Khris Davis on Forest Whitaker: ‘That’s the kind of actor that I want to be’

Source: Deion Allen / other

Actor Khris Davis is no newcomer to the big screen, as he’s been acting professionally for almost a decade. Davis has now added to his resume with his newest role in the movie Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World. Khris Davis, who plays George Foreman in his biopic, stopped the station to talk to Mina Saywhat about the challenges faced while filming the movie, what it was like to work alongside Forest Whitaker, and advice that he has for aspiring actors!

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One of the more interesting facts in the making of the movie, was that Khris Davis played George Foreman throughout the entire movie, even through his finding in christ in which he gained nearly 100 pounds over the course of the years. Khris Davis was tasked to lose 20-30 pounds one week, then he had to turn around and put on over 50 pounds in a matter of weeks. He explained to Mina that he consumed about 7000 calories per day. Although it was a clean diet, Davis said it was a difficult process putting on so much weight in such a short time.

“I ate a bunch of salmon, a whole lot of salmon” Davis said. “I would go to whole foods and buy a whole side salmon, and I would bake it. I would cut it and half and have half of that side salmon with rice, beans and some root vegetables. For breakfast — I would have one cup of oatmeal first, six eggs with hash browns, six vegan breakfast sausages, and two pieces of toast with almond butter on it” Davis said.

He also spoke on what is was like to work with the legend Forest Whitaker and how poised he was on set. Admiring his tactfulness and his ability to not waste any energy on external matters, he ultimately wanted to mimic his behavior on set, as he felt his demeanor and the message behind what he was doing resonated with him. “He would sit down, and he would wait. Then he’d get up and it would be like an explosion of acting. He wouldn’t waste any extra energy off-screen.” Davis said. “I saw that, I said to myself ‘that’s the kind of actor that I want to be’.

Check out the full interview between Mina and Khris Davis below!