Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor, producer, and director. He has been known to study characters for movies like "Bird" and "", and for playing Jon Kavanaugh on "The Shield". Whitaker won an Academy Award for playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film "The Last King of Scotland". Whitaker has also won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.