Happy Birthday to Willem Dafoe, born William Dafoe, who turns 68 years young today (July 22). His unique first name resulted from a high school nickname that the actor kept using to distinguish himself on lists of actors during auditions. Today, he’s become one of the most respected character actors. Below are some of my favorite of his performances, those that stick in my brain the most. He may be named Dafoe, but I like to think of him as Dafriend.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Written Paul Schrader
Directed by Martin Scorsese
This one stirred up all the reactionary Christian hoopleheads in America when it was initially released. Dafoe stars as Jesus, but not the Jesus you might expect. This is Scorsese’s examination of Jesus as a human being, meaning he is conflicted about his destiny to die young for everyone. Despite the Bible explicitly having stories in the gospels of Jesus struggling with temptation and ultimately overcoming it, the American Christians decided this movie was blasphemy without ever seeing it. When I finally saw it in college, I was amazed at how much Scorsese makes Jesus incredibly sympathetic. He feels like he’s going crazy because a voice speaks to him that doesn’t to anyone else. There’s a constant dread about coming to the moment he must die. Dafoe is one of the best Jesuses we’ve ever had on film, though I argue Scorsese’s Silence is the better of his two overtly religious movies.
Read my full review here.
Wild at Heart (1990)
Written & Directed by David Lynch
Bobby Peru is one of the creepiest fucking film characters I have ever seen. When I first saw Wild at Heart in college, it seemed like any other Lynch movie, but the deeper you go, the more horrific it gets. Based on Barry Gifford’s novel, Wild at Heart is a twisted Americana travelog. Sailor & Lula (Nicolas Cage & Laura Dern) can’t stop being horny for each other despite Lula’s mother (Diane Ladd) attempting to squash it at every turn. During one extended stay, the couple meets Bobby Peru, a career criminal. Peru sexually assaults Lula, who doesn’t inform Sailor out of guilt. Later, Peru gets Sailor to agree to pull off a robbery with him, which goes wrong in every possible way you could imagine. Dafoe, assisted by some grotesque fake teeth, makes this a memorable role, as in something that will haunt your dreams.
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Written by Steven Katz
Directed by E. Elias Merhige
E. Elias Merhige’s fictional retelling of the making of Nosferatu was a sleeper film that not enough people saw at the time. Director F.W. Murnau (John Malkovich) keeps his cast & crew in the dark about the virtually unknown actor, Max Schreck (Dafoe), whom he has cast as Count Orlok, the vampire in his film. Murnau tells his crew that Schreck is “method” before method acting was formalized and will be in vampire make-up and costume for the whole shoot. When the elusive actor does finally appear on set, he weirds out everyone with his strange behavior, including lapping at the blood of a wound an actor accidentally receives. Shadow is not a horror film so much as it is a satire about filmmaking, the clash between the director’s vision and the reality of collaborating with others. Dafoe becomes a total weirdo in this role, once again aided by make-up that allows him to become the character physically. If this slipped under your radar, it’s one to put on the top of the watchlist ASAP.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Written by Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach
Directed by Wes Anderson
I didn’t like The Life Aquatic the first time I saw it. I think this was the moment that Wes Anderson started becoming ensconced in specific aesthetics, and it was a breaking point for many viewers. I stuck around, and I have come to appreciate this one much more over time. I enjoy the rich, complex cartoon world Anderson has created, and he gave Dafoe one of his best roles. Dafoe plays Klaus, one of the sea explorer Steve Zissou’s most loyal workers. Klaus is also pretty dumb and a big pouter, which makes his character such great comic relief. Dafoe flexed some fantastic comedy chops here and delivered a performance that is one of the best comic roles in all of Anderson’s filmography.
The Florida Project (2017)
Written by Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch
Directed by Sean Baker
Dafoe is one of those actors who gives just as strong a performance in a supporting role as he would in the lead one, which always makes his appearances in films so memorable. In The Florida Project, he plays Bobby, the manager of the Magic Castle, a cheap motel that has become the semi-permanent home of people that the Orlando area has chewed up and spit out. Like a father figure, he keeps a watchful eye on Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) and her friends, as well as Moonee’s troubled mom, Halley (Bria Vinaite). Many of these other roles have Dafoe playing cruel or insane characters, but this is one where his warmth & empathy just glow out from his soul. Bobby has to witness terrible things while trying to protect the little kids; however, when people create dangerous situations for their children, he can’t stand by and do nothing. It’s a complicated role where none of the characters get a happy ending, but it’s so honest about the cruel way life under capitalism plays out so often.
Read my full review here.
The Lighthouse (2019)
Written by Robert Eggers & Max Eggers
Directed by Robert Eggers
Possibly the Dafoe performance to rule them all. The actor plays Thomas Wake, a former sailor turned obsessive lighthouse keeper. He takes on a protege, Winslow (Robert Pattinson), who doesn’t adjust to life isolated on a miserable island too well. Wake demands a lot out of Winslow and restricts access to the lamp as his domain. What follows is a descent into utter madness, a weird psychosexual horror show that seems to center around Winslow’s guilt over murdering a man he might have been in love with, possibly? Dafoe steals the show, though, Wake’s emotions pivoting wildly and at one point becoming a Poseidon-like nightmare that haunts Winslow’s sleep. It’s a performance that is equally comic and terrifying, something that will remain a highlight in Dafoe’s resume for decades.
Read my full review here.
The Card Counter (2021)
Written & Directed by Paul Schrader
Paul Schrader makes his second appearance on this list, this time as both writer & director. This is one of Dafoe’s supporting roles but memorable nonetheless. William Tell (Oscar Isaac) is an Iraq War veteran that has stripped away much of his humanity after serving in Abu Ghraib. In the present day, he lives a stoic circular existence of traveling from casino to casino, playing blackjack for low stakes, and sustaining himself on this. In his journal, he records memories of the man who trained him, Major John Gordo (Dafoe). He encounters Gordo doing the convention circuit as an expert in national security. The memories of torture return, and Tell meets the son of a fellow who killed himself over the guilt and trauma left in him. Gordo is the villain of the piece who is never really active in or aware of the main story until the end. He’s a vile monster utterly unaffected by what he did, accepting his role as an arbiter of cruelty on behalf of the United States government. He gets a nasty ending, and Dafoe nails the performance.
Read my full review here.
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