Acclaimed Australian director Rowan Woods had to fight to keep Oscar winner Forest Whitaker in his new film Winged Creatures after a film company executive dismissed the actor as "ugly, black and unbankable."

Despite having "the hottest ensemble cast in town", including Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Jennifer Hudson, Woods said the company who owned the script wouldn't accept Whitaker as a leading man.

"The initial finance fell through when I stuck with Forest Whitaker for the role of Charlie," Woods said.

"An executive told me straight: `Even if he wins the Oscar he's ugly, he's black and he's unbankable.'"

Speaking at the Australian Directors Guild conference in Sydney this weekend, Woods said the company, which he wouldn't name for legal reasons, eventually let go of the script because of their disagreement over Whitaker.

The budget on Winged Creatures dropped from $US11 million to $US4.5 million because Woods wouldn't consider a Michael Douglas or an Al Pacino for Whitaker's role.

"The unbankable part of it was nearly right," he said.

"They wanted everyone but Forest Whitaker ... and this is one of the best actors on the planet.

"By the time we had stacked the cast around Forest the asking price for the movie had more than halved from its initial level."

Winged Creatures centres around a random shooting in a Los Angeles diner, and how it affects the lives of those who witness it.

It is Woods' third feature film after local productions Little Fish and The Boys.

He said he was instantly drawn to the multi-storyline drama by Roy Freirich.

"This wasn't the happy anecdote to my previous movies but it was too tempting," he said.

"There was a quiet ferocity to the screen play that confronted the hypocrisy of the US gun lobby without being overtly political."

Woods said his high profile cast was a pleasure to work with except for teenage starlet Dakota Fanning, who could be a diva on the set.

She initially refused to come out of her trailer on day one of shooting because her scene wasn't filmed first, and was "intensely jealous" of her young co-star Josh Hutcherson.

"Everyone was on their best behaviour on this film because they have got a `really serious Australian director who is known for his ensemble work'," Woods laughed.

"(Fanning) was the only one who was naughty."

Woods said while he thinks Fanning is a fine actor, on this film she didn't hit the mark.

"She is a gorgeous girl ... but she was the disaster," he said.

"There was something about her presence that wasn't ringing true.

"Most of our work was cutting her scenes and a lot of her scenes were cut."

Winged Creatures is due for a March 2009 release in the US with Australia to follow shortly after.

Good, I ain't the only one to see the disaster that is Dakota Fanning. She is like the Tom Cruise of child actors; no soul at all, just creepy.

HamsterHuey said:

I heard that she feeds animals to crocodiles.
[Edited 10/3/08 11:25am]

WOW...

PopeLeo said:

She's angry because no one cares about her rape movie.

...i really don't belong here... ...

I've never seens omeone slam a kid like that. I'm sure it happens and I'm sure I just don't remember...lol. But dayum...dude didn't pull a punch. Also...I guess a spade is a spade(appropriately inappropriate remark, considering the totality of the article, hehe.)

The fuck? Forest Whitaker is amazing! My favourite role of his is to this day still Eddie Garlick in Good Morning, Vietnam.

So he's not the most handsome guy, but I'd say it's a stretch to call him ugly.

BobGeorge909 said:

I think more child actors should be criticized. So many are just relying on their cuteness rather than anything resembling acting talent. Olsen twins ring a bell? That pair are gazillionaires, and for what? They're terrible actresses, now and as kids.

Well, he is ugly, and of course black, but I'm not sure he's unbankable.

The problem I have with the title is that it seems to make some kind of correlation to his being ugly and being black. Will Smith is black, but he's gorgeous, and extremely bankable. (I use the word 'but' here in context of the implied notion that there is in fact any correlation at all between to two, and not as my own personal statement that being black is a detracting feature, you assholes )

Though the person making that statement may have been reflecting a business point of view rather than flat out racism, however crass the statement is. It's very much like Chris Rock's statment stating that he has to be far funnier than the average white comedian to obtain the level of success that he does--he's not expressing anti-white sentiments nor self-loathing ones, but rather a reflection of the realities of the entertainment industry. I mean, why is it that there aren't any black artists as untalented as Britney Spears, who've sold just as many albums on a consistent basis? Even Janet Jackson, as hopelessly untalented as that bitch is, doesn't come close to the wasteland of talent that Britney is.

As far as Forest being one of the best actors in the industry I saw only bits of this in The Last King of Scottland. I was never impressed with him before, but admit I never paid much attention. And, lawd, he is pretty ugly, though that's a breath of fresh air in the unrealistic hyper-beautiful world of hollywood, such as I haven't seen since Kathy Bait's ugly ass made it big

.
[Edited 10/6/08 1:15am]

Imago said:

I think you would really dig him if you saw his work. "Bird" and "Ghost Dog" are a couple of standouts.

He's a very "Zen" kind of actor to me.

It's so funny, people calling him ugly. He is not poster boy cute when it comes to looks, but to me he is so damn' attractive, esp when he smiles. I haven't seen an actor able to convey love in just his facial expressions as this man.

Besides that, he is an amazing actor, never afraid to go out of his way to get a good performance. He often plays in bad movies, I admit, but he always knows how to make something of his roles.

he has presence, and that means it doesn't matter how ugly he is
not many actors have what he has, he's edgy and sympatico at the same time.

HamsterHuey said:

He makes me think of a big, cuddly toy bear when he smiles. Such warmth.

meow85 said:

Uhmmm. I also want him to do me. Am I shallow? I suppose I am.

Mars23 said:

I'll have to check those out. thus far, i've been unimpressed. But then again, I don't understand why Al Pacino is a respected actor either

HamsterHuey said:

Shallow? I don't know. I'd give you props for wanting to do someone who's not beautiful in the accepted way.

Mars23 said:

I really enjoyed "Ghost Dog". Although, I don't know if that was due to me being really into martial arts at the time. I just finished reading "The Art of War" too. I need to watch that movie again.

meow85 said:

I'd lose my hard-on if it was Brad Pitt. I often think so-called pretty men are rather ugly. Maybe cuz I met too many models; shallow creatures, the most of them, a real turn off.

HamsterHuey said:

i wouldn't call him ugly either. i quite like his smile too. he is a brilliant actor and can convey a wonderful vulnerablity for such a large man.

well, i know i have weird taste in men but i have always found him attractive.

that movie company is ignorant and hateful and obviously doesn´t know what real talent really means. shame on them!

Forest whitaker is a fine actor, there was a time when actors we're judged on their ability to act, not on how pretty they were, or if they were the right color, or at least I wish the time would come.
[Edited 10/6/08 4:49am]

This is not an "ugly" man...

wow! to call someone ugly is like the MEANEST thing you could say to someone or about someone and forest may not be poster boy handsome but he sure ain't ugly. I'm impressed by Mr. Woods for not backing down and for even saying what happened publicly...dudes got some balls. good for him.

angelcat said:

He's shorter than I am, heheh.

HamsterHuey said:

showoff!

HamsterHuey said:

I feel ya on that. I still find the odd pretty guy attractive, but more and more the ones that turn my crank are just regular looking at best.

I find that generally, people who aren't what's considered absolutely gorgeous put more effort into being bright and interesting people. The beautiful people think they can just glide by on their looks, but the average Joe or Jane are the ones you'll be able to have a conversation with.

applekisses said:

I'm a straight cat and no, this isn't an "ugly" man. I've been hip to Forest ever since his debut acting role in film which was "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". Out here in So. California, I know many struggling and up and coming actors and actresses, screenwriters, etc. Besides Pacino, everyone all consider Forest as the best actor out there, hands down. I have always thought Forest was an excellent actor and for years, I thought he was overlooked as one of the greats. Good that he's starting to get his due.