How Forest and Oprah bonded for ‘Butler’
WHITAKER AND WINFREY. Portray husband and wife.
LOS ANGELES—They held hands, took walks together, and she rubbed his back. According to Forest Whitaker, that was how he and Oprah Winfrey prepared for their role as a married couple in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”
The Oscar Best Actor winner in 2007 plays Cecil Gaines, a butler who served many decades in the White House while married to Oprah’s Gloria Gaines.
“We didn’t do that much rehearsal,” Forest said of the actress and media queen. “We bonded when we were working, sometimes she would come in and sit with me in the trailer, or she might rub my back, or we would take walks together, going back and forth to the set, holding hands and just trying to connect so that when we actually did the scenes, you would feel that we were together and that we were really a couple.”
Revolution
Forest, who once told me about his adventure being in Manila while the People Power revolution broke out (he was filming Oliver Stone’s “Platoon”), said he has been to the White House several times. “Initially, I was on the Kennedy Center Committee, and I went there. Bill Clinton was the first President I met. He was charming and intelligent—and I really enjoyed the experience. I have been to the White House during the current administration. I was the first (celebrity) surrogate speaker for the Obama administration. I took two years campaigning before he was elected.”
On butlers becoming “invisible” as they do their work, Forest said, “That was really interesting when I was training with the butler coach. He had been in that profession for 40 years. He was talking to me about disappearing, and everyone in that service, in a way, does that. There’s a historical reference, too, which is not imposing yourself. But, it wasn’t part of the way I was brought up.”
Asked to talk more about how the coach helped him prepare for the role, Forest obliged with, “The butler coach lived with me for a few weeks in LA. Then, when I went to New Orleans, he was with me. I had to learn all the details of how to serve, set the table, understood the philosophy of service, and how to think and to give with abundance. We broke down the different ways that there is exchange—exchange that was negative where you steal, exchange where you give somebody something but it’s not equal, exchange where you give equal balance, exchange where you give an abundance, and that was the kind I was working on, giving an abundance.
“He was teaching me the details, and I was trying to implement them throughout the film because, if you question that, you might question the character. So, he helped me with the philosophy and the way I was doing everything!”
Reference
Daniels’ film was inspired by a Washington Post article by Wil Haygood that profiled Eugene Allen who worked at the White House for 34 years until he retired in 1986 (he died in 2010). “I did read about it,” Forest said of the original piece. “I was just amazed and fascinated that someone had served so many presidents in the White House. When I read it, that was the main reference I took. It wasn’t until I started researching the part, talking to his son and different individuals from that era, as well as people in the White House and other butlers, that I truly started to understand.
“I did a lot of research on the history, because I was trying to figure out how those things would affect me while I was going about it—because I don’t speak a lot, so I needed to be full ‘inside’ of my thoughts and opinions. So, I learned most of it after.”
As for his upbringing, Forest cited his mom. “My mother taught me something very crucial. I come from a family of preachers, so my family always went to church on Sunday. I was always a student of many things.
“Even as a little kid, I would argue with my mother and say, ‘Why do I have to go to church with you? Why do I have to believe what you believe in?’ My mom taught me a great lesson: She said, ‘You do not have to believe what I believe. But, you have to believe in something!’ That was important for me to learn.”
What does he believe in? “I believe that we’re all connected. I believe that when I see someone else, if I look clearly enough, I can see myself. I believe that we’re all one. We’re one organism. The separation is, in some ways, an illusion. So, I live my life trying to recreate that connection in my work and in the people I touch.”
Forest cited his dad for his work ethic: “Like the character in the movie, my dad worked so hard. He was working three jobs when I was a kid. He just did for most of my life. I don’t think I truly appreciated it for the way it was. But, now as I grow older, I’m starting to see the sacrifice that he was making for us. It was a great lesson about how much you can care for your family, to make sure that your family and the people around you are OK. My dad taught me that, and I think I repeated that.”
Laughing, he added, “I didn’t realize that I did, because I am working all the time. I’m just trying to be mindful and still spend time with my kids.”
Forest, said that he has heard the song, “Forest Whitaker,” by the band, Bad Books. “My daughter played it for me,” he said with a smile. He himself sang and was studying to become an opera tenor until drama school beckoned. “I did sing,” he disclosed. “I was a tenor originally.” In his spare time, he enjoys training with Dan Inosanto in the Filipino martial art, kali.
Success
Despite his success, Forest said that he still lives simply. “I’m not a billionaire, so I live pretty simply. In all truth, I am not a spender—I don’t go shopping a lot. If I do go, it’s very practical. I say, ‘I want a shirt.’ I go to the shirts. I look through them and get them. I don’t have many accoutrements. I carry my books and stuff in my backpack, but that’s not something that you would consider extravagant. I have always been that way. Maybe it’s something that my dad taught me when I was a little. I’ve never been able to break it.”
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