Forest Whitaker to Play Muslim Parolee in Trilogy Closer

Acclaimed actor tapped for French director's final installment of series.

Posted: 08/15/2011 03:00 AM EDT
Filed Under Forest Whitaker

Forest Whitaker

Director Rachid Bouchareb has announced that Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker will be a part of the cast in the final installment of his upcoming trilogy. Whitaker will reportedly play a Muslim parolee released from prison who enters a town plagued with Islamphobia. The as-yet untitled projected is scheduled to begin filming in 2013.

 

The third release will be preceded by the films Just Like A Woman and Belleville’s Cop. In Just Like a Woman, Sienna Miller and Iranian actress Golshifteh will portray disillusioned wives who meet after fleeing their marriages. As for Belleville’s Cop, the comedy will center on a French-Arabic police officer sent to work alongside a female counterpart in Los Angeles.

 

Each film places focus on the changing relationship between Arabs and Americans. "I'm always interested in what happens between the Arabic world and the West, Bouchareb says of his work. “I come from North Africa, I lived in Paris and I made North African and Algerian and French movies, and now movies in America. But the stories are universal."

(Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images)

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