Forest Whitaker has joined the cast of Lullaby for Pi, the Canada/France coproduction now shooting in Winnipeg through Regina-based Minds Eye Entertainment and Paris-based Forecast Pictures.

The acclaimed actor was flown to Canada from Nigeria last week, where he hosted the African Movie Academy Awards. The $7.7-million Pi had already been shooting for a month in Regina, but Minds Eye producer Kevin DeWalt tells Playback Daily the filmmakers based their schedule around the role, to ensure they had enough time to find the right actor. DeWalt produces alongside Jean-Charles Lévy and Christine Vachon.

‘We definitely had [Whitaker] in mind,’ he says, adding that the filmmakers are ‘thrilled’ the actor liked the script, penned by first-time director Benoît Philippon.

Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) plays George, the well-intentioned manager of a downtrodden New York City hotel, who befriends a reclusive jazz musician, played by Rupert Friend (The Young Victoria), who locks himself in his hotel room in an attempt to cope with the death of his wife.

DeWalt says they wanted Whitaker to bring a character to the role, praising him as an artist ‘who can do different characters and do them all very well.’ The producer also expects the addition of Whitaker to ‘add another dimension’ to the commercial value of the movie.

Whitaker is scheduled to shoot with the crew until the film wraps on April 23. Post-production will be done at Minds Eye and Deluxe in Toronto, for delivery on Dec. 18.

Minds Eye holds Canadian rights, while France’s Studio 37 retains French and international rights.