Because 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 WhitakerI care about people. In the end, I think they feel it. It comes across, regardless of the character I'm portraying.
Forest WhitakerThere's a thing you confront when you're going into something new and you come to this sort of abyss, and then you push yourself. It makes you try different things.
Forest WhitakerTrying to understand, inside, what it is to be Ugandan was crucial to the character, because there are Ugandan ways of doing things that I was trying to capture. Even if I had made this movie in South Africa, it would not have been the same, because it is so specific to Uganda.
Forest WhitakerI really wasn't even sure if I should continue acting. I would like try and figure out if I could be good enough to do it. It was like 10 or 12 years into my career before I felt like maybe I can do it. It was such a different time than now.
Forest WhitakerI think the place fed me completely. Not only was I in Uganda, but I was around many people who had a personal relationship with Idi Amin. I was eating the food constantly. I was culturally hanging out with the people. You can't help but absorb the energy, and try to get inside the culture.
Forest Whitaker