
Willem Dafoe
Acting
William James "Willem" Dafoe (born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, four Golden Globe Awards, four Critics' Choice Movie Awards, and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Lars von Trier, Julian Schnabel, Wes Anderson, and Robert Eggers. Dafoe was a founding member of experimental theatre company The Wooster Group. He made his film debut with an uncredited role in Heaven's Gate (1980). Dafoe's early career includes credits for The Loveless (1982), Streets of Fire (1984), and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985). He earned his first Academy Award nomination for the war drama Platoon (1986), followed by nominations for his roles in Shadow of the Vampire (2000), The Florida Project (2017), and the Vincent van Gogh biopic At Eternity's Gate (2018). He also gained acclaim and wide recognition for his roles as Jesus Christ in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and as the supervillain Norman Osborn 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). His other film appearance include roles in Mississippi Burning (1988), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Wild at Heart (1990), Light Sleeper (1992), Body of Evidence (1993), Clear and Present Danger (1994), The English Patient (1996), Affliction (1997), New Rose Hotel(1998), Existenz (1999), The Boondock Saints (1999), American Psycho (2000), Auto Focus (2002), Finding Nemo (2003), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Inside Man (2006), Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007), Antichrist (2009), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Nymphomaniac (2013), The Fault in Our Stars (2014), John Wick (2014), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Aquaman (2018), The Lighthouse (2019), Nightmare Alley (2021), Poor Things (2023), and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024).
Born: July 22, 1955 · Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
Filmography (171)

The Man in My Basement
2025

The Phoenician Scheme
2025

The Legend of Ochi
2025

Zero
2025

Nosferatu
2024

Saturday Night
2024

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
2024

Kinds of Kindness
2024

Finally Dawn
2024

Poor Things
2023

Asteroid City
2023

The Wild One
2023

Inside
2023

Dead for a Dollar
2022

Stasera c’è Cattelan su Raidue
2022

Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home
2022

The Northman
2022

Spider-Man: No Way Home
2021

Nightmare Alley
2021

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun
2021

The Card Counter
2021

River
2021

Zack Snyder's Justice League
2021

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die
2020

Siberia
2020

The Last Thing He Wanted
2020

The Lighthouse: A Dark & Stormy Tale
2020

Tommaso
2020

Togo
2019

Motherless Brooklyn
2019

The Lighthouse
2019

Love, Antosha
2019

Manou the Swift
2019

Opus Zero
2018

Aquaman
2018

At Eternity's Gate
2018

Brothers in Arms
2018

Friedkin Uncut
2018

The House That Jack Built
2018

Vox Lux
2018

Mountain
2017

Murder on the Orient Express
2017

The Florida Project
2017

Piazza Vittorio
2017

Death Note
2017

What Happened to Monday
2017

Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait
2017

The Great Wall
2016

Dog Eat Dog
2016

Father
2016

A Family Man
2016

Finding Dory
2016

My Hindu Friend
2016

Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015

Fukushima: A Nuclear Story
2015

John Wick: Calling in the Cavalry
2015

Don't F*#% With John Wick
2015

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
2014

John Wick
2014

Bad Country
2014

Pasolini
2014

A Most Wanted Man
2014

The Fault in Our Stars
2014

The Grand Budapest Hotel
2014

Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014

Off Camera with Sam Jones
2014

Nymphomaniac: Vol. II
2013

Out of the Furnace
2013

The Smile Man
2013

Odd Thomas
2013

Tomorrow You're Gone
2012

4:44 Last Day on Earth
2012

John Carter
2012

The Hunter
2011

Conan
2010

Miral
2010

A Woman
2010

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
2010

Daybreakers
2010

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
2009

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
2009

Fantastic Mr. Fox
2009

Farewell
2009

Antichrist
2009

The Dust of Time
2008

Adam Resurrected
2008

Fireflies in the Garden
2008

Go Go Tales
2008

To Each His Own Cinema
2007

Anamorph
2007

Spider-Man 3
2007

Mr. Bean's Holiday
2007

The Graham Norton Show
2007

The Walker
2007

Paris Je T'aime
2006

Inside Man
2006

American Dreamz
2006

Ripley Under Ground
2005

The Colbert Report
2005

Before It Had a Name
2005

Manderlay
2005

Matthew Gray Gubler's Life Aquatic Intern Journal
2005

Jiminy Glick in Lalawood
2005

xXx: State of the Union
2005

On the Set: 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou'
2005

The Aviator
2004

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
2004

Control
2004

Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate
2004

Kulturplatz
2004

The Clearing
2004

Spider-Man 2
2004

The Reckoning
2004

Once Upon a Time in Mexico
2003

Overnight
2003

Finding Nemo
2003

Auto Focus
2002

Spider-Man
2002

Behind the Ultimate Spin: The Making of 'Spider-Man'
2002

Edges of the Lord
2001

Pavilion of Women
2001

A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon'
2001

Animal Factory
2000

Bullfighter
2000

Shadow of the Vampire
2000

American Psycho
2000

eXistenZ
1999

New Rose Hotel
1999

The Boondock Saints
1999

The Directors
1999

Lulu on the Bridge
1998

Affliction
1998

The Wonderful World of Disney
1997

Speed 2: Cruise Control
1997

Victory
1996

The English Patient
1996

Basquiat
1996

The Daily Show
1996

The Night and the Moment
1995

The Kingdom
1994

Inside the Actors Studio
1994

Clear and Present Danger
1994

Tom & Viv
1994

Faraway, So Close!
1993

Body of Evidence
1993

Light Sleeper
1992

White Sands
1992

North on Evers
1992

Fishing with John
1991

Flight of the Intruder
1991

Wild at Heart
1990

Cry-Baby
1990

Born on the Fourth of July
1989

The Simpsons
1989

Triumph of the Spirit
1989

Mississippi Burning
1988

The Last Temptation of Christ
1988

Off Limits
1988

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
1987

Platoon
1986

To Live and Die in L.A.
1985

Roadhouse 66
1984

Streets of Fire
1984

The Loveless
1984

The Hitchhiker
1983

The Hunger
1983

Heaven's Gate
1980

Saturday Night Live
1975

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962

The Oscars
1953
