As an actor, I've always wanted to do characters that would help me find my connection with others and connect all of us together. You always want the energy of the character, the spirit of the person, to enter you. I've been doing this for 26 years and some of the things I've done are always with me.

His performance earned him the 2007 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role making him the fourth African-American actor in history to do so joining the ranks of Sidney Poitier Denzel Washington and Jamie Foxx. On Inside the Actors Studio Whitaker said that a genetic test indicated he was of Igbo descent on his father's side and Akan descent on his mother's side. Ron Hubbard.

Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15 1961) is an American actor producer and director. Whitaker has also won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.