Line #121 Creator/WillemDafoe


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wd_7.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:[[Film/SpiderMan1 You know, he's something of an actor himself.]]]]
3
4	->''"One of the pleasures of being an actor is quite simply taking a walk in someone else's shoes. And when I look at the roles I've played, I'm kind of amazed at all the wonderful adventures I've had and the different things I've learned."''
5
6	William James Dafoe (born July 22, 1955 in Appleton, Wisconsin), known professionally as "[[ThisIsMyNameOnForeign Willem]]" Dafoe, is an MediaNotes/AcademyAward-nominated American film, stage, and voice actor, and a member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group.
7
8	He first got major attention in TheEighties, appearing in a number of controversial, cult, and edgy films, including ''The Loveless'', ''Film/StreetsOfFire'', and ''Film/ToLiveAndDieInLA''. His role as Sgt. Elias in ''Film/{{Platoon}}'' would net him his first Oscar nomination.
9
10	His first major leading role was UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} in ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'', where even though he had not yet been established for playing villains, his unusual features were highly remarked upon. After watching Dafoe's performance in the film, Creator/SergioLeone was heard to remark,[[invoked]] [[QuestionableCasting "That's not the face of our Lord. It's the face of a psychopath."]] Critics, though, generally praised his performance, and Dafoe credits it for starting his interest in being a "director's actor", i.e. working with major auteurs and roles that interested him. It stands out in either case as one of the very few films where he plays the main lead, as the majority of his career after that has consisted of work as a character actor and supporting actor. He found himself typecast as villains, while occasionally doing character turns and in other cases appearing in small scene-stealing cameos (such as as the gas station attendant in ''Film/{{eXistenZ}}'').
11
12	He became obscure in TheNineties, but returned to mainstream attention when he appeared in the highly successful ''Film/SpiderMan1'', where he turned in a memorable performance as [[Characters/SpiderManTrilogyGreenGoblin Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin]]. This was his first blockbuster role, and it made him a mainstream success and, for the first time, a household name. Since then, he's appeared in a number of more prominent performances, as well as finding himself in demand for voice-over work (while many note his unusual features, his voice is equally memorable and distinct). In 2013, he provided the voice and motion capture for Nathan Dawkins in the video game ''VideoGame/BeyondTwoSouls'' with Creator/ElliotPage. He also became part of Creator/WesAnderson's stock company, starring in ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'' in 2014 along with [[AllStarCast many other well-known and respected actors]].
13
14	He has been nominated for the [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActorInASupportingRole Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]] three times — for ''Film/{{Platoon}}'' in 1986, for ''Film/ShadowOfTheVampire'' in 2000, and for ''Film/TheFloridaProject'' in 2017. In 2019, he received his very first [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActorInALeadingRole Best Actor]] nomination for portraying Creator/VincentVanGogh in ''At Eternity's Gate''.
15
16	His wife since 2005, Giada Colagrande, is an actress and film director in her own right.
17
18	Also, [[Series/HowIMetYourMother his name sounds like a frog talking to a parrot]].
19	----
20	!!Selected works:
21	* ''Film/HeavensGate'' (1980) -- Willy (film debut)
22	* ''Series/TheHitchhiker'' (1983 - 1987) -- Jeffrey Hunt[[note]]Season 3, Episode 6[[/note]]
23	* ''Film/StreetsOfFire'' (1984) -- Raven Shaddock
24	* ''Film/ToLiveAndDieInLA'' (1985) -- Eric 'Rick' Masters
25	* ''Film/{{Platoon}}'' (1986) -- Sergeant Elias Gordon
26	* ''Film/OffLimits'' (1988) -- Sgt. 1st Class Buck [=McGriff=]
27	* ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'' (1988) -- UsefulNotes/JesusChrist
28	* ''Film/MississippiBurning'' (1988) -- FBI Agent Alan Ward
29	* ''Film/BornOnTheFourthOfJuly'' (1989) -- Charlie
30	* ''Film/CryBaby'' (1990) -- Hateful Guard
31	* ''Film/WildAtHeart'' (1990) -- Bobby Peru
32	* ''Film/FlightOfTheIntruder'' (1991) -- Lieutenant Commander Virgil 'Tiger' Cole
33	* ''Series/FishingWithJohn'' (1991) -- AsHimself
34	* ''Film/WhiteSands'' (1992) -- Ray Dolezal
35	* ''Film/LightSleeper'' (1992) -- John [=LeTour=]
36	* ''Film/BodyOfEvidence'' (1993) -- Frank Dulaney
37	* ''Film/ClearAndPresentDanger'' (1994) -- CIA Agent John Clark
38	* ''Film/{{Basquiat}}'' -- The Electrician
39	* ''Film/TheEnglishPatient'' (1996) -- David Caravaggio
40	* ''Film/Speed2CruiseControl'' (1997) -- John Geiger
41	* ''Film/{{Affliction}}'' (1997) -- Rolfe Whitehouse
42	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (1997 - 2014) -- The Commandant / Mr. Lassen
43	* ''Film/{{eXistenZ}}'' (1999) -- Gas
44	* ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'' (1999) -- FBI Special Agent Paul Smecker
45	** ''Film/TheBoondockSaintsIIAllSaintsDay'' (2009)
46	* ''Film/AmericanPsycho'' (2000) -- Donald Kimball
47	* ''Film/ShadowOfTheVampire'' (2000) -- Max Schreck
48	* ''Film/AnimalFactory'' (2000) -- Earl Copen
49	* ''Film/PavilionOfWomen'' (2001) -- Father Andre
50	* ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' and the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse -- [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn / Green Goblin]]
51	** ''Film/SpiderMan1'' (2002)
52	*** ''VideoGame/SpiderManTheMovie'' (2002)
53	** ''Film/SpiderMan2'' (2004)
54	** ''Film/SpiderMan3'' (2007)
55	** ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' (2021)
56	* ''Film/AutoFocus'' (2002)
57	* ''WesternAnimation/GlobehuntersAnAroundTheWorldInEightyDaysAdventure'' (2002) -- Hunter
58	* ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico'' (2003) -- Armando Barillo
59	* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' (2003) -- Gill
60	** ''VideoGame/FindingNemo'' (2003)
61	** ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' (2016)
62	* ''VideoGame/EverythingOrNothing'' (2003) -- Nikolai Diavolo
63	* ''Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou'' (2004) -- Klaus Daimler
64	* ''Film/TheAviator'' (2004) -- Roland Sweet
65	* ''Film/XXxStateOfTheUnion'' (2005) -- General George Deckert
66	* ''Film/{{Manderlay}}'' (2005) -- Mr. Mulligan
67	* ''Film/RipleyUnderGround'' (2005) -- Neil Murchison
68	* ''Film/AmericanDreamz'' (2006) -- Chief of Staff
69	* ''Film/InsideMan'' (2006) -- Captain John Darius
70	* ''Film/ParisJeTaime'' (2006) -- The Cowboy
71	* ''Film/MrBeansHoliday'' (2007) -- Carson Clay
72	* ''Anime/TalesFromEarthsea'' (2007) -- Cob
73	* ''Film/{{Anamorph}}'' (2007) -- Stan Aubrey
74	* ''Film/{{Antichrist}}'' (2009) -- He / The Fox
75	* ''Film/{{Daybreakers}}'' (2009) -- Lionel 'Elvis' Cormac
76	* ''WesternAnimation/FantasticMrFox'' (2009) -- Rat
77	* ''Film/TheHunter'' (2011) -- Martin David
78	* ''Film/FourFortyFourLastDayOnEarth'' (2012) -- Cisco
79	* ''Film/JohnCarter'' (2012) -- Tars Tarkas
80	* ''Film/OddThomas'' (2013) -- Wyatt Porter
81	* ''Film/OutOfTheFurnace'' (2013) -- John Petty
82	* ''Film/{{Nymphomaniac}}'' (2013) -- L
83	* ''VideoGame/BeyondTwoSouls'' (2013) -- Nathan Dawkins
84	* ''Film/AMostWantedMan'' (2014) -- Tommy Brue
85	* ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'' (2014) -- J. G. Jopling
86	* ''Film/TheFaultInOurStars'' (2014) -- Peter Van Houten
87	* ''Film/JohnWick'' (2014) -- Marcus
88	* ''Film/DogEatDog'' (2016) -- John Aloysius "Mad Dog" [=McCain=]
89	* ''Film/TheGreatWall'' (2016) -- Ballard
90	* ''Film/TheFloridaProject'' (2017) -- Bobby Hicks
91	* ''Film/WhatHappenedToMonday'' (2017) -- Terrence Settman
92	* ''Film/{{Death Note\|2017}}'' (2017) -- Ryuk
93	* ''Film/{{Murder on the Orient Express\|2017}}'' (2017) -- Gerhard Hardman
94	* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse -- Nuidis Vulko
95	** ''Film/{{Aquaman\|2018}}'' (2018)
96	** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' (2021) [[note]]His scenes were filmed in 2016, he was deleted from the theatrical version[[/note]]
97	* ''Film/VoxLux'' (2018) -- Narrator
98	* ''Film/TheLighthouse'' (2019) -- Thomas Wake
99	* ''Film/MotherlessBrooklyn'' (2019) -- Paul Randolph
100	* ''Film/{{Togo}}'' (2019) -- Leonhard Seppala
101	* ''Film/TheFrenchDispatch'' (2021) -- Albert the Abacus
102	* ''VideoGame/TwelveMinutes'' (2021) -- Cop / Father
103	* ''Film/TheCardCounter'' (2021) -- John Gordo
104	* ''Film/{{Nightmare Alley\|2021}}'' (2021) -- Clem Hoately
105	* ''Film/TheNorthman'' (2022) -- Heimir the Fool
106	* ''Film/DeadForADollar'' (2022) -- Joe Cribbins
107	* ''Film/PoorThings'' -- Dr. Godwin Baxter
108	* ''Film/{{AND}}''
109	* ''Film/Inside2023'' -- Nemo
110	* ''Film/AsteroidCity''
111	* ''Film/BeetlejuiceBeetlejuice''
112	* ''Anime/TheBoyAndTheHeron'' (2023) -- The Noble Pelican (voice; English dub)
113	* ''Film/{{Nosferatu\|2024}}'' (2024) -- Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz
114	----
115	!!Tropes associated with his works:
116	* ChewingTheScenery: Has a tendency to be over the top and [[LargeHam hammy]], specially for [[EvilIsHammy villainous parts]]. Special mention here goes to Dafoe's audiobook take on Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheLangoliers'', where Dafoe chews scenery that doesn't even exist and, on more than one occasion, out-hams ''the miniseries''.
117	* ChronicallyKilledActor: He dies ''a lot'' on-screen. His death scenes include [[spoiler:''Film/{{Platoon}}'', ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'', ''Film/Speed2CruiseControl'', ''Film/{{eXistenZ}}'', ''Film/ShadowOfTheVampire'', ''Film/SpiderMan1'', ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico'', ''VideoGame/BeyondTwoSouls'', ''Film/JohnWick'', and ''Film/TheGreatWall'']], among others. He also plays real-life film-maker Creator/PierPaoloPasolini in a 2014 biopic, a man famous for being brutally murdered. Ironic in that the character he plays in the ''Death Note'' movie, Ryuk, is a shinigami who kills people whose names are written in his Death Note. [[spoiler:And just as ironically, ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' saves his Green Goblin from death transplanting him into the MCU. Even more ironic: The overall plot of that movie was to spare Osborn from his death in ''Film/SpiderMan1'' and redeem him, and Spider-Man succeeds.]]
118	** [[spoiler: While his character survives the events of ''Aquaman'', the sequel reveals him to have died at some point prior to the start of the film]].
119	* CoolOldGuy: In his later years, he's been playing more roles like this when not playing villains.
120	* EvilSoundsDeep: He's probably one of the reasons why this trope is so common.
121	* EvilSoundsRaspy: He has a very distinctive, gravelly voice that's almost instantly recognizable and useful for whenever he plays a villain.
122	* LargeHam: Make no mistake, Willem Dafoe is some premium New York ham. Examples include ''Film/SpiderMan1'' and his audiobook of ''Literature/TheLangoliers'', but ''Film/TheLighthouse'' is easily Dafoe's most impressive venture into insane porkiness. Going back to an early role, in ''Film/StreetsOfFire'' it's very clear that he knows ''exactly'' what type of movie he's in, and dials up the ham as much as the movie required. Ironically, Dafoe is a pescatarian in RealLife.
123	* LeanAndMean: His noticeably slender frame adds an extra degree of intimidation to the villainous characters he plays.
124	%%* MeanCharacterNiceActor: He's been typecast as villains for almost his entire career, but in real life, he has a reputation for being very kind, polite, and humble.
125	* PlayingAgainstType:
126	** His heroic and comedic roles in ''Platoon'', ''Mississippi Burning'', ''The Last Temptation of Christ'', ''Clear and Present Danger'', ''Inside Man'', ''Mr. Bean's Holiday'', ''Finding Nemo'', and ''The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou''.
127	** As Vulko, the mentor of Aquaman.
128	** His work as Bobby in ''Film/TheFloridaProject'' allowed him a chance to play a character of great warmth, displaying a fatherly affection towards several of the child characters.
129	* ProductionPosse: Has made four films with Creator/AbelFerrara, who he considers his favorite director to work with. Unfortunately, as he laments, none of them ever got wide release in the states. He also collaborates often with Creator/LarsVonTrier, Creator/PaulSchrader, and Creator/WesAnderson.
130	* SlasherSmile: Has a pretty good one, as shown in ''Film/Speed2CruiseControl'', to the point Music/WeirdAlYankovic and ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'' made sure to point out the [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] looked scarier ''[[https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2016/04/20/08/willem-dafoe-spiderman.jpg?width=1200 without]]'' his mask.
131	* StevenUlyssesPerhero: His last name "Dafoe": he's a well-known actor for villainous characters ("the foe").
132	* ThisIsMyNameOnForeign: He goes by the Dutch derivative of his birth given name, which originated as a nickname in high school because he didn't like being called "Billy".
133	* TypeCasting: Either as a villain or a ReasonableAuthorityFigure. And in more indie/art films, he takes more roles that could fall into the AntiHero / ByronicHero with GreyAndGrayMorality categories. What is very certain though, is that most of his characters carry a large amount of [[TallDarkAndSnarky snark]].
134	* VillainousCheekbones: Sports a very striking pair.
135	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
136	** Was under consideration for Creator/DennisHopper's role (Frank Booth) in ''Film/BlueVelvet''.
137	** Was a candidate for the role of ComicBook/TheJoker in ''Film/Batman1989''. Ever since then, he's become one of (if not ''the'') most popular potential candidate for a future Joker role.
138	** Was signed on to play the villain for a sequel to ‘’WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet’’ before the film’s underperformance at the box office caused those plans to be scrapped. The cancellation call came in thirty minutes before his first recording session.
139	** Was offered the role of Senator Roark in ''Film/SinCity''.
140	** Wanted to remake the film ''Film/{{Onibaba}}'' and had the rights for a while. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tG_cBdvo2c But Dafoe had troubles trying to remake it due to the time period the movie was made]].
141	----
142	-->"[[Film/SpiderMan1 YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I'VE SACRIFICED?!]]"
143	-->"[[Film/SpiderManNoWayHome Strong enough to log off from TV Tropes]], [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife too weak to do it!]]"

Context Creator / WillemDafoe