Michael Giacchino To Score John Carter of Mars
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/Film - Found Mar. 11, 2010 Dates,? ?X-Men Origins: Wolverine?) as the warrior princess Dejah Thoris and Oscar® nominee Willem Dafoe (?Spider-Man 3,? ?Shadow... |
Facets' Daily Find
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Facets Features - Found Mar. 9, 2010 ... this "thinking man's biker movie" also featured the debut of a young actor by the name of Willem Dafoe . Perhaps you've heard of him. |
A man of many parts: Willem Dafoe
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South China Morning Post - Found Jan. 27, 2010 Strange is a relative term when applied to the work of Willem Dafoe, and yet when one looks at his recent schedule, it is the word that jumps to ... |
How We Met: Angélique Kidjo & Willem Dafoe
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The Independent - Found Jan. 16, 2010 Life is short and when you meet people like Willem you realise that you have been blessed, and you don't take it lightly. Willem Dafoe, 54, is... |
Willem Dafoe Weighs In on "Twilight" vs. "Daybreakers"
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TheCelebrityCafe.com - Found Jan. 12, 2010 'Daybreakers' is the newest movie to capitalize on that trend, and film star Willem Dafoe said recently on MTV.com that 'Daybreakers' actually... |
Off the Cuff With Peter Travers: Willem Dafoe
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Rolling Stone - Found Jan. 8, 2010 Willem Dafoe stopped by the offices to answer Peter Travers' burning questions this week: why is he the only vampire actor to be nominated for an |
Willem Dafoe Is Game To Take On 'Spider-Man' Again
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MTV - Found Jan. 8, 2010 FROM SPLASH PAGE: " Daybreakers " star Willem Dafoe dropped by Splash Page HQ yesterday to chat us up about the film, which hits theaters Friday |
'Daybreakers' Star Willem Dafoe Goes On A Virtual Shotgun Safari
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MTV - Found Jan. 6, 2010 I interviewed Willem Dafoe a couple hours ago. Star of " Daybreakers ," which hits theaters on Friday. It was great. I'm a big fan of Dafoe's work... |
Willem Dafoe on Willem Dafoe
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Psychology Today - Found Jan. 16, 2010 Willem Dafoe's remarkable range as an actor has earned him acclaim both as the villain (most famously as Green Goblin in the Spider-Man movies) and |
Daybreakers: Why Willem Dafoe is my hero.
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Stranger - Found Jan. 15, 2010 In 2009, Ethan Hawke costars alongside Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill in Daybreakers, a dystopic sci-fi horror flick in which vampires farm humans... |
Willem Dafoe Biography
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Willem Dafoe
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| Willem Dafoe | |
|---|---|
Dafoe at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival |
|
| Born | William Dafoe July 22, 1955 Appleton, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Spouse(s) | Giada Colagrande (2005-present) |
William "Willem" Dafoe (born July 22, 1955) is an American film and stage actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group. He is best known for his roles in To Live and Die in L.A., Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, The Last Temptation of Christ, Shadow of the Vampire, Finding Nemo, Mississippi Burning, Clear and Present Danger, The Boondock Saints, American Psycho, the Spider-Man films, Antichrist, Speed 2: Cruise Control and xXx: State of the Union.
Contents |
Early life
Dafoe, the sixth of eight children was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, the son of Muriel Isabel (née Sprissler), a nurse and Boston native, and Dr. William Alfred Dafoe, a surgeon.1 His birth name is William Dafoe; he changed it to "Willem" (Dutch for "William") so people would not call him "Billy". He studied drama at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, but left before graduation in order to join the newly formed avant-garde group Theatre X.
Career
After touring with Theatre X for four years in the United States and Europe, he moved to New York City and joined the Performance Group. Dafoe's film career began in 1981, when he was cast in Heaven's Gate, but his role was removed from the film during editing. In the mid 80's he was cast by William Friedkin to star in To Live And Die In LA, in which Dafoe portrays counterfeiter Rick Masters. A year later he starred as the leader of a motorcycle gang in The Loveless (and later played a similar role in Streets of Fire), but his first breakthrough film role was as the compassionate Sergeant Elias in Platoon (1986). In 1988 Dafoe starred in another movie set during the Vietnam War, this time as CID Agent Buck McGriff in Off Limits. He has since become a popular character actor. He is often cast as unstable or villainous characters, such as the Green Goblin in the Spider-Man film series and Barillo in Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Before that, he was briefly considered for the role of The Joker by Tim Burton and Sam Hamm for 1989's Batman. Hamm recalls "We thought, 'Well, Willem Dafoe looks just like The Joker.'" The role ended up going to Jack Nicholson.2 He also played Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). He once remarked "To this day, I can't believe I was so brazen to think I could pull off the Jesus role",3 though Dafoe received acclaim despite the controversy surrounding the film.
He starred in the erotic drama Body of Evidence with Madonna. In 1991, Willem Dafoe portrayed a Manhattan drug dealer in the film Light Sleeper. This film received very good reviews by both critics and fans.citation needed Dafoe played an eccentric FBI agent in The Boondock Saints (1999) and a private investigator in American Psycho (2000). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1986 for Platoon and 2000 for Shadow of the Vampire. He played a rare heroic film role when he provided the voice of Gill in the animated movie Finding Nemo.
He worked briefly as a model in a 1990 Prada campaign. In 2004, Dafoe lent his likeness and voice for the James Bond video game Everything or Nothing as villain Nikolai Diavolo. In 2006, he played NYPD detective Stan Aubray on the hunt for a serial killer, the lead in New York-set thriller Anamorph, opposite Scott Speedman and Peter Stormare. He stars alongside Rowan Atkinson in the sequel to 1997's Bean, Mr. Bean's Holiday which was released worldwide March 30, 2007.
Personal life
Dafoe met director Elizabeth LeCompte at the Performance Group. LeCompte and Dafoe were part of the restructuring of The Performance Group and became professional collaborators and founding members of The Wooster Group, and began a relationship. Their son, Jack, was born in 1982. The pair eventually split in 2004.4 Dafoe married Italian director and actress Giada Colagrande on March 25, 2005.
Dafoe's brother, Donald, is a transplant surgeon and researcher.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
- 1986: Nominated, "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" - Platoon
- 2000: Nominated, "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" - Shadow of the Vampire
- 2001: Won, "Best Supporting Actor" - Shadow of the Vampire
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
- 2005: Nominated, "Best Acting Ensemble" - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (shared w/co-stars)
- 2002: Won, "Special Award:For immense contribution to the art of film."
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
- 2001: Nominated, "Best Supporting Actor" - Shadow of the Vampire
- 2003: Nominated, "Best Supporting Actor" - Auto Focus
- 2002: Nominated, "Best Supporting Actor" - Shadow of the Vampire
- 2001: Won, "Best Actor" - Shadow of the Vampire
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
- 2000: Won, "Outstanding Creative Performance" - Shadow of the Vampire
- 2001: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture" - Shadow of the Vampire
- 1987: Nominated, "Best Male Lead" - Platoon
- 1991: Nominated, "Best Supporting Male" - Wild at Heart
- 2001: Won, "Best Supporting Male" - Shadow of the Vampire
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
- 2000: Won, "Best Supporting Actor" - Shadow of the Vampire
- 2003: Nominated, "Best Villain" - Spider-Man
MTV Movie Awards, Mexico
- 2004: Nominated, "Most Divine Miracle in a Movie" - The Last Temptation of Christ
Online Film Critics Society Awards
- 2001: Nominated, "Best Supporting Actor" - Shadow of the Vampire
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
- 2001: Won, "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" - Shadow of the Vampire
- 1994: Nominated, "Worst Actor" - Body of Evidence
- 1998: Nominated, "Worst Supporting Actor" - Speed 2: Cruise Control
Sant Jordi Awards
- 1995: Won, "Best Foreign Actor" - Light Sleeper
- 2001: Won, "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical" - Shadow of the Vampire
- 1997: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by a Cast" - The English Patient (shared w/co-stars)
- 2001: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role" - Shadow of the Vampire
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
- 2000: Won, "Best Actor" - Shadow of the Vampire
San Sebastian International Film Festival
- 2005: Won, "Donostia Award
References
External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Willem Dafoe |
- Willem Dafoe at the Internet Movie Database
- Willem Dafoe at TV.com
- Willem Dafoe Biography
- Interview with Willem Dafoe
- The Onion A.V. Club interview






















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