Meet Forest Whitaker, the Oscar winning actor and director who will direct and star as jazz legend Louis Armstrong in an upcoming biopic, “What a Wonderful World.” See photos and video of Forest Whitaker here.
Forest Whitaker
Producing the movie will be the Paris-based Legende, the production company that gave us last year’s critically acclaimed movie, “La Vie en Rose,” which won two Oscars.
Legende’s Alain Goldman is producing alongside Edward R. Pressman.
Ron Bass, who will pen the original script, is exec producing with Oscar Cohen, executive of the Armstrong estate and the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation
“Armstrong left a monumental mark on our lives and our culture,” said Whitaker, who portrayed jazz great Charlie Parker in “Bird.” “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.”
“What a Wonderful World” will begin shooting in the summer in Louisiana.
In a bit part in the 1985 movie, “The Color of Money” Forest Whitaker was a standout as a pool hustler playing a game of pool with the recently deceased Paul Newman (who won an Oscar for his role in the movie). It was only the beginning of Forest Whitaker’s long track record of exceptional work in front of and behind the camera; his haunting performance as 1950s jazz legend Charlie Parker in Clint Eastwood’s movie, “Bird” (1988) and his Oscar winning portrayal of Ugandi dictor Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland” (2006), are noteworthy examples of his exceptional ability to bring life to historic characters. We look forward to the Armstrong biopic.
Whitaker’s film also has an able resource in Oscar Cohen, who’s the executive of the Armstrong estate, and the musician’s former road manager. He’s granting the film exclusive access to archive material of Armstrong’s estate, as well as his own personal first-hand accounts. It’s tough to beat the biopic that has the entire estate behind it. You might as well just hand it the Oscars right now.
More photos and a video of Forest Whitaker are below.
Forest Whitaker Photos
Forest Whitaker Video
Photos: WENN
