Born in Appleton, Wis., on July 22, 1955, Willem Dafoe majored in theatre arts at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. After a series of smaller parts in films such as The Hunger (1983) and Streets of Fire (1984), Dafoe received high praise for his work in To Live and Die in L.A., Platoon, The Last Temptation of Christ and Mississippi Burning. Platoon (1986) earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.Since then, he's made a career of playing darker characters in movies such as Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Wild at Heart (1990), Light Sleeper (1992), Clear and Present Danger (1994) and The English Patient (1996).
Dafoe earned his second Best Supporting Actor nomination playing actor Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire (2000). He later played the villainous Green Goblin in his most commercially successful film, Spider-Man (2002).
AntichristAfter their child dies, a therapist (Willem Dafoe) and his wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) flee to their cabin in the woods, where they hope to mend their emotional wounds. But the grief-stricken couple watches their troubles multiply when very strange things begin to happen. Acclaimed Danish auteur... Read More
The Last Temptation of ChristNikos Kazantzakis's landmark novel comes to life in director Martin Scorsese's moving, spiritual and highly controversial film that challenges the Christian notion that Jesus (Willem Dafoe) was both a man and a divine being. With an all-star cast that includes Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Harry... Read More
Pavilion of WomenTo free herself from her husband's insatiable sexual demands, middle-aged aristocrat Madame Wu (Yan Luo) presents him with a young concubine. Much to Madame Wu's dismay, however, her rebellious son falls for the courtesan, while Madame Wu finds herself increasingly attracted to the boy's tutor --... Read More
VictoryAxel Heyst (Willem Dafoe) lives in the Dutch East Indies port of Surabaya, in a hotel owned by a racist German. An all-woman orchestra plays in the hotel each night, and the orchestra owner agrees to "sell" one of the girls, Alma (Irene Jacob), to the German. Heyst saves Alma from this terrible fate... Read More
Animal FactoryAfter receiving a long prison sentence for drug trafficking, Ron Decker (Edward Furlong) must learn to cope with life on the inside. Luckily, he befriends Earl Copen (Willem Dafoe), an ex-gang leader with considerable influence among the other inmates. Although Earl protects Ron and shows him the... Read More
