Whitaker, who is playing the late dictator in the screen version of the acclaimed novel, “The Last King of Scotland,” in a weekend interview with AFP, said his research for the role in the film had changed his perception of Amin, whose brutal rule over Uganda between 1971 and 1979 was punctuated by bizarre and often pyschopathic behaviour, and the deaths of up to half-a-million people.

“I’m not trying to defend Amin ... the Amin I found was not a good man, but not the monster as presented,” he said during a break on the set as filming for the movie wrapped up at the airport town of Entebbe outside Kampala on Lake Victoria.

“When I first decided to act Amin, I had that perception of Amin as presented by the west,” said the 44-year-old Whitaker, who has won praise for parts in “Phone Booth,” “The Crying Game,” “Good Morning, Vietnam” and “Platoon.”

“After I started (researching) his rule and life, what was being portrayed in the west was not his real image,” he said.

“Now, I have come to appreciate and understand why he made certain decisions at certain times. He did things like other big men who did things that helped their countries,” Whitaker said, noting that in particular, he appreciated Amin’s virulent abhorrence of European colonialism.

Between 300,000 and 500,000 people were killed and the Asian population expelled in his regime.

Idi Amin - Enlarged Photo