The Last King of Scotland star Kerry Washington has admitted she was nervous around Forest Whitaker on the set of the film because he was so involved playing his character Ugandan leader Idi Amin.

Kerry, who has been friends with Forest for a number of years, said recently: “I didn’t see my friend Forest Whitaker there once because he was always Idi. There was always one foot in Forest and one foot in Idi but he never let himself completely detach from the spirit of Idi Amin.”

“It was incredibly inspiring but incredibly frightening. I was scared for myself and for him because I understood where he was going as an actor, but I didn’t know how he was going to come back from this.”

“You had to be careful about the things you said around him. He was really intense.”

Forest picked up the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role at Sunday’s ceremony.