How Willem Dafoe’s addiction to acting defines his career: “It’s the thing that sustains me”
Chances are that if you’ve been to the cinema recently, you’ve seen at least one movie with Willem Dafoe in it. In 2024, he appeared in Yorgos Lanthimos’ usual off-kilter triptych Kinds of Kindness, Tim Burton’s legacy sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Jason Reitman’s love letter to live television Saturday Night, Jean Luc Herbulot’s action comedy Zero, and Robert Eggers’ brilliantly gothic retelling of Nosferatu. At the time of writing, he has four other films currently in production, including Wes Anderson’s upcoming adventure, The Phoenician Scheme.
The most remarkable thing about his prolificity is that it’s always been there. You have to go all the way back to 1995 to find a year without a Dafoe release, and most of the years since then have seen him appear in at least two pictures. It’s a truly remarkable achievement, a testament to his enduring popularity and versatility as a performer. He clearly loves acting and being on camera, and wants to do as much of it as possible, while he still can.
Another fascinating facet of Dafoe’s career is that he’s never been viewed as a sellout either, someone who does things ‘for the money’. He’s split his time perfectly between big-budget blockbusters like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Pixar’s Finding Nemo and projects that would never get a major release, like his collaborations with Lars von Trier. He has seemingly found the sweet spot between keeping himself in the public eye and following his heart, perhaps better than any other actor working today.
When he was interviewed by The Academy about his extraordinary career, Dafoe was asked how he chooses the projects he is offered. “Personally, I don’t have to think too much about the result, because I always know why I started to go on each journey,” he said. “I always want it to turn out well, of course, but I can’t control everything! So, it’s better to just be responsible for my work and to be honest with myself at all times about why I did it. I try not to be too obsessed with the end result.”
“What I’m obsessed with is being present and trying to find something in every moment that I can latch onto,” he admitted. “That’s when you’re engaged, and that’s when you feel strong. That’s when life feels good and you feel like you’re contributing something and connecting with what’s important. It’s an elevated state of being, and I’m like an addict. I chase that feeling, because I’ve found that it’s the thing that sustains me in life.”
Dafoe technically got his big film break as part of Michael Cimino’s doomed vision, Heaven’s Gate. He was fired from that project and lost his credit, which might have turned out to be a bit of a blessing. His first starring role was in Kathryn Bigelow’s motorcycle drama The Loveless, which led to major roles in To Live and Die in LA, Platoon, and The Last Temptation of Christ. These accomplished 1980s performances laid the groundwork for all of his later successes and, eventually, the elder statesman role that he occupies today.
With his 70th birthday on the horizon, who knows how much longer Dafoe can keep going at his current pace? However, one thing’s for sure—no matter the length of his career, it’s always going to be one hell of a ride.
