Forest Whitaker brings his force to 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior'

Forest Whitaker is one of the most respected actors in Hollywood, and has built his career on channeling the souls of troubled characters. No matter if he is playing timid men or forces of nature such as ruthless Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, he injects his personae with a force that dominates the screen.

Now Whitaker has taken up a new and unlikely challenge: playing the good guy in a prime-time network drama. Whitaker is the star of "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior," a spin-off of CBS' "Criminal Minds" about a team of FBI profilers chasing twisted criminals.

The change of pace has invigorated Whitaker, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Amin in "Last King of Scotland," and he says his character, Special Agent Sam Cooper, who has a gift of getting into the thoughts of vicious killers, fits in with his gallery of offbeat personae: "I really like this character and realized what I could do with him."

For more on Whitaker and his new show, which premieres Wednesday night, read here.

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Forest Whitaker's character change

-- Greg Braxton

Photo: Forest Whitaker. Credit: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[James Jacobs]

I always admire Forrest Whitaker he is a good actor, whether a good or a bad guy. I've seen him on a film titled "The Experiment" and I'm impressed with his performance in it.