Actor Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe
Photo of actor Willem Dafoe
William James "Willem" Dafoe (born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a British Academy Film Award. He frequently collaborates with filmmakers Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Lars von Trier, Julian Schnabel, and Wes Anderson. Dafoe was an early member of experimental theater company The Wooster Group. He made his film debut in Heaven's Gate (1980), but was fired during production. He had his first leading role in the outlaw biker film The Loveless (1982) and then played the main antagonist in Streets of Fire (1984) and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985). He received his first Academy Award nomination (as Best Supporting Actor) for his role as Sergeant Elias Grodin in Oliver Stone's war film Platoon (1986). In 1988, Dafoe played Jesus in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ and costarred in Mississippi Burning, both of which were controversial. After receiving his second Academy Award nomination (as Best Supporting Actor) for portraying Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire (2000), Dafoe portrayed the supervillain Norman Osborn / Green Goblin in the superhero film Spider-Man (2002), a role he reprised in its sequels Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007), and the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) earning him the Guinness World Record for the "longest career as a live-action Marvel character". He also portrayed the villains in Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) and XXX: State of the Union (2005), as well as Carson Clay in the film Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007). In 2009, he starred in the experimental film Antichrist, one of his three films with Lars von Trier. Dafoe then appeared in The Fault in Our Stars, John Wick, The Grand Budapest Hotel (all 2014), The Great Wall (2016), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), The Florida Project (2017) (for which he received his third Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category), The Lighthouse (2019), The French Dispatch, and Nightmare Alley (both 2021). He portrayed Nuidis Vulko in the DC Extended Universe films Aquaman (2018), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2022). Dafoe has portrayed several real-life figures, including T. S. Eliot in Tom & Viv (1994), Pier Paolo Pasolini in Pasolini (2014), Vincent van Gogh in At Eternity's Gate (2018) (for which he received an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination, his first in that category), and Leonhard Seppala in Togo (2019).
Place of birth
Appleton, Wisconsin, USA Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
Date of birth
22nd July 1955
Movies that starred Willem Dafoe (53 in total)
Kinds of Kindness poster

Kinds of Kindness [2024]

Raymond / George / Omi
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice poster

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice [2024]

Wolf Jackson
Nosferatu poster

Nosferatu [2024]

Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom poster

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom [2023]

Nuidis Vulko
Poor Things poster

Poor Things [2023]

Godwin Baxter
Spider-Man: No Way Home poster

Spider-Man: No Way Home [2021]

Norman Osborn / Green Goblin
Nightmare Alley poster

Nightmare Alley [2021]

Clement 'Clem' Hoatley
The Lighthouse poster

The Lighthouse [2019]

Thomas Wake
Togo poster

Togo [2019]

Leonhard Seppala
Aquaman poster

Aquaman [2018]

Nuidis Vulko
At Eternity's Gate poster

At Eternity's Gate [2018]

Vincent van Gogh
What Happened to Monday poster

What Happened to Monday [2017]

Terrence Settman
Murder on the Orient Express poster

Murder on the Orient Express [2017]

Gerhard Hardman
Death Note poster

Death Note [2017]

Ryuk (voice)
The Great Wall poster

The Great Wall [2016]

Ballard
The Fault in Our Stars poster

The Fault in Our Stars [2014]

Peter van Houten
The Grand Budapest Hotel poster

The Grand Budapest Hotel [2014]

J.G. Jopling
Bad Country poster

Bad Country [2014]

Bud Carter
Odd Thomas poster

Odd Thomas [2013]

Wyatt Porter
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II poster

Nymphomaniac: Vol. II [2013]

L
Out of the Furnace poster

Out of the Furnace [2013]

John Petty
John Carter poster

John Carter [2012]

Tars Tarkas
Daybreakers poster

Daybreakers [2010]

Lionel 'Elvis' Cormac
Farewell poster

Farewell [2009]

Feeney
Fantastic Mr. Fox poster

Fantastic Mr. Fox [2009]

Rat (voice)
Antichrist poster

Antichrist [2009]

He
Mr. Bean's Holiday poster

Mr. Bean's Holiday [2007]

Carson Clay
The Walker poster

The Walker [2007]

Larry Lockner
Paris Je T'aime poster

Paris Je T'aime [2006]

Le cow-boy (Place des Victoires)
Inside Man poster

Inside Man [2006]

Captain John Darius
American Dreamz poster

American Dreamz [2006]

Chief of Staff
xXx: State of the Union poster

xXx: State of the Union [2005]

Gen. George Octavius Deckert
Ripley Under Ground poster

Ripley Under Ground [2005]

Neil Murchison
Manderlay poster

Manderlay [2005]

Grace's Father
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou poster

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou [2004]

Klaus Daimler
Control poster

Control [2004]

Dr. Michael Copeland
The Reckoning poster

The Reckoning [2004]

Martin
The Clearing poster

The Clearing [2004]

Arnold Mack
Finding Nemo poster

Finding Nemo [2003]

Gill (voice)
Spider-Man poster

Spider-Man [2002]

Green Goblin / Norman Osborn
American Psycho poster

American Psycho [2000]

Detective Donald Kimball
Animal Factory poster

Animal Factory [2000]

Earl Copen
Shadow of the Vampire poster

Shadow of the Vampire [2000]

Max Schreck
The Boondock Saints poster

The Boondock Saints [1999]

Paul Smecker
eXistenZ poster

eXistenZ [1999]

Gas
Speed 2: Cruise Control poster

Speed 2: Cruise Control [1997]

Geiger
The English Patient poster

The English Patient [1996]

David Caravaggio
Basquiat poster

Basquiat [1996]

The Electrician
Clear and Present Danger poster

Clear and Present Danger [1994]

John Clark
Faraway, So Close! poster

Faraway, So Close! [1993]

Emit Flesti
Wild at Heart poster

Wild at Heart [1990]

Bobby Peru
The Last Temptation of Christ poster

The Last Temptation of Christ [1988]

Jesus
Mississippi Burning poster

Mississippi Burning [1988]

Ward
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