Saturday, April 23, 2011

Willem Dafoe

(Israel Twitter)Willem Dafoe (born July 22, 1955) is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group. He has had roles in a wide range of films, including Streets of Fire, To Live and Die in L.A., Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, The English Patient, The Last Temptation of Christ, Mississippi Burning, Wild at Heart, The Boondock Saints, Inside Man, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Spider-Man, Shadow of the Vampire, The Aviator, American Psycho, Antichrist, and voice roles in Fantastic Mr. Fox and Finding Nemo.
Dafoe has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice. First for his role in Platoon in 1986 and the second time for his performance in Shadow of the Vampire in 2000.
After touring with Theatre X for four years in the United States and Europe, he moved to New York City and joined the Performance Group. Dafoe's film career began in 1981, when he was cast in Heaven's Gate, but his role was removed from the film during editing. In the mid 80's he was cast by William Friedkin to star in To Live And Die In LA, in which Dafoe portrays counterfeiter Rick Masters. A year later he starred as the leader of a motorcycle gang in The Loveless (and later played a similar role in Streets of Fire), but his first breakthrough film role was as the compassionate Sergeant Elias in Platoon (1986). Dafoe enjoyed the opportunity to play a 'good guy' and said that Platoon gave him a chance to display his versatility. "I think all characters live in you. You just frame them, give them circumstances, and that character will happen.

No comments:

Post a Comment