Spotlight on actor Forest Whitaker
The A-lister talks about getting under the skin of a notorious gangster
THE Oscar-winning actor, director and producer portrays 1960s mob boss Ellsworth Raymond “Bumpy” Johnson in the critically acclaimed crime drama series Godfather of Harlem. After serving an 11-year sentence for conspiracy to sell heroin, Bumpy returns to reclaim his turf in Harlem, which is now in the hands of Italian gangsters.
We caught up with Forest during his recent visit to SA to promote the series.
Why did you decide to work on this project as both an actor and a producer? I think Bumpy Johnson is an interesting character. I thought intertwining the criminal world and the civil rights movement with the politics of the day was really interesting. Bumpy has already been depicted in several films. What makes this portrayal different? I think you see more facets of him. One thing is that you get to see his relationship with Malcolm X, which people have never seen or maybe even thought of before – putting these two figures in the same room together. How does TV compare to the big screen for you as an actor? It’s very similar, it’s just that TV shoots faster. But I think the difference is the way you break stories.
There’s a writer’s room, and let’s say you have eight writers and they’re all breaking the story together and they’re trying to figure out the lines. It’s unique. Usually the film process is solitary. While researching Bumpy, did you learn anything fascinating or surprising about him? Just exploring that relationship with Malcolm X. In the past I thought about Bumpy Johnson, but I hadn’t put him up against the wall of desegregation and the political climate [at the time].
We start the show in 1963 – it was a powerful and important civil rights year; things were shifting. To put this story up against that and realise that all these events were colouring what was happening in the community and in their lives is really neat. What do you think are some of the similarities between you and Bumpy? I don’t think we’re that similar. He didn’t say a lot and I don’t really say that much. I’ve had my frustrations but not in the way he has, nor did I express them in the manner in which he did. You’ve played many strong roles, including real people. Are you drawn to certain roles? I’m attracted to anything that pushes me and makes me continue to grow.
Sometimes, real-life characters are interesting to play, but I had an opportunity to play a character in an [upcoming] musical called Jingle Jangle – I loved playing that character. It was one of my favourites of my whole career. It has nothing to do with a real character – he’s actually quite magical. You’re an actor, producer and director – which do you enjoy most and why? I used to like directing but I haven’t directed in so long – it just takes a long time. Consistently, acting would be it and then directing. Producing, no. That’s about solving problems and making sure everything is okay. What lessons have you learnt from portraying Bumpy? How we consider ourselves to have shifted but these events and things are still colouring our present.
This made me think about even the issue of how [the US] is divided. Especially because it’s so polarised between left and right, black and white – and to see that it’s just the recycling of what’s happened before.