Actor · Acting

Willem Dafoe

Born 1955-07-22

📍 Appleton, Wisconsin, USA

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).

Filmography 234

as Ed Saxberger

The Birthday Party

as Marcos Timoleon

The Resurrection of Christ

The Man in My Basement

as Anniston Bennett

The Phoenician Scheme

The Legend of Ochi

Nosferatu: An Inside Look

as Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz

Jesus Goes to Hollywood

as Self (archive footage)

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Kinds of Kindness

as Raymond / George / Omi

Can Creativity Save the World?

as Godwin Baxter

Interior (The Spectator)

as Saltzburg Keitel

as Narrator (voice)

Franco Battiato - La voce del padrone

Creation of the Kingdom of Exodus

as Self / Grand Duc

Dead for a Dollar

as Joe Cribbens

Stasera c’è Cattelan su Raidue

7 Deaths of Maria Callas

Il coraggio di essere Franco

Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home

as Heimir the Fool

Finding Satoshi

Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious

Spider-Man: No Way Home

as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin

Nightmare Alley

as Clem Hoatley

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun

as Albert 'the Abacus'

Why Are We (Not) Creative?

The Card Counter

Maresco / Pasolini

Zack Snyder's Justice League

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

Wim Wenders, Desperado

Roy's World: Barry Gifford's Chicago

The Last Thing He Wanted

as Richard McMahon

The Lighthouse: A Dark & Stormy Tale

as Leonhard Seppala

Vincent van Gogh Superstar

as Vincent van Gogh (archive footage)

Motherless Brooklyn

as Paul Randolph

Manou the Swift

as Manou's Father (voice)

as Nuidis Vulko

At Eternity's Gate

as Vincent van Gogh

Brothers in Arms

as Narrator (voice)

Theatron. Romeo Castellucci

Under the Rainbow: Making The Florida Project

as Narrator (voice)

Murder on the Orient Express

as Gerhard Hardman

NHK WORLD PRIME

as Self - Narrator (voice)

The Florida Project

Piazza Vittorio

as Ryuk (voice)

What Happened to Monday

as Terrence Settman

Ballad of a Righteous Merchant

Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait

as James Verdun

as Ed Blackridge

as Gill (voice)

Nelson Algren Live

as Role1 / Frankie Machine / Role2 / Blackie Cavanaugh

My Hindu Friend

as Diego Fairman

Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter

Fukushima: A Nuclear Story

The Making of A Most Wanted Man

John Wick: Calling in the Cavalry

Don't F*#% With John Wick

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors

as Pier Paolo Pasolini

A Most Wanted Man

The Fault in Our Stars

as Peter van Houten

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Late Night with Seth Meyers

as Self - Guest

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Off Camera with Sam Jones

The Benaki Museum

as Narrator (voice)

Nymphomaniac: Vol. II

Out of the Furnace

as Wyatt Porter

Tomorrow You're Gone

Bob Wilson's Life & Death of Marina Abramovic

4:44 Last Day on Earth

as Martin David

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

as Detective Hank Havenhurst

The Making of Daybreakers

Into the Deep: America, Whaling & The World

as Lionel 'Elvis' Cormac

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

as Paul Smecker (uncredited)

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

Fantastic Mr. Fox

The Dust of Time

Adam Resurrected

as Commandat Klein

Fireflies in the Garden

as Charles Waechter

To Each His Own Cinema

as (segment "Occupations") (archive footage)

Cannes: All Access

as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn

Mr. Bean's Holiday

The Graham Norton Show

as Larry Lockner

Paris Je T'aime

as Le cow-boy (Place des Victoires)

American Dreamz

as Chief of Staff

Ripley Under Ground

as Neil Murchison

The Colbert Report

Before It Had a Name

as Grace's Father

This Is an Adventure

Matthew Gray Gubler's Life Aquatic Intern Journal

Jiminy Glick in Lalawood

as Willem Dafoe (uncredited)

xXx: State of the Union

as Gen. George Octavius Deckert

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

as Self / Klaus D.

as Roland Sweet

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

as Klaus Daimler

as Dr. Michael Copeland

Love, Death, Elvis & Oz: The Making of Wild at Heart

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

as Narrator (voice)

as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn

Behind the Scenes of 'Spider-Man'

Counterfeit World: Making 'To Live and Die in L.A.'

Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

as Armando Barillo

as Gill (voice)

Rockets Redglare!

Globehunters: An Around the World in 80 Days Adventure

as Hunter (voice)

as John Carpenter

as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn

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

Edges of the Lord

Pavilion of Women

as Father Andre

A Tour of the Inferno: Revisiting 'Platoon'

as Father Ramirez

Shadow of the Vampire

American Psycho

as Donald Kimball

The Boondock Saints

as Paul Smecker

Forrest Bess: Key to the Riddle

Lulu on the Bridge

as Dr. Van Horn

as Rolfe Whitehouse

The Wonderful World of Disney

Speed 2: Cruise Control

The English Patient

as David Caravaggio

as The Electrician

The Night and the Moment

as Lo scrittore

Inside the Actors Studio

Clear and Present Danger

Faraway, So Close!

as Colonel Alexander Ignatyevich Vershinin

White Homeland Commando

Body of Evidence

as Frank Dulaney

Rhyme 'Em to Death

as Deputy Sheriff Ray Dolezal

Fishing with John

Flight of the Intruder

as Lt. Cmdr. Virgil 'Tiger' Cole

as Hateful Guard

Born on the Fourth of July

as The Commandant / Jack Lassen (voice)

as Commandant (voice)

Triumph of the Spirit

as Salamo Arouch

Mississippi Burning

as Agent Alan Ward

Location Production Footage: The Last Temptation of Christ

The Last Temptation of Christ

as Buck McGriff

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam

as Elephant Grass (voice)

as Sergeant Elias Grodin

To Live and Die in L.A.

as Rick Masters

as Johnny Harte

Streets of Fire

as Raven Shaddock

New York Nights

Atalanta Strategy

as Immigration Staff

as Jeffrey Hunt

as 2nd Phone Booth Youth

as Willy (uncredited)

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

as Self - Cameo (uncredited)

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

as Self - Presenter

The Sleeping Shepherd