Forest Whitaker Earns a Role as Louis Armstrong

Forest Whitaker (askmen.com)

The Academy Award-winning actor, Forest Whitaker will be portraying Louis Armstrong in a biography movie about the legendary singer. Whitaker has been approved by the late star’s estate.

The 47-year-old actor not only will play the lead role, but he will also direct the movie. The film entitled “It’s a Wonderful World”, taken from Armstrong’s worldwide-known hits, and slated to be released in the year 2010. As Whitaker said about the great opportunity he got, “Armstrong left a monumental mark on our lives and our culture. He lived an amazing life and, through his art, shifted the way music was played and would be heard after him, not just here in the U.S. but all over the world”.

Whitaker had landed many roles in his acting career throughout the years, but he had his greatest success filming “The Las King of Scotland”, where he played as dictator Idi Amin. In the movie that was released in 2006, Whitaker had to gain 50 pounds for the role, done a great deal of research about Amin, learned to play the accordion, learned Swahili language and mastered Amin’s East African accent.

Lots of sacrifices for the role, but worth every bit part of it. His great acting earned him the 2007 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, making him the fourth African-American actor in history to do so.

Whitaker’s experience as a director might only in a few movies, but with his experience in general in the movie industry, I could say I’m anxiously waiting for the Louis Armstrong’s project to be done. “And I think to myself, what a wonderful world…”