Willem Dafoe’s actions are definitely not just acting; he’s a whole cinematic experience. Seeing him once can scare you, and at another time, simply amaze you with his warmth. Over the span of almost 150 movies, Dafoe has become a performer whose work is hardly definable – drifting between the worlds of the experimental festival, blockbuster, and everything in while. For cinephiles, he’s not an actor, he’s a phenomenon.
Willem Dafoe is quite a fan of the global filmmaking marteau technique, constantly collaborating with some of the most brilliant directors worldwide. If we try to examine the latest works in Asteroid City, The Boy and the Heron, and Poor Things, it is confirmed that Dafoe is still at his peak. Coming soon? Werwulf with Robert Eggers, Kinds of Kindness with Yorgos Lanthimos, Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt, and even a fresh take on A Christmas Carol. He seems to be unfamiliar with the phrase time off.
10. Poor Things (2023)
Dafoe is both repulsive and endearing as peculiar scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter. The actor made the unusual character of a scientist who revives Emma Stone’s Bella Baxter both haunting and fascinating. Dafoe was also nominated for a SAG, and then again, he showed his ability to be the anchor even in the most bizarre scenarios.
9. At Eternity’s Gate (2018)
Willem Dafoe gives the most heartfelt and vulnerable depiction of Vincent Van Gogh. Instead of observing the actor work, you get the feeling of witnessing van Gogh’s troubled psyche directly. This got him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and firmly established his gift for portraying the afflicted human condition.
8. The Florida Project (2017)
As Bobby, manager of the motel in Sean Baker’s indie treasure, Dafoe is uncommonly tender. He’s the unobtrusive guardian of children raised in poverty on Disney World’s outskirts, keeping the movie rooted with compassion and elegance. The performance earned him an Oscar nomination and a reminder to viewers that he can burn as brightly with warmth as with danger.
7. Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Dafoe goes all in on the strange, acting Max Schreck in this darkly comedic take on Nosferatu. The greatness of his performance is the balance, bone-chilling but somehow amusing, dedicated to the bit in each movement. His performance here earned him another Supporting Actor nomination.
6. Antichrist (2009)
Few actors would risk going where Dafoe goes in Lars von Trier’s unnerving psychological horror. Playing a therapist attempting to treat his bereaved wife, he gives a clinical yet heartrendingly exposed performance. It’s one of his most daring, most divisive performances.
5. Spider-Man (2002)
As Norman Osborn, a.k.a. the Green Goblin, Dafoe has created one of the most iconic comic-book villains of all time. His frenzied-eyed vitality and dual-personality acting, particularly that iconic mirror scene, have become instant classics. Coming back to the role in No Way Home decades on only confirmed his place within comic-movie lore.
4. To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
One of the first times where Dafoe’s extraordinary talent shone through was in a very early film, To Live and Die in L.A., where he played the counterfeiter Eic Masters with calm terror. His classy, unemotional behavior took the movie beyond the common crime-thriller level and made it possible for the audience to understand that Dafoe is a real actor who will surprise us with his next works.
3. Mississippi Burning (1988)
Unlike Gene Hackman, Dafoe plays a strictly moralistic FBI agent, Alan Ward, who investigates murders committed to foment racial hatred in the Deep South. In the storyline, he performs with a strong, calm voice of reason that can bring the film several Oscar nominations. He leaves the audience gasping at his power even in less demanding roles.
2. The Lighthouse (2019)
Absolutely, this is a Dafoe off the leash. As the one of a kind Thomas Wake, he starts with the usual skirmishes with Robert Pattinson, but soon turns it into a battle of madness and lost faculties. His over-the-top acting skills, his frenzy, and his bare vulnerability make this a performance that will not be forgotten.
1. Platoon (1986)
Still, after all these years, Dafoe’s performance as Sergeant Elias is considered one of the best in the history of cinema. In Platoon, he is the moral center of a horrendous war, and his death scene, although he is assassinated by the people with whom he fights, embraces, and selflessly dies, visually brings the power of cinema to the forefront of the world’s consciousness. So, besides him being turned into a star by the role, it also set the level for his entire acting career.
From spooky artists to merry menaces, from grand war epics to dreamlike horrors, Willem Dafoe is the epitome of range. One thing is for sure: whenever he takes his place on screen, you can bet your bottom dollar you’re in for something unforgettable.