Humanitarian activist and Hollywood actor Forest Whitaker is perhaps best known for his Oscar-winning role 10 years ago as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. But it’s a role that went far deeper than on the screen, as it was a role that inspired him to embark on his humanitarian work helping young people all over the world living in communities affected by violence.

Whitaker founded the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative in 2012 - a nonprofit that helps communities affected by violence. He's also a UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, and remains deeply involved in Uganda. He tells #wef17 a little about his life and his work.

A diverse acting career

Forest Whitaker tells BBC News presenter Zeinab Badawi that he never repeats the same roles, because every role he takes on is an opportunity to grow as a person: “Each character is a chance to understand a different part of humanity, I’m trying to deepen who I am as a person and as an artist,” he explains.

Of the films themselves, his hope is that they “lend a lens or a mirror to our inner thoughts and inner understandings” and stimulate dialogue. Of his portrayal of Idi Amin, something he says he is proud of, Whitaker suggests that we need to look deeper into the inner workings of a person to understand why they do the things they do:

“Once you understand the matters that shape a person how can you not find sympathy?” he asks. “Does that apply even to Idi Amin,” asks Badawi, given his atrocious human rights record? “Yes,” says Whitaker. “The way we behave is based on how we grow up and what happened to us.

"As an actor I’m trying to get to the bottom of it. We are, all of us, connected in some way, and we are shaped by our experiences. He did horrible things but you do try to go for understanding, looking at references and seeing what affected the people and what influenced their identity.”

On Hollywood

What does the film tell us about Hollywood, given that the story is related through the eyes of a young, white Scottish doctor? asks Badawi. “In this case it was based on a book,” answers Whitaker, adding that it’s true to say that Hollywood studios have made the assumption that, in order to make money, films need to have a white protagonist. Of the accusation that Hollywood isn’t inclusive in the way it dishes out its accolades, Whitaker agrees:

“I think that certainly there are disparities where artists are not being recognised for their work at times, and it’s still being worked on. The Academy is trying to be more inclusive.”

But the prospect of accolades doesn’t come into play when he chooses his roles, he says, because his choices are based on whether the roles can give him a window to understand humanity.

Race relations in America

Whitaker says it’s clear America still has a long way to go. “A young, black teenager is 20 times more likely to be killed, we have things we need to be working on,” he says. But of the outgoing Obama administration, which has been criticised for not doing enough to improve race relations, Whitaker is adamant that progress has been made: “To try and act like we haven't had great progress is not true. It doesn't mean we don’t have places to go.

“Obama didn’t fail, he changed the psyche of the nation and in some ways the world,” he continues. “We’re working on making those things stronger, to act like there isn’t some success is incorrect.”

On Donald Trump

Whitaker says that it’s difficult to be optimistic in the face of so many controversial statements made by the President-elect, but that he is hopeful that Trump is going to be a President that represents everyone.

“We have to come to the table and find some common ground,” states Whitaker. “It won’t stop me doing the work in a manner I’ve been doing for years."

“Right now we’re polarized. There’s a lot of people that are doubting that we’re going to move forward in a positive way, but we have to try. And if it doesn’t happen the people themselves have to stand up and speak. Protest, movements, marches, however, to make their voices be heard.”

Can activists be agents for change?

Despite the areas of the world that continue to live with massive conflict, Whitaker says we have no choice but to continue to try and improve situations; “Are we to not try and move things forward?” he asks, speaking about the work his foundation does with child soldiers. “We can all be agents of change if we decide to stand up for what we believe in.”

Education is a key role in changing lives for the better, he adds, explaining how some of the work of his foundation include keeping the education process going in areas of conflict in order to stop the cycle of violence.

Of the very difficult job of reintegrating former soldiers into the community, he says that it can be done. “They have a reconciliation that they have to find inside themselves first,” he says. “Then the community, which has been damaged or bruised by their actions have to find some way of reconciling that. We’ve been able to have some success in different ways. By having them come and work in the community it allows the community to accept them as an agent of positive change.”

Read more about the WPDI here, and find out what Forest Whitaker thinks real leadership means in his recent article for our blog, Agenda.