Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
William J. "Willem" Dafoeis an American actor. A member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Platoonand Shadow of the Vampire. His other film appearances include The Last Temptation of Christ, The English Patientand the Spider-Man trilogy. He has also had voice roles in Finding Nemoand Fantastic Mr. Fox...
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth22 July 1955
CityAppleton, WI
ideas people sitting
Socially, I like the idea of sitting in a theater with a bunch of people.
real real-wisdom
There's a real wisdom to not saying a thing.
thinking voice singing
I'm not attracted to naturalism, I'm not attracted to behavior, I'm attracted to dance. I'm attracted to gesture, I'm attracted to singing with your voice, as opposed to having a natural manner. I'm a theater actor first, so that probably influences a lot of my approach. And I think in many ways, naturalism has ruined movies.
stories pushing buttons
You can be intuitive when you've got a more expansive role. You can get into the poetry of telling the story rather than just pushing buttons.
character worry trying
I don't worry so much about the audience. I want them very much to be involved and enjoy the movie, but I try to just inhabit the character in a full way, where I can create a personal stake.
finding-yourself losing-yourself loses
You have to lose yourself to find yourself.
hands giving people
Film is fragmented and gets into lots of other people's hands. There are a lot of pleasures that theatre gives me. You get to perform uninterrupted.
odd-one guy looks
I guess they often cast me as the bad guy, because I'm not, er, conventional looking. I look sort of violent. I'm the odd one out, the outsider.
comedy made feels
I've been in very few flat-out comedies. But I feel like I've always made comedies.
real animal
I never act. I simply bring out the real animal that's in me.
thinking challenges theatre
Great theatre is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to fantasize about a world we aspire to.
people passionate worst
The worst thing is to get involved with people who aren't passionate about what they're doing.