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IMDbPro

Willem Dafoe

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,00027
Willem Dafoe
A young girl uncovers the mysteries of animal communication.
Play trailer2:25
The Legend of Ochi (2025)
99+ Videos
99+ Photos
Having made over one hundred films in his legendary career, Willem Dafoe is internationally respected for bringing versatility, boldness, and daring to some of the most iconic films of our time. His artistic curiosity in exploring the human condition leads him to projects all over the world, large and small, Hollywood films as well as Independent cinema.

In 1979, he was given a role in Michael's Cimino's Heaven's Gate, from which he was fired. Since then, he has collaborated with directors who represent a virtual encyclopedia of modern cinema: James Wan, Robert Eggers, Sean Baker, Kenneth Branagh, Kathryn Bigelow, Sam Raimi, Alan Parker, Walter Hill, Mary Harron, Wim Wenders, Anton Corbijn, Zhang Yimou, Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Oliver Stone, William Friedkin, Werner Herzog, Lars Von Trier, Abel Ferrara, Spike Lee, David Cronenberg, Paul Schrader, Anthony Minghella, Theo Angelopoulos, Robert Rodriguez, Phillip Noyce, Hector Babenco, John Milius, Paul Weitz, The Spierig Brothers, Andrew Stanton, Josh Boone, Dee Rees and Julian Schnabel.

Dafoe has been recognized with four Academy Award nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Platoon, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Shadow Of The Vampire, for which he also received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Florida Project, for which he also received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations, and most recently, Best Leading Actor for At Eternity's Gate, for which he also received a Golden Globe nomination. Among his other nominations and awards, he has received two Los Angeles Film Critics Awards, a New York Film Critics Circle Award, a National Board of Review Award, two Independent Spirit Awards, Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup, as well as a Berlinale Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement.

Willem was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, to Muriel Isabel (Sprissler), a nurse, and William Alfred Dafoe, a surgeon. He is of mostly German, Irish, Scottish, and English descent. He and his wife, director Giada Colagrande, have made three films together: Padre, A Woman, and Before It Had A Name.

His natural adventurousness is evident in roles as diverse as Marcus, the elite assassin who is mentor to Keanu Reeves in the neo-noir John Wick; in his voice work as Gil the Moorish Idol in Finding Nemo and Ryuk the Death God in Death Note; as Paul Smecker, the obsessed FBI agent in the cult classic The Boondock Saints; and as real life hero Leonhard Seppala, who led the 1925 Alaskan dog sled diphtheria serum run in Ericson Core's Togo. That adventurous spirit continues with upcoming films including Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch, Abel Ferrara's Siberia, and Paul Schrader's The Card Counter.

Dafoe is one of the founding members of The Wooster Group, the New York based experimental theatre collective. He created and performed in all of the group's work from 1977 thru 2005, both in the U.S. and internationally. Since then, he worked with Richard Foreman in Idiot Savant at The Public Theatre (NYC), with Robert Wilson on two international productions: The Life & Death of Marina Abramovic and The Old Woman opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov and developed a new theatre piece, directed by Romeo Castellucci, based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Minister's Black Veil. He recently completed work on Marina Abramovic's opera 7 Deaths of Maria Callas.
BornJuly 22, 1955
  • More at IMDbPro
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    • Agent info
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BornJuly 22, 1955
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,00027
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 4 Oscars
      • 88 wins & 139 nominations total

    Who Plays Who in 'Saturday Night'?

    Who Plays Who in 'Saturday Night'?

    Matt Wood stars as John Belushi in Saturday Night, check out the rest of the cast and their real-life counterparts.
    See the gallery
    Production art
    Photos

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    Known for

    Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man - hämähäkkimies (2002)
    Spider-Man - hämähäkkimies
    7.4
    • Green Goblin
    • Norman Osborn
    • 2002
    Willem Dafoe in Van Gogh - ikuisuuden porteilla (2018)
    Van Gogh - ikuisuuden porteilla
    6.9
    • Vincent van Gogh
    • 2018
    Brooklynn Prince in The Florida Project (2017)
    The Florida Project
    7.6
    • Bobby
    • 2017
    Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson in The Lighthouse (2019)
    The Lighthouse
    7.4
    • Thomas Wake
    • 2019

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actor

    • Nosferatu
      • Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz
      • Post-production
      • 2024
    • The Legend of Ochi
      • Maxim
      • Post-production
      • 2025
    • The Birthday Party
      • Marcos Timoleon
      • Post-production
      • 2025
    • Late Fame
      • Pre-production
    • American Nails
      • Pre-production
    • Arrive Alive
      • Mickey Crews
      • Short
    • The Man in My Basement
      • Anniston Bennet
      • Post-production
    • Tropico
      • Raymond
      • In Production
    • Willem Dafoe in Run 002 (2024)
      Run 002
      Short
      • 2024
    • Saturday Night (2024)
      Saturday Night
      7.4
      • Dave Tebet
      • 2024
    • Winona Ryder, Willem Dafoe, Michael Keaton, Monica Bellucci, Catherine O'Hara, Justin Theroux, Arthur Conti, and Jenna Ortega in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
      Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
      6.9
      • Wolf Jackson
      • 2024
    • Kinds of Kindness (2024)
      Kinds of Kindness
      6.6
      • Raymond
      • George
      • Omi
      • 2024
    • Willem Dafoe and Camila Morrone in Gonzo Girl (2023)
      Gonzo Girl
      6.8
      • Walker Reade
      • 2023
    • Pet Shop Days (2023)
      Pet Shop Days
      5.9
      • Francis
      • 2023
    • Rebecca Antonaci and Lily James in Finalmente l'alba (2023)
      Finalmente l'alba
      5.8
      • Rufus Priori
      • 2023
    • Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Emma Stone, Christopher Abbott, Ramy Youssef, and Jerrod Carmichael in Poor Things (2023)
      Poor Things
      7.8
      • Godwin Baxter
      • 2023
    • Poika ja haikara (2023)
      Poika ja haikara
      7.4
      • Noble Pelican (English version, voice)
      • 2023
    • Tom Hanks, Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Bryan Cranston, Hope Davis, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Park, Aristou Meehan, Maya Hawke, Rupert Friend, Jake Ryan, Ethan Josh Lee, and Sophia Lillis in Asteroid City (2023)
      Asteroid City
      6.5
      • Saltzburg Keitel
      • 2023
    • Willem Dafoe in Inside (2023)
      Inside
      5.5
      • Nemo
      • 2023
    • Valtakunta (1994)
      Valtakunta
      8.2
      TV Series
      • Grand Duc
      • 2022
    • Willem Dafoe, Christoph Waltz, Rachel Brosnahan, and Warren Burke in Dead for a Dollar (2022)
      Dead for a Dollar
      5.4
      • Joe Cribbens
      • 2022
    • Ethan Hawke, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Björk, Alexander Skarsgård, Claes Bang, and Anya Taylor-Joy in The Northman (2022)
      The Northman
      7.0
      • Heimir the Fool
      • 2022
    • Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Thomas Haden Church, Jamie Foxx, Rhys Ifans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zendaya, and Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
      Spider-Man: No Way Home
      8.2
      • Norman Osborn
      • Green Goblin
      • 2021

    Producer

    • The Man in My Basement
      • executive producer
      • Post-production
    • Babenco: Alguém Tem que Ouvir o Coração e Dizer Parou (2019)
      Babenco: Alguém Tem que Ouvir o Coração e Dizer Parou
      7.3
      • associate producer
      • 2019
    • Willem Dafoe and Nelson Algren in Nelson Algren Live (2016)
      Nelson Algren Live
      6.7
      • executive producer
      • 2016
    • Asia Argento in New Rose Hotel - Tuomiopäivän salaliitto (1998)
      New Rose Hotel - Tuomiopäivän salaliitto
      5.2
      • co-producer
      • 1998

    Writer

    • Willem Dafoe and Giada Colagrande in Black Widow (2005)
      Black Widow
      3.2
      • Writer
      • 2005
    • In-development projects at IMDbPro

    Videos234

    "A Lot of Touching" Fuels 'Poor Things' Performances
    Clip 3:21
    "A Lot of Touching" Fuels 'Poor Things' Performances
    Why Guillermo del Toro Changed the Way He Directs for 'Nightmare Alley'
    Clip 3:26
    Why Guillermo del Toro Changed the Way He Directs for 'Nightmare Alley'
    'The Lighthouse' Trailer With Directors' Commentary
    Clip 1:35
    'The Lighthouse' Trailer With Directors' Commentary
    Stars Reveal Which Supervillains They Would Like to Play on Screen
    Clip 1:42
    Stars Reveal Which Supervillains They Would Like to Play on Screen
    Edward Norton Talks 'Motherless Brooklyn,' Great Actors, and Creative Obstacles
    Clip 7:55
    Edward Norton Talks 'Motherless Brooklyn,' Great Actors, and Creative Obstacles
    Willem Dafoe: Movie Moments
    Clip 1:16
    Willem Dafoe: Movie Moments
    "Chapter 4: Delirium"
    Clip 1:00
    "Chapter 4: Delirium"
    My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done -- "Astounded at the Silence"
    Clip 1:38
    My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done -- "Astounded at the Silence"
    Finding Nemo: 3D BD
    Clip 1:00
    Finding Nemo: 3D BD
    Tales from Earthsea
    Clip 1:19
    Tales from Earthsea
    Tales from Earthsea
    Clip 1:08
    Tales from Earthsea
    Out of the Furnace
    Clip 1:20
    Out of the Furnace

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Height
      • 1.74 m
    • Born
      • July 22, 1955
      • Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
    • Spouse
      • Giada ColagrandeMarch 25, 2005 - present
    • Children
      • Jack
    • Parents
        Muriel Sprissler Dafoe
    • Relatives
        Barbara Dafoe Whitehead(Sibling)
    • Other works
      Print ads: Modeled for the Prada fashion catalog.
    • Publicity listings
      • 2 Biographical Movies
      • 15 Interviews
      • 12 Articles
      • 4 Pictorials
      • 8 Magazine Cover Photos

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      He was a candidate for the role of the Joker in Batman (1989), which went to Jack Nicholson.
    • Quotes
      [on his role in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)]: "To this day, I can't believe I was so brazen to think I could pull off the Jesus role."
    • Trademarks
        Low-key, yet gravelly voice

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