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Getting into the heart of darkness

TRANSFORMING yourself into one of the world's most notorious dictators can leave its scars.

switched criminal
switched criminal

TRANSFORMING yourself into one of the world's most notorious dictators can leave its scars.

For Forest Whitaker, playing Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland had its upside, including a shiny Oscar for best actor back in 2006.

So convincing was that menacing performance, the actor carries an intimidating reputation that appears hard to shake.

In the flesh, with his hushed tones and brooding demeanour, it's easy to believe Whitaker, 50, is the sum of his darkest parts.

After his big screen success, he makes his return to TV where he first left an impression on audiences - first as a volatile and disgruntled patient on hospital drama ER; then more recently on police series, The Shield.

So signing on as lead in the new spin-off series, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour may seem like more of the same.

But Whitaker says it's his eternal search for "the light in everybody" which drew him to yet another dark role.

He plays Sam Cooper, an intensely private FBI agent with a secret past, who leads an elite team of behavioural analysts.

Interestingly, exploring the human psyche was Whitaker's childhood dream job and now comes as second nature to this intense actor.

"I'm always trying to figure out where the light is in everybody, you know, and how I'm connected to everybody. It's a personal quest. Every character I play is about uncovering that," he says.

Digging around murder scenes, tracking serial killers, and plotting the worst of human nature can take its toll, he says.

Devoting himself to his wife and two children, watching TV (his favourites include 30 Rock, Big Rock and Boardwalk Empire), helps him to decompress. But, sometimes the work is impossible to "wash off."

"Sometimes when I work, no matter how hard I try, a part of the character kind of seeps inside of me and I wanted to do a character that I could really live with and I can grow with," he says.

It's the reason he chose to sign on as Cooper over another series he was offered at the same time - playing a Broadway music composer with a chronic cocaine addiction.

"I like music and I thought I would play the piano more and learn how to really play well and sing. But I decided it was too dark ... the character was in so much pain."

The musical theme would have been familiar ground for Whitaker, who surprises by revealing he trained as an opera singer.

"I needed to do something that would reach different people. I felt (opera) was limiting to me," he says.

While his move to TV made headlines, he already is planning his next film project in Kenya. Crossing boundaries drives him.

"I tend to look at myself as a storyteller ... I want to tell stories wherever I can tell stories. I try not to see limits. I think there was a fear from people before that (TV) might do something to their career. I choose not to live in fear and so I decided to do this."

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/getting-into-the-heart-of-darkness/news-story/9051eb9777e1a1efb80e8a0522ac3014