more along the lines of Vic Mackey who knows how to break the rules.

FOREST WHITAKER: Yeah, I guess Keanu is like Vic Mackey in a way. It’s almost like a mob family or something and I’m sort of the head boss. It’s more like that.

MoviesOnline: Growing up in L.A. I don’t know if you were a witness or a victim to any rough treatment by the cops, but did that in any way inform your background for this role?

FOREST WHITAKER: I didn’t use that in playing the character. Yeah, my experience with police officers wasn’t really very good coming up as a kid, so I had to play this character with the love of who he was, and do that without compromise, and maybe it did fuel me to feel like anything’s possible, that these police officers could do anything, because [along] with the good, I’ve also seen the darker side of what the police can do in the real world, from a personal level.

MoviesOnline: You have a couple of physical scenes, was doing that fight scene fun or did you get hurt?

FOREST WHITAKER: We were just trying to work it out. I went to meet with the stunt guys once, and we trained and we did it, and then we worked out right before a couple of times in front of the house. It went pretty smooth. I think there was some stuff where we were trying to make sure we hit each other right, had on the right pads and stuff to hit up against things, but it went really smooth.

MoviesOnline: Did you have to do any of the LAPD training?

FOREST WHITAKER: Nah, I’ve done those scenes before. I’ve played a number of cops (laughs).

MoviesOnline: Did you discuss your character’s back story with the director?

FOREST WHITAKER: We had a lot of discussions because we worked on the script in rehearsals trying to make sure he was complete and stuff, but I think he had certain Rampart concepts about who we were, like what had happened in the Rampart division, the way he viewed cops, so he was like an architect. He was like the epitome of the corruption, that’s what he is and that’s what I was trying to do as well as to deal with, like I say, the guy who still had a code. I think it’s interesting when you have a code and morally everyone thinks your code is wrong, but that’s what he lives by, and at least you know where he’s going to go. You know exactly what he’s going to do.

MoviesOnline: One of the highlights of the film is when you go face to face with Hugh Laurie, how organic was the execution of that scene?

FOREST WHITAKER: Yeah, that was pretty fun. We hadn’t worked together, so we just walked in and went at it. We didn’t know each other that well, and we were just trying to make something happen. He’s a really nice guy.

MoviesOnline: Did not knowing each other well help with the animosity that the characters had for each other?

FOREST WHITAKER: I think for me the notion of protecting – people crossing my lines. I had already created in my head certain things, so he crossed the line. He’s messing with my guy, he’s like messing with my kid. It’s like, “I’m going in; you’re going to punish my kid?” This character is not one of those who thinks the neighborhood can punish their kid. If you’ve got a problem with him, you come talk to me, and I’ll do it. So that’s more how I went in. I went in more like protecting this guy and making sure that I set this guy straight as to what the rules really are, what my rules are. If you don’t live by them, I will deal with you. I think that was real important. That’s how I did it.

MoviesOnline: Was some of it improvised, because when it came out it seemed so natural?

FOREST WHITAKER: Maybe a line or something here and there. We worked on that, we’d gotten it right and stuff, so it was pretty – I don’t really remember – I actually don’t. I just remember telling him not to – don’t mess with my guys, something like that, and threatening him sort of. I don’t remember what I said. I’d have to see the movie a few times to remember how I worked on the dialogue.

MoviesOnline: Did David want you to do a lot of rehearsal ahead of time?

FOREST WHITAKER: We had a lot of time when we met with David. Keanu and I met with David and talked about the script and tried to figure out our relationship and stuff, and during that time David was reworking the script and rewriting it and trying to shape it and put all the right colors in the characters and in our relationship. So we did do a few of those. We had a number of those times where we did that. I think it paid off. It really worked out well. The scenes got stronger and stronger. The dialogue, and certain things that would be improv-ed in rehearsal, would be added to the script.

MoviesOnline: How was it working with David Ayer?

FOREST WHITAKER: I liked working with him. What’s great is when I talked with him, we talked about the character in the beginning and he was like, “What are you thinking?” and I said, “This is what I would like to have happen,” and he said, “This is what we’re going to work on.” And he did, so it was great just to sit there and work with him. He’s so impassioned about the cops. He was always kind of dressed in cop gear. He’s kind of in character the whole time.

MoviesOnline: Speaking of gear, how much does what you wear and what you carry help you inhabit a role? Do you have any input on your clothes?

FOREST WHITAKER: Yeah, I wanted him to be dressed a certain way. I thought it just was an example of the power he had and the way he looked at the world, and the kind of question, if you wanted to, about money, even though you don’t know what’s going on during the film, his ability to – a certain style about him, what he’s trying to do, and that was really important to me, so that was something that they let me create. That was something that I was able to bring to the table.

MoviesOnline: What did you discover about working with Keanu? Were there any surprises?

FOREST WHITAKER: I think that he’s got a strong place of emotions and stuff, which was interesting, because some of our scenes are so intense. I liked the connection that we ended up having, not just the final scenes but all the way through, and the way he was able to carry the energy of that character. That was something that scared me because I hadn’t seen him play a character quite like this before. Maybe he has, maybe I’m not aware of all his work, but for me this was quite unique.

MoviesOnline: Have you started Patriots, the Al Collins film, yet?

FOREST WHITAKER: No, I was with the director yesterday, with Tim (Story), and I met with a coach, I met with the Westchester coach and I was talking to him about it, and then I’m going to go with him to work on some – mostly just learning from USC, watching the USC team practice with Tim Floyd (the head coach) and I’m going to work with the team here and then I’m going to go to New Orleans and work with the kids there, because basketball isn’t the sport I played, so I’ve got to learn it.

MoviesOnline: Did your experience on The Shield create a desire to do more TV?

FOREST WHITAKER: I did have a good time working in character, because it’s kind of cool to do a character that long and build it. You have enough time to develop it and change and everything. You say, “This is what we’re going to do,” and you have this whole half a year to figure out how to do it. So I liked that. I wanted to do a character where I didn’t always know what was going to happen, where I couldn’t plan it so meticulously. I could only root him in like the way he thought and what he believed, and then give me the page and let me see what happens. That was kind of cool. Right after that I did ER for five episodes too and explored it. I don’t know when I’m going to do [it again]. I’m not saying that I won’t though because if it’s the right character I’ll do it.

MoviesOnline: Is there a role that you’ve played in a movie that you wished you’d had that kind of time to develop?

FOREST WHITAKER: Sometimes I step into something, I had to step into a movie where I played a hit man once two or three days after I finished another project, but I think it was the right thing to do in a way. I think they always kind of work out. In that case, I just went to Philly and I met with this guy and he dressed me and told me what he thought and the way he lived his life, and in two days I was able to understand something – so it depends.

MoviesOnline: Now that you’ve won an Oscar, do you think about roles that could get that kind of recognition again. Could the film about New Orleans be another contender?

FOREST WHITAKER: I don’t know. I think that movie has a lot to say. It’s a populace movie too. It talks about hope and it talks about people not being left behind and being disenfranchised, having a right to be here, and people believing in themselves. I don’t know if it’s Academy – I don’t really think of it that way.

MoviesOnline: Does winning one wet your appetite for more award roles?

FOREST WHITAKER: I think that I’m just trying to play great parts. I’ve been trying to play great parts my whole career, and I’ve got the chance to play some really interesting characters. That’s what I’m going to keep doing, because this is about growing and learning and stuff, and you can’t, nobody can say whether this character is going to – it’s not the way to go.

MoviesOnline: Where do you keep your Oscar?

FOREST WHITAKER: It’s on a shelf as you go down the stairs in my house.

MoviesOnline: How was doing a voice in Where the Wild Things Are?

FOREST WHITAKER: It was great, I just wonder when the movie is going to come out. I don’t know what’s going on with the movie. It was supposed to come out maybe this year, but I don’t think it’s going to come out until next year now. I don’t really know what’s going on.

MoviesOnline: What about directing? Do you have any directing projects lined up?

FOREST WHITAKER: I’ve been trying to get Greg Howard to work on this project based on Children Soldiers. It’s really about the character of a journalist who is trying to – he’s interviewing a guy who handles these children soldiers who’s like a Messianic character who’s in this war, and then him going into that situation to interview him and deciding when to step in or when not. It’s really about the question of when do you step in, and when you do step in, did you really help or did you harm? That’s what it’s about. And that’s the movie I’ve been working on to direct it. There’s no script really, so I don’t know if it’s going to be the one that I do.

MoviesOnline: Is there a film that you saw when you were younger that maybe changed your life or made you realize how powerful films can be?

FOREST WHITAKER: When I was a kid, I don’t think I was thinking in those terms. I think I just was impressed with certain movies, impressed when I saw Sidney Poitier when he was starring in a movie. I had no thought of being an actor. I think at the time when I was a kid it wouldn’t have been conceivable that that would be something I could do and make a career of, as there was hardly anybody else doing it. There were movies that made an impression on me, but more as a person in my soul, not how it impacted the world but how it impacted me individually. I liked the movie Brother John. It’s a movie with Sidney Poitier. I don’t know why I liked it so much, but he was a guy who’d been traveling all over the world and then he goes back to this town. He’s supposed to return on a certain day. It’s a very mystical movie, and he comes back with the wind and they put him in jail, and Will Geer is asking him, “What’s going to happen at the end of time? I know you’ve seen it. Tell me what’s going on.” And ultimately he says he has to leave at a certain time, and then he’s gone. There was something about the movie that I liked it when I was a kid.

MoviesOnline: When did you first know that you wanted to be an actor?

FOREST WHITAKER: College I started acting, because I didn’t act in high school, but honestly I think around Ghost Dog. (laughs) I was like, “Oh, okay, I think I’ve figured something out. I think I’m going to be able to do this. I think I’m about to be able to do the kind of work that would make me feel comfortable being an actor.” Because something changed inside of me, I started to understand something different. There was something I was reaching for, because up to that time I kept feeling uncomfortable about my characters. I kept thinking, I could see myself in the character, it’s not really the character, and even though people would say, “That doesn’t mean it’s not the character,” for me it wasn’t exactly what it should be. To me, it wasn’t living like in a certain thing, so something happened where it started to change, and the transference started to change and I started to change and then Bird taught me something, but Ghost Dog taught me more and then The Last King was when I was able to start bringing some things together that I’d been trying to figure out through my whole career, where I was feeling like I can do it. I’m not saying that my parts were bad or anything like that, I’m just saying that for me I could always have gone and done something else.

MoviesOnline: Did that experience influence how you looked at future projects?

FOREST WHITAKER: The goal has been the same, the goal has just been to try to get inside of each character and find that little spark that kind of connects me with them, and understand more about them, or really understanding more about myself by exploring that side of that character. Maybe that’s why I always knew that I could go – because that’s really what my journey was and is, so whatever ways that gets me to that understanding is what my goal is, so that’s why I can say that without any hesitation, because I know what my real goal is.

MoviesOnline: Are there any other historical characters that you would like to play?

FOREST WHITAKER: I don’t have any characters like that. Maybe I could play Hannibal. That would be kind of cool.

MoviesOnline: Have you ever ridden an elephant?

FOREST WHITAKER: (laughs) No.

MoviesOnline: It’s very scary.

“Street Kings” opens in theaters on April 11th.