Forest Steven Whitaker III (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor, producer and director of film and television.
Whitaker played Saw Gerrera in the stand-alone Star Wars film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. He later returned to voice the character in the Star Wars Rebels episodes "Ghosts of Geonosis" and "In the Name of the Rebellion." He reprised the role once more in the 2019 video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. In 2022, he returned to live-action in Andor.
Biography[]
Forest Whitaker was born on July 15, 1961.[1] He played the Partisan Saw Gerrera in the 2016 Star Wars anthology film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.[2] He was the only actor considered for the role, according to[3] writer[2] Gary Whitta.[3] Whitaker later voiced the character in the episodes "Ghosts of Geonosis"[4] and "In the Name of the Rebellion" of the Star Wars Rebels animated series.[5] He also voiced Gerrera in the 2019 video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.[6]
Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera in his character poster
In 2022, Whitaker reprised his role as Gerrera in the episodes "Narkina 5"[7] and "Daughter of Ferrix" in the Andor television series.[8] The night before a rehearsal for Gerrera and Luthen Rael's argument in "Narkina 5," Whitaker called director Toby Haynes to ask about backstory and kyber crystals. During the rehearsal, Whitaker and Stellan Skarsgård, the actor who played Rael, read the scene for the first time and went at each other. According to Haynes, when the scene was filmed for real, Whitaker and Skarsgård almost deconstructed what they did in a spontaneous and natural way. The actors then reconstructed the scene from scratch, and it was hard to get to the same pitch. Haynes wanted to end Gerrera's rant with a very direct, face-on shot of Whitaker to build the intensity and bring the audience into the argument. To achieve this shot, Haynes had Whitaker repeat his speech many times and told him to "go crazy with it."[9]
Works[]
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Series | Contribution(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Saw Gerrera[2] | |
| 2017 | "Ghosts of Geonosis" | Star Wars Rebels | Saw Gerrera[4] |
| 2017 | "In the Name of the Rebellion" | Star Wars Rebels | Saw Gerrera[5] |
| 2022 | "Narkina 5" | Andor | Saw Gerrera[7] |
| 2022 | "Daughter of Ferrix" | Andor | Saw Gerrera[8] |
Gameography[]
| Year | Title | Contribution(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | Saw Gerrera[6] |
Sources[]
Rogue One—The Daring Mission Has Begun: Cast and Crew Announced on StarWars.com (backup link)- "Launch Pad" — Star Wars Insider 160
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - The Official Mission Debrief
- Forest Whitaker Set for Celebration Orlando on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order — Official Gameplay Reveal Live Stream — EA Play 2019 on the official Electronic Arts Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
- "Launchpad" — Star Wars Insider 213
- "A Potent Moment in History": Insights from Tony Gilroy and the Andor Cast on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Andor — "Narkina 5"
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
This Week! in Star Wars The Bad Batch Returns, Your Photos of The Child, and More! on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
- ↑ 3.0 3.1
Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) on Twitter (January 20, 2020): "Yes. Forrest was always the only choice for Saw." (backup link)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1
Star Wars Rebels — "Ghosts of Geonosis"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Star Wars Rebels — "In the Name of the Rebellion"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Andor — "Narkina 5"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Andor — "Daughter of Ferrix"
- ↑ ‘Andor' Director Toby Haynes Talks That Forest Whitaker-Stellan Skarsgard Scene: “It Was a Career Highlight” by Davids, Brian on The Hollywood Reporter (October 28, 2022) (archived from the original on October 29, 2022)
