Willem Dafoe
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1955-07-22 (70 years old)
Place of Birth
Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
Willem Dafoe
Biography
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).
Known For
Acting
A Christmas Carol
as Ebenezer Scrooge
Tenzing
as Colonel John Hunt
Tropico
as Raymond
Cuddle
as Dante
(2026)
(2025)
The Legend of Ochi
as Maxim
(2025)
The Phoenician Scheme
as Knave
(2025)
Zero
as (voice)
(2025)
Late Fame
as Ed Saxberger
(2025)
The Man in My Basement
as Anniston Bennett
(2025)
The Birthday Party
as Marcos Timoleon
(2025)
The Souffleur
as Lucius
(2025)
Avrio Vrady
as Dancing man
(2025)
Grande Envie
as Count
(2024)
Nosferatu
as Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz
(2024)
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
as Jackson
(2024)
Kinds of Kindness
as Raymond / George / Omi
(2024)
(2024)
Finally Dawn
as Rufo Priori
(2024)
Saturday Night
as David Tebet
(2024)
Nosferatu: An Inside Look
as Self
(2024)
(2024)
Da Suisa - Tributo
as Himself
(2024)
Jesus Goes to Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
(2023)
Poor Things
as Godwin Baxter
(2023)
Asteroid City
as Saltzburg Keitel
(2023)
Inside
as Nemo
(2023)
The Wild One
as Narrator (voice)
(2023)
(2023)
Pet Shop Days
as Francis
(2023)
Interior (The Spectator)
as Narrator
(2023)
Gonzo Girl
as Walker Reade
(2022)
The Northman
as Heimir the Fool
(2022)
Dead for a Dollar
as Joe Cribbens
(2022)
(2022)
(2022)
7 Deaths of Maria Callas
as Film Actor
(2022)
Creation of the Kingdom of Exodus
as Self / Grand Duc
(2022)
Finding Satoshi
as Narrator
(2022)
Il coraggio di essere Franco
as Sé stesso
(2022)
(2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home
as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin
(2021)
Zack Snyder's Justice League
as Vulko
(2021)
Nightmare Alley
as Clem Hoatley
(2021)
The French Dispatch
as Albert 'the Abacus'
(2021)
The Card Counter
as Gordo
(2021)
River
as Narrator
(2021)
Why Are We (Not) Creative?
as Self
(2021)
Maresco / Pasolini
as Self
(2020)
Wim Wenders, Desperado
as Self
(2020)
Tommaso
as Tommaso
(2020)
Sportin' Life
as Self
(2020)
Siberia
as Clint
(2020)
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die
as Self
(2020)
The Last Thing He Wanted
as Richard McMahon
(2020)
(2020)
(2019)
Togo
as Leonhard Seppala
(2019)
The Lighthouse
as Thomas Wake
(2019)
Motherless Brooklyn
as Paul Randolph
(2019)
Manou the Swift
as Manou's Father (voice)
(2019)
Vincent van Gogh Superstar
as Vincent van Gogh (archive footage)
(2019)
Love, Antosha
as Self
(2018)
Aquaman
as Nuidis Vulko
(2018)
Opus Zero
as Paul
(2018)
At Eternity's Gate
as Vincent van Gogh
(2018)
Vox Lux
as Narrator (voice)
(2018)
Friedkin Uncut
as Self
(2018)
(2018)
Brothers in Arms
as Self
(2018)
(2017)
Murder on the Orient Express
as Gerhard Hardman
(2017)
What Happened to Monday
as Terrence Settman
(2017)
The Florida Project
as Bobby
(2017)
Death Note
as Ryuk (voice)
(2017)
(2017)
(2017)
Mountain
as Narrator (voice)
(2017)
Piazza Vittorio
as Himself
(2017)
Sanctuary
as Narrator
(2016)
The Great Wall
as Ballard
(2016)
Finding Dory
as Gill (voice)
(2016)
Dog Eat Dog
as Mad Dog
(2016)
A Family Man
as Ed Blackridge
(2016)
Mind the Gap
as Self
(2016)
Father
as James Verdun
(2016)
(2016)
My Hindu Friend
as Diego Fairman
(2016)
Nelson Algren Live
as Role1 / Frankie Machine / Role2 / Blackie Cavanaugh
(2015)
Don't F*#% With John Wick
as Self
(2015)
(2015)
(2015)
Fukushima: A Nuclear Story
as Narrator
(2014)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
as Jopling
(2014)
John Wick
as Marcus
(2014)
The Fault in Our Stars
as Peter van Houten
(2014)
Bad Country
as Bud Carter
(2014)
A Most Wanted Man
as Tommy Brue
(2014)
Pasolini
as Pier Paolo Pasolini
(2014)
SPYMASTER: John le Carré in Hamburg
as (archive footage)
(2013)
(2013)
Odd Thomas
as Wyatt Porter
(2013)
Out of the Furnace
as John Petty
(2013)
Saving Norman
as Lionel Pembrooke
(2013)
Love's Routine
as Barry
(2013)
The Smile Man
as Willem
(2013)
The Benaki Museum
as Narrator (voice)
(2012)
John Carter
as Tars Tarkas
(2012)
(2012)
Tomorrow You're Gone
as The Buddha
(2012)
4:44 Last Day on Earth
as Cisco
(2011)
The Hunter
as Martin David
(2010)
Daybreakers
as Lionel 'Elvis' Cormac
(2010)
Miral
as Eddie
(2010)
Into the Deep: America, Whaling & The World
as Narrator
(2010)
The Making of Daybreakers
as Self
(2010)
A Woman
as Max Oliver
(2010)
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
as Detective Hank Havenhurst
(2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox
as Rat (voice)
(2009)
Antichrist
as He
(2009)
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
as Paul Smecker
(2009)
Farewell
as Feeney
(2009)
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
as Gavner Purl
(2008)
Fireflies in the Garden
as Charles Waechter
(2008)
The Dust of Time
as A
(2008)
Adam Resurrected
as Commandat Klein
(2007)
Spider-Man 3
as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn
(2007)
Mr. Bean's Holiday
as Carson Clay
(2007)
Anamorph
as Stan Aubray
(2007)
Cannes: All Access
as Self
(2007)
Go Go Tales
as Ray Ruby
(2007)
The Walker
as Larry Lockner
(2007)
To Each His Own Cinema
as (segment "Occupations") (archive footage)
(2007)
The Procedure
as Christopher
(2007)
Voom Portraits
as Self
(2006)
Inside Man
as John Darius
(2006)
Paris Je T'aime
as Le cow-boy (Place des Victoires)
(2006)
American Dreamz
as Chief of Staff
(2005)
xXx: State of the Union
as Gen. George Octavius Deckert
(2005)
Manderlay
as Grace's Father
(2005)
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood
as Willem Dafoe (uncredited)
(2005)
On the Set: 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou'
as Self / Klaus D.
(2005)
Before It Had a Name
as Leslie
(2005)
Ripley Under Ground
as Neil Murchison
(2005)
(2005)
This Is an Adventure
as Self
(2004)
Spider-Man 2
as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn
(2004)
The Aviator
as Roland Sweet
(2004)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
as Klaus Daimler
(2004)
The Clearing
as Arnold Mack
(2004)
(2004)
Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate
as Narrator (voice)
(2004)
Control
as Dr. Michael Copeland
(2004)
The Reckoning
as Martin
(2004)
The Misbehavers
as Self
(2004)
(2003)
Finding Nemo
as Gill (voice)
(2003)
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
as Armando Barillo
(2003)
Rockets Redglare!
as Self
(2003)
(2003)
Overnight
as Self
(2003)
(2002)
Spider-Man
as Green Goblin / Norman Osborn
(2002)
(2002)
Globehunters: An Around the World in 80 Days Adventure
as Hunter (voice)
(2002)
The Spider-Man Story
as Self
(2002)
Auto Focus
as John Carpenter
(2002)
Spider-Mania
as Self
(2001)
Edges of the Lord
as Priest
(2001)
(2001)
Pavilion of Women
as Father Andre
(2000)
American Psycho
as Donald Kimball
(2000)
Animal Factory
as Earl Copen
(2000)
Shadow of the Vampire
as Max Schreck
(2000)
Bullfighter
as Father Ramirez
(1999)
The Boondock Saints
as Paul Smecker
(1999)
eXistenZ
as Gas
(1999)
New Rose Hotel
as X
(1999)
Forrest Bess: Key to the Riddle
as Narrator
(1998)
Lulu on the Bridge
as Dr. Van Horn
(1997)
Speed 2: Cruise Control
as Geiger
(1997)
Affliction
as Rolfe Whitehouse
(1997)
Wrong Guys
as Jack Straw
(1996)
The English Patient
as David Caravaggio
(1996)
Basquiat
as The Electrician
(1996)
Victory
as Axel Heyst
(1995)
The Night and the Moment
as Lo scrittore
(1994)
Clear and Present Danger
as John Clark
(1994)
Tom & Viv
as Tom Eliot
(1993)
Body of Evidence
as Frank Dulaney
(1993)
White Homeland Commando
as Karl
(1993)
Brace Up!
as Colonel Alexander Ignatyevich Vershinin
(1993)
(1993)
Faraway, So Close!
as Emit Flesti
(1992)
(1992)
White Sands
as Deputy Sheriff Ray Dolezal
(1992)
Light Sleeper
as John LeTour
(1991)
Flight of the Intruder
as Lt. Cmdr. Virgil 'Tiger' Cole
(1990)
Wild at Heart
as Bobby Peru
(1990)
Cry-Baby
as Hateful Guard
(1989)
Born on the Fourth of July
as Charlie
(1989)
Triumph of the Spirit
as Salamo Arouch
(1988)
Mississippi Burning
as Agent Alan Ward
(1988)
The Last Temptation of Christ
as Jesus
(1988)
Off Limits
as Buck McGriff
(1988)
(1987)
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
as Elephant Grass (voice)
(1986)
Platoon
as Sergeant Elias Grodin
(1985)
To Live and Die in L.A.
as Rick Masters
(1985)
(1984)
The Loveless
as Vance
(1984)
Streets of Fire
as Raven Shaddock
(1984)
New York Nights
as Boyfriend
(1984)
Roadhouse 66
as Johnny Harte
(1984)
Atalanta Strategy
as Immigration Staff
(1983)
The Hunger
as 2nd Phone Booth Youth
(1980)
Heaven's Gate
as Willy (uncredited)
Crew
Tropico
Producer
(2025)
The Man in My Basement
Executive Producer
(2020)
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die
Associate Producer
(2018)
(2005)
Before It Had a Name
Screenplay
(1999)
New Rose Hotel
Co-Producer