WD
Willem Dafoe
Actor
Died April 20, 2022 (66 years)
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).
Filmography
| 2022 | The Northman · as Heimir the Fool |
| 2022 | Dead for A Dollar · as Joe Cribbens |
| 2022 | Il coraggio di essere Franco · as Unknown |
| 2021 | The French Dispatch · as Albert 'The Abacus' |
| 2021 | Nightmare Alley · as Clement 'Clem' Hoatley |
| 2021 | Spider-Man: No Way Home · as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin |
| 2021 | The Card Counter · as Maj. John Gordo |
| 2021 | Zack Snyder's Justice League · as Nudis Vulko |
| 2021 | River · as Narrator |
| 2020 | The Last Thing He Wanted · as Richard McMahon |
| 2020 | Sportin' Life · as Unknown |
| 2019 | Siberia · as Clint |
| 2019 | The Lighthouse · as Thomas Wake |
| 2019 | Motherless Brooklyn · as Paul Randolph |
| 2019 | Swift · as Manou's Father (voice) |
| 2019 | Tommaso · as Tommaso |
| 2019 | Togo · as Leonhard Seppala |
| 2018 | Aquaman · as Nuidis Vulko |
| 2018 | Vox Lux · as Narrator (voice) |
| 2018 | At Eternity's Gate · as Vincent van Gogh |
| 2017 | Death Note · as Ryuk (voice) |
| 2017 | Murder on the Orient Express · as Gerhard Hardman |
| 2017 | The Florida Project · as Bobby Hicks |
| 2017 | What Happened to Monday · as Terrence Settman |
| 2017 | Do Donkeys Act? · as Narrator |
| 2017 | Piigs · as Narrator |
| 2017 | Opus Zero · as Paul |
| 2017 | Mountain · as Narrator (voice) |
| 2016 | Finding Dory · as Gill (voice) |
| 2016 | The Great Wall · as Ballard |
| 2016 | Dog Eat Dog · as Mad Dog |
| 2016 | A Definitely Maybe · as Ed Blackridge |
| 2016 | |
| 2016 | Nelson Algren Live · as Role1 / Frankie Machine / Role2 / Blackie Cavanaugh |
| 2015 | Fukushima: A Nuclear Story · as Narrator |
| 2015 | My Hindu Friend · as Diego Fairman |
| 2014 | The Grand Budapest Hotel · as J.G. Jopling |
| 2014 | A Most Wanted Man · as Tommy Brue |
| 2014 | The Fault in Our Stars · as Peter van Houten |
| 2014 | John Wick · as Marcus |
| 2014 | Bad Country · as Bud Carter |
| 2014 | Pasolini · as Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| 2013 | Out of the Furnace · as John Petty |
| 2013 | Odd Thomas · as Wyatt Porter |
| 2013 | Nymphomaniac: Vol. II · as L |
| 2012 | John Carter · as Tars Tarkas |
| 2012 | Tomorrow You're Gone · as The Buddha |
| 2011 | 4:44 Last Day on Earth · as Cisco |
| 2011 | The Hunter · as Martin David |
| 2010 | Miral · as Eddie |
| 2010 | A Woman · as Max Oliver |
| 2010 | Into the Deep: America, Whaling & The World · as Narrator |
| 2009 | Fantastic Mr. Fox · as Rat (voice) |
| 2009 | Antichrist · as He |
| 2009 | Daybreakers · as Lionel 'Elvis' Cormac |
| 2009 | The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day · as Paul Smecker (uncredited) |
| 2009 | Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant · as Gavner Purl |
| 2009 | Farewell · as Feeney |
| 2009 | My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done · as Detective Hank Havenhurst |
| 2008 | Fireflies in the Garden · as Charles Waechter |
| 2008 | Adam Resurrected · as Commandat Klein |
| 2008 | The Dust of Time · as A |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 · as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn |
| 2007 | Mr. Bean's Holiday · as Carson Clay |
| 2007 | The Walker · as Larry Lockner |
| 2007 | Anamorph · as Stan Aubray |
| 2007 | To Each His Own Cinema · as (segment "Occupations") (archive footage) |
| 2007 | Go Go Tales · as Ray Ruby |
| 2007 | Wintergasten (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 2006 | Inside Man · as Captain John Darius |
| 2006 | Paris, je t'aime · as Le cow-boy (Place des Victoires) |
| 2006 | American Dreamz · as Chief of Staff |
| 2006 | Tales from Earthsea · as Cob |
| 2005 | Manderlay · as Grace's Father |
| 2005 | xXx: State of the Union · as Gen. George Octavius Deckert |
| 2005 | Ripley Under Ground · as Neil Murchison |
| 2005 | Before It Had a Name · as Leslie |
| 2005 | The Colbert Report (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 2004 | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou · as Klaus Daimler |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 · as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn |
| 2004 | The Aviator · as Roland Sweet |
| 2004 | The Clearing · as Arnold Mack |
| 2004 | Control · as Dr. Michael Copeland |
| 2003 | Finding Nemo · as Gill (voice) |
| 2003 | Once Upon a Time in Mexico · as Barillo |
| 2003 | Overnight · as Unknown |
| 2002 | Auto Focus · as John Carpenter |
| 2002 | The Reckoning · as Martin |
| 2002 | Spider-Man · as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn |
| 2001 | Edges of the Lord · as Priest |
| 2001 | Pavilion of Women · as Father Andre |
| 2000 | American Psycho · as Detective Donald Kimball |
| 2000 | Animal Factory · as Earl Copen |
| 2000 | Shadow of the Vampire · as Max Schreck |
| 2000 | Bullfighter · as Father Ramirez |
| 1999 | eXistenZ · as Gas |
| 1999 | The Boondock Saints · as Paul Smecker |
| 1998 | New Rose Hotel · as X |
| 1998 | Lulu on the Bridge · as Dr. Van Horn |
| 1997 | Speed 2: Cruise Control · as Geiger |
| 1997 | Affliction · as Rolfe Whitehouse |
| 1997 | The Wonderful World of Disney (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1996 | Basquiat · as The Electrician |
| 1996 | The English Patient · as David Caravaggio |
| 1996 | Victory · as Axel Heyst |
| 1994 | Clear and Present Danger · as John Clark |
| 1994 | Tom & Viv · as Tom Eliot |
| 1994 | The Night and the Moment · as Lo scrittore |
| 1993 | Faraway, So Close! · as Emit Flesti |
| 1993 | Brace Up! · as Colonel Alexander Ignatyevich Vershinin |
| 1992 | Body of Evidence · as Frank Dulaney |
| 1992 | White Sands · as Deputy Sheriff Ray Dolezal |
| 1992 | Light Sleeper · as John LeTour |
| 1991 | Flight of the Intruder · as Lt. Cmdr. Virgil 'Tiger' Cole |
| 1990 | Wild at Heart · as Bobby Peru |
| 1990 | Cry-Baby · as Hateful Guard at Maryland Training School for Boys |
| 1989 | Born on the Fourth of July · as Charlie |
| 1989 | Triumph of the Spirit · as Salamo Arouch |
| 1989 | The Simpsons (TV Series) · as Commandant (voice) |
| 1988 | Mississippi Burning · as Ward |
| 1988 | The Last Temptation of Christ · as Jesus |
| 1988 | Off Limits · as Buck McGriff |
| 1987 | Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam · as Elephant Grass (voice) |
| 1987 | American Experience (TV Series) · as Narrator |
| 1986 | Platoon · as Sgt. Elias |
| 1985 | To Live and Die in L.A. · as Eric Masters |
| 1984 | Streets of Fire · as Raven Shaddock |
| 1984 | Roadhouse 66 · as Johnny Harte |
| 1984 | Shackin' Up · as Boyfriend |
| 1983 | The Hunger · as 2nd Phone Booth Youth |
| 1983 | The Hitchhiker (TV Series) · as Jeffrey Hunt |
| 1981 | The Loveless · as Vance |
| 1980 | Heaven's Gate · as Willy (uncredited) |