Meet Forest Whitaker’s ambitious daughter, True Whitaker: an aspiring actress and screenwriter with sights on Hollywood, she joined her Andor-star dad in drama Godfather of Harlem
From being read Where the Wild Things Are to grappling with her father’s method acting, True Whitaker has grown up immersed in movies – now she’s poised to take the limelight herself
While Andor series two won’t arrive until April, Whitaker, as one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors and directors, will always attract attention – and fans hope his reappearance in Andor will finally reveal what’s up with his character’s breathing mask.
Meanwhile, his daughter hopes to follow in his footsteps. Meet True Whitaker.
True Whitaker loved a “scary” Forest Whitaker book adaptation
True, 26, was born in 1998 to Forest and the late actress Keisha Nash Whitaker. According to the New York Post, True, the couple’s second child, grew up in Los Angeles alongside her older sister Sonnet, older brother Ocean Alexander (whom Forest had in a previous relationship) and Autumn (whom Keisha had in an earlier relationship).
From a young age True was immersed in her father’s work, watching – and hearing – him take on a variety of roles on the big screen. Especially memorable was his voicing of gentle beast Ira in the film adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s enchanting book Where the Wild Things Are.
“The grunts and stuff I’ve done at home with my kids. When they were younger, I’d do it a lot when I’d read them the book,” Whitaker told Parade in 2009. “It’s sort of been handed down in my family because it was read to me when I was a kid. I read it to all my kids, and now they read it on their own. They loved the scary parts.”
She also witnessed her dad struggle off camera
Growing up in the Whitaker household also meant that True experienced moments other children probably wouldn’t. One such moment was witnessing her father prepare for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland. It follows the brutal tyrant through the eyes of his personal doctor in the 1970s.
CBS reported that Whitaker spent an immense amount of time preparing for the role, immersing himself in research and perfecting the character’s accent. One day, while rehearsing, he accidentally slipped out of the accent, causing him to worry he might lose it permanently. To avoid this, he stayed in character even when he wasn’t on set. At home, that meant speaking in a voice markedly different to his usual tone.
“I tried to let go of it as much as I could,” the actor admitted to Black Film in 2006. “My daughter would be like, ‘Daddy, why are you talking like this?’ I would say, ‘Just remember, I’m just make-believing for a little while.’ She understands.”