Having made over one hundred films in his legendary career, Willem Dafoe is internationally respected for bringing versatility, boldness, and dare to some of the most iconic films of our time. His artistic curiosity in exploring the human condition leads him to projects all over the world, large and small, Hollywood films as well as Independent cinema. In 1979, he was given a role in Michael's Cimino's Heaven's Gate, from which he was fired. Since then, he has collaborated with directors who represent a virtual encyclopedia of modern cinema: Kathryn Bigelow, Sam Raimi, Alan Parker, Walter Hill, Mary Harron, Wim Wenders, Anton Corbijn, Zhang Yimou, Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Oliver Stone, William Friedkin, Werner Herzog, Lars Von Trier, Abel Ferrara, Spike Lee, Julian Schnabel, David Cronenberg, Paul Schrader, Anthony Minghella, Scott Cooper, Theo Angelopoulos, Christian Carion, Robert Rodriguez, Phillip Noyce, Hector Babenco, John Milius, Roger Donaldson, Paul McGuigan, Lee Tamahori, Roger Spottiswoode, Paul Weitz, Daniel Nettheim, The Spierig Brothers, Andrew Stanton, and Josh Boone. Dafoe has been recognized with two Academy Award nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Platoon as well as Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Shadow Of The Vampire, for which he also received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations. Among his nominations and awards, he has received a Los Angeles Film Critics Award as well as Independent Spirit Award. Willem was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, to Muriel Isabel and most recently two international productions with Robert Wilson: The Life & Death of Marina Abramovic and The Old Woman opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov. He is developing a new theatre piece, directed by Romeo Castellucci, based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Minister's Black Veil.
He has a son, Jack, born in 1982, with Elizabeth LeCompte.
His high school nickname, Willem, stuck with him.
Says he feels like hes missed out on more conventional roles because hes perceived as an eccentric actor in dark little films, kind of the boy-next-door type - if you lived next door to a mausoleum.
He attended Einstein Junior High School in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he was known as "Billy."
He did practically all of his own stunts on the glider in Spider-Man . So when you see the Green Goblin moving around on it, when its not CG, then its Willem pretty much the whole time.
He was delirious for 24 hours after coming down with yellow fever on the set of Platoon .
Attended Appleton East High School in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Quite possibly has the most on-screen deaths of any mainstream actor. His death scenes include Platoon , The Last Temptation of Christ , Speed 2: Cruise Control , eXistenZ , Shadow of the Vampire , Spider-Man , and Once Upon a Time in Mexico , among others.
The only actor to ever be nominated for an Oscar for playing a vampire, for his role as Max Schrek in Shadow of the Vampire .
Often portrays soldiers or eccentric characters.
John Malkovich , Nicolas Cage , and Dafoe were all approached to play the Green Goblin in Spider-Man . Dafoe and Malkovich starred in Shadow of the Vampire together, while Cage produced the film. Dafoe ended up getting the Spider-Man role.
Practices Yoga regularly.
Was under consideration for Dennis Hopper s role (Frank Booth) in Blue Velvet .
While doing a blocking run-through on Wild at Heart (for the scene in which Dafoes character threatens to rape Laura Dern s character), Dafoe playfully sang his lines. Director David Lynch loved this, and wanted Dafoe to actually sing his lines in the scene, when they shot it. The idea did not actually go through, however.
Brother, Donald Dafoe, is an accomplished transplant surgeon.
Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Supporting Actor category for his performance in the film xXx: State of the Union However, he failed to receive a nomination. (Had he gotten the nomination, it would have been his third overall. He was previously nominated for Worst Supporting Actor at the 1998 Razzie Awards for his role in Speed 2: Cruise Control , and for Worst Actor at the 1994 Razzie Awards for his performance in Body of Evidence .)
Was offered the role of Senator Roark in Sin City .
Visited the Sarajevo International Film Festival together with Steve Buscemi in 2000.
Was a candidate for the role of the Joker in Batman .
Member of the Official Competition jury at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival in 2007.
Was involved for decades (from 1977) with theater director and actress Elizabeth LeCompte , who was also a member and director of the Wooster Group. He later married an Italian writer/director in 2005.
Provided his voice on Lou Reed s 2003 album "The Raven". On it, he performs a re-written and reworked, spoken-word version of Edgar Allan Poe s poetry.
To date he has shot 18 films in Europe.
Built sets and acted with experimental Milwaukee, Wisconsin group Theatre X, before moving to New York in 1977, where he worked with the Wooster Group at the Performing Garage.
He has German, English, Irish, Northern Irish, Scottish, Swiss-French, and French ancestry. Many of his antecedents lived in Canada.
As of 2014, has appeared in six films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Platoon , Mississippi Burning , Born on the Fourth of July , The English Patient , The Aviator and The Grand Budapest Hotel . Of those, Platoon and The English Patient are winners in the category.
Member of the Official Competition jury at the 67th Cannes International Film Festival in 2014.
He has worked with 6 directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Michael Cimino , Kathryn Bigelow , William Friedkin , Oliver Stone , Martin Scorsese , and Anthony Minghella.
He sticks to an all-organic, vegan diet except for the rare occasion when he indulges in a fried lake perch sandwich.
He received an Honorary Doctorate from the Cleveland Institute of Art.
Lives in New York and Rome with his Italian wife Giada.
Childhood celebrity crush was Raquel Welch.
Casting people feel that they have to get someone who looks a certain,way, and I think that the jury is still out whether people find me,attractive or not.
Any actor who tells you that he makes choices, absolutely, is wrong. You,find work and work finds you.
On The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) : It had a profound,influence on me. Marty [Scorsese] had made this movie in his head for,years, and I felt privileged to be involved.
2017],[on The Florida Project (2017) ] I grew up middle class, but I was,always aware of poverty, even in the little mill town I was raised in.
Now, as I go through life, I recognize those people are us. That was,the process of making the movie, too. We were working with people who,were actually living in that motel, and it informed what we were doing.
