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Forest Whitaker

Forest Whitaker

Award-Winning Actor, Producer & Director; Best Known for "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" & "The Last King of Scotland"

Forest Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. Whitaker has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird, The Crying Game, Platoon, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, The Great Debaters, The Butler, and Arrival. He has also appeared in blockbusters such as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Saw Gerrera and Black Panther as Zuri.

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Bio

Full Bio

Forest Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. Whitaker has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird, The Crying Game, Platoon, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, The Great Debaters, The Butler, and Arrival. He has also appeared in blockbusters such as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Saw Gerrera and Black Panther as Zuri.

For his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland, Whitaker won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, National Board of Review Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and various critics groups’ awards for a lead acting performance.

In September 2006, the 10th Annual Hollywood Film Festival presented him with its “Hollywood Actor of the Year Award,” calling him “one of Hollywood’s most accomplished actors.”

Whitaker is co-chair of JuntoBox Films. JuntoBox was developed as a social-media platform for filmmakers and fans to share ideas to create films and then collaborate to make them. Since Whitaker joined as co-chair, five projects have been greenlit for production.

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Topics

Topics

An Evening with Forest Whitaker

Videos

Videos

Forest Whitaker at the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament
Forest Whitaker Interview 2013: Actor on 'Out of the Furnace'
Forest Whitaker Speech At The 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington

Books

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CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

The American Psychological Association was thrilled to have Dr. Antonia Novello as our speaker for the 2024 APA Convention. Dr. Novello was fantastic, and her presentation was a tremendous success. Thank you, Peter, for all your hard work in making this event such a resounding success.

American Psychological Association

For our annual Native American Heritage Month celebration, PDA Group arranged for John Echohawk to join us for a virtual moderated discussion. The program was thoughtful, engaging, and highly impactful for our audience of lawyers and professional staff. We are grateful for their partnership and look forward to working with them again.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

We have partnered with PDA Group on multiple successful events, including our charity luncheon with Lisa Edelstein and our Women’s Philanthropy Kickoff Event featuring Allegra Goodman. Their professionalism, expertise, and commitment to excellence make them an outstanding partner. Thank you for your exceptional work and continued support.

UJA-Federation

We have received so much fantastic feedback following our virtual event. It was an absolute success, and Sylvia Fowles was excellent. Thank you again to Sylvia and the entire team for your partnership!”

U.S. Bank

Kurt Warner was spectacular—he completely wowed the audience and solidified major leadership points. He was an amazing partner, and we will be talking about this experience for years to come. We will definitely leverage the PDA team for all of our speaking needs!”

Sysco Corporation

The events over the past two years went very well — everyone had a great time with Dr. Mark Esper in 2025, and Sam Hinkie led a very engaging Q&A with our Principal, Jean Reynolds, in 2024. Thank you for working with us these last two years; your support has been instrumental to the success of our programs!

Investcorp Strategic Capital Group

It was an absolute privilege to have Dr. Sanjay Gupta as our keynote speaker for the 2026 GME Leadership Conference. He delivered an outstanding address that resonated deeply and left a lasting impression on everyone in the room. The entire planning process was seamless and collaborative. It was a pleasure working together, brainstorming suggestions, and ultimately selecting the perfect fit for our event. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

HCA Healthcare

We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!

Salt Lake Community College

It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).

Western Michigan University

On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can’t wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.

Ferris State University

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