Willem Dafoe
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Willem Dafoe was nominated for a 2001 Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award, and received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor for his transformational performance as Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire. He was also named Best Supporting Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics and runner-up by the New York Film Critics. He starred in two of the number one box office films of recent years: Sam Raimi’s 2002 summer box office hit, Spider-Man (as Norman Osborn/the Green Goblin, the rival of the iconic, web-spinning hero); and in Finding Nemo (as Gill the Moorish Idol, who constantly plots to escape his captivity).
Dafoe was most recently seen in Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, opposite Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett and Anjelica Huston; The Aviator, in which he reunited with Martin Scorsese; and XXX: State of the Union, directed by Lee Tamahori.
His recent releases include Giada Colagrande’s Before It Had a Name (co-written by Dafoe); Lars von Trier’s Manderlay; and Roger Spottiswoode’s Ripley Underground.
Dafoe has made a name for himself working with some of the most critically acclaimed directors in the world: with his turn as David Caravaggio, the thumbless thief, in Anthony Minghella’s Academy Award-winning The English Patient; his Academy Award-nominated performance as Sergeant Elias Grodin in Oliver Stone’s Platoon; his starring role in The Last Temptation of Christ for director Martin Scorsese; his memorable turn as lowlife Bobby Peru for David Lynch in Wild at Heart; and his role as a civil rights activist in Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning.
Dafoe’s credits include three films with Paul Schrader (Auto Focus, Affliction and Light Sleeper, as well as other films, including The Clearing, The Reckoning, Animal Factory, American Psycho, The Boondock Saints, David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ, Lulu on the Bridge, New Rose Hotel, Pavilion of Women, Faraway So Close!, Speed 2: Cruise Control, Tom & Viv, Clear and Present Danger, Born on the Fourth of July, Triumph of the Spirit, White Sands, To Live and Die in L.A., Streets of Fire and The Loveless.
Dafoe is one of the founding members of The Wooster Group, the New York-based experimental theater collective. He has created and performed in the group’s work since 1977, both in the U.S. and internationally. He will next be seen starring as the United States Chief of Staff in Paul Weitz’s comedy American Dreamz.
Filmography
- The Hurt Locker (2008)
- Beast of Bataan (2008)
- Adam Resurrected (2008)
- Fireflies in the Garden (2008)
- Anamorph (2007)
- Go Go Tales (2007)
- Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)
- The Walker (2007)
- Paris, je t'aime (2006)
- Inside Man (2006)
- American Dreamz (2006)
- Ripley Under Ground (2005)
- Before It Had a Name (2005)
- Manderlay (2005)
- xXx: State of the Union (2005)
- The Aviator (2004)
- Control (2004)
- The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- The Clearing (2004)
- Camel Cricket City (2003)
- James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (2003)
- Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
- The Reckoning (2003)
- Finding Nemo (2003)
- Auto Focus (2002)
- Spider-Man (2002)
- Edges of the Lord (2001)
- Pavilion of Women (2001)
- Bullfighter (2000)
- Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
- Animal Factory (2000)
- American Psycho (2000)
- The Boondock Saints (1999)
- eXistenZ (1999)
- New Rose Hotel (1998)
- Lulu on the Bridge (1998)
- Affliction (1997)
- Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
- "The Simpsons" (1 episode, 1997)
- The English Patient (1996)
- Basquiat (1996)
- The Night and the Moment (1995)
- Victory (1995)
- Tom & Viv (1994)
- Clear and Present Danger (1994)
- In weiter Ferne, so nah! (1993)
- Body of Evidence (1993)
- Light Sleeper (1992)
- White Sands (1992)
- Flight of the Intruder (1991)
- Wild at Heart (1990)
- Cry-Baby (1990)
- Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
- Triumph of the Spirit (1989)
- Mississippi Burning (1988)
- The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
- Off Limits (1988)
- Platoon (1986)
- "The Hitchhiker" (1 episode, 1986)
- To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
- Streets of Fire (1984)
- New York Nights (1984)
- Roadhouse 66 (1984)
- The Hunger (1983)
- The Loveless (1982)
- Heaven's Gate (1980)
Awards
- Independent Spirit Award Best Supporting Male "Shadow of the Vampire" 2001
- Saturn Award Best Supporting Actor "Shadow of the Vampire" 2001
- Golden Satellite Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) "Shadow of the Vampire" 2000
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actor "Shadow of the Vampire" 2000
- Phoenix Film Critics Society Award Best Supporting Actor "Shadow of the Vampire" 2000
