By Lana K. Wilson-Combs | OBSERVER CORRESPONDENT

LOS ANGELES - For actor Forest Whitaker, playing bad guys is not only fun, but rewarding.

In 2007 Whitaker earned an Academy Award as "Best Actor" for his
astounding portrayal of the brutal, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in “The Last King of
Scotland.”

In his latest movie, “Street Kings,” which opens nationwide April 11, and also stars
Keanu Reeves, rappers Common and The Game, Cedric The Entertainer, Naomie Harris and Terry Crews, Whitaker plays a power hungry and corrupt Los Angeles police captain.

“Sometimes the bad guys that I play are bigger than life characters so that is always really fun,” explained the soft-spoken Whitaker during a recent interview from his suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. “The darker roles require me to invest more range of emotions and reach deep inside to bring the characters to light. For this particular role I kept thinking about whether or not it was going to be too over the top. And then I just decided to go for it. I thought it was a fascinating character. I believe the film’s director David Ayer put together a really great cast that this complex character worked around. They all seemed perfect for their parts.”

Whitaker, not only brought his star power to “Street Kings, but extensive knowledge of the inner workings of law enforcement.

“When I played a cop on the TV show “The Shield,” I did all kinds of drive-alongs with the police and all sorts of weapons training,” he said. “So I felt really confident about that aspect of the role for this movie.”

But Whitaker, who grew up in South Central Los Angeles, said his personal experiences with cops also came into play.

“I’ve seen the other side of law enforcement too,” he said. “I mean I always have mixed feelings about the police because they are trying to protect and they are outnumbered. But I think I still have some issues to work through about police. I still haven’t corrected them and I don’t know that I will because they killed people that I knew. So it’s kind of tough for me.”

Like most of his other memorable characters, Whitaker, who last year starred in Denzel Washington’s critically acclaimed movie, “The Great Debaters,” said once a film is completed, he tries really hard to shake off that character without analyzing it too much.

“Sometimes they lay around more than other times,” he said with a laugh. “Luckily, I’m fortunate that I have to go deal with something and take my obsession elsewhere. When I’m producing or directing that’s how I try to shed the skin but keep whatever good there is.”

However, he admitted that playing Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland” was a different story.

“Winning the Oscar for that role meant a lot,” said Whitaker. “I did everything I could to get into that character. I gave everything I had. The Oscar win was very affirming because it could have gone the other way. People could have said ’oh, he’s too over the top, he doesn’t look anything like Idi Amin or I hate his accent.’ There were so many variables that could have come into play. And thankfully it didn’t turn out that way. It’s nice that people acknowledge you for your work.”

Whitaker, 46, has earned all the acclaim and takes it in stride. Mainly because he’s been acting since he was 19-years-old. He made his film debut at the age of 21 in the 1982 comedy “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

However, he believes that the 1988 movie “Bird,” where he played jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker was the biggest turning point of his career.

“That was when people started to look at me as an artist and that maybe I could do different things,” he said.

Some of those different things would later include directing the box office, hit movie “Waiting to Exhale” and HBO’s “Strapped.”

Since winning an Oscar, Whitaker said not only is he recognized more, but it has allowed him to get movies made that he couldn’t before.

“I mean I was always making independent movies,” he said. “But now it’s on a bigger scale and there are bigger stories.”

He’s been pretty busy too working on five movies. They include: “Patriots,” “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Repossession Mambo,” “Winged Creatures” and “Powder Blue.”

“I‘m doing “Patriots” in New Orleans,” he said. “It’s a true story about the John Ehret High School basketball team in New Orleans. They were separated after Hurricane Katrina but pulled back together and went on to the state championships. I play the basketball coach, Al Collins. It’s a special movie that I am very excited to bring to the screen. “Repossession Mambo” is sci-fi action movie that I did with Jude Law in Toronto. It’s out next year too. We play repossession guys. It’s fun.”

Whitaker, who lends his voice to the movie, “Where the Wild Things Are” said he was surprised at how good and intense the movie turned out.

“This was always one of my favorite childhood books,” he said smiling. “I got a chance to see it and was like ’wow.’ The wild things are really scary in this movie. You don’t realize it as much in the book, but then when you see these big creatures running alongside these little kids, it’s just amazing.”

In “Winged Creatures” Whitaker stars with Oscar winning actress Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning and Kate Beckinsale in a story about how a shooting tragedy unites a group of people as they try to go on with their lives. “Powder Blue” is another movie that Whitaker produced. It stars Jessica Biel. “I play a priest who loses his wife on his wedding day in a car accident,” explained Whitaker. “He tries to kill himself and even offers people $50,000 to do it for him, but nobody does.”

Whitaker said he likes the variety of the movies that he’s getting now and he’s just in a good place these days. “I’m a lot healthier than I’ve been in a long time,” said Whitaker who credits martial arts, eating right and lots of yoga for his trim physique.

He doesn’t get caught up in the Hollywood scene much and keeps a low profile opting instead to spend time with his wife Keisha - who has become quite the fashion maven with her burgeoning line of cosmetics - and their kids.

“My goal when getting into this profession was to get better as an actor,” said Whitaker. “I was trying to be satisfied and be comfortable with myself. I feel good that I’m at that point in my career. I’m having fun now, lots of fun.”

Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a syndicated music and entertainment writer who lives in Sacramento. Contact her at www.N2Entertainment.net.