I found the people to be very kind and generous. It was unique because the crew was mainly Ugandan [filming The Last King of Scotland]. They had never done a film before. So, they were learning the process of making films, but at the same time they were also helping with the authenticity of the film.
Forest WhitakerI started by studying Kiswahili to learn the dialect. Then, I studied tapes, documentaries, footage, and audio cassettes of Idi Amin's speeches. And I met with his brothers, his sisters, his ministers, his generals' all kinds of people, in order to try to understand him.
Forest WhitakerAnd God, God who believes in us all. And who's given me this moment, in this lifetime, that I will hopefully carry to the end of my lifetime into the next lifetime.
Forest WhitakerBecause I was playing Idi Amin, who dealt with the colonisation issue, I became aware of this internalised conflict of what it means to be torn between cultures, what it means to be taken over by other cultures.
Forest WhitakerIn my career, I've had people talking about different things many times, but then not get nominated.
Forest WhitakerThe other night I was walking down the stairs behind one of my daughters. I was tired, and she was goofing around, you know like kids do, doing all this stupid stuff on the stairs. And I was thinking, please just go down the stairs and let's get you to bed. It's after your bedtime. I've had enough for one day. And then I sort of caught myself. I snapped out of it. I was like, 'dude, you should be dancing down the stairs behind her'!
Forest Whitaker