During an interview he explained that about half of the Dafoe family puts the emphasis on the first syllable of their surname, and the other half on the second. In high school, he acquired the nickname Willem, which is the Dutch version of the name William. His surname, Dafoe, is the Anglicized version of the Swiss Thévou. He has English, French, German, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. William Alfred Dafoe (J– November 21, 2014), he recalled in 2009: "My five sisters raised me because my father was a surgeon, my mother was a nurse and they worked together, so I didn't see either of them much." His brother, Donald Dafoe, is a transplant surgeon and researcher. One of eight children of Muriel Isabel (née Sprissler) (Novem– September 14, 2012) and Dr. William James Dafoe was born on July 22, 1955, in Appleton, Wisconsin. The Performing Garage in SoHo, New York City, the home of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group, which Dafoe co-founded Eliot in Tom & Viv (1994), Pier Paolo Pasolini in Pasolini (2014), Vincent van Gogh in At Eternity's Gate (2018) (for which he received an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination, his first in that category), and Leonhard Seppala in Togo (2019). He portrayed Nuidis Vulko in the DC Extended Universe films Aquaman (2018), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023).ĭafoe has portrayed several real-life figures, including T. Dafoe then appeared in The Fault in Our Stars, John Wick, The Grand Budapest Hotel (all 2014), The Great Wall (2016), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), The Florida Project (2017) (for which he received his third Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category), The Lighthouse (2019), The French Dispatch, The Card Counter, Nightmare Alley (all 2021), and The Northman (2022). In 2009, he starred in the experimental film Antichrist, one of his three films with Lars von Trier. He also portrayed the villains in Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) and XXX: State of the Union (2005), as well as Carson Clay in the film Mr. In 1988, Dafoe played Jesus in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ and costarred in Mississippi Burning, both of which were controversial.Īfter receiving his second Academy Award nomination (as Best Supporting Actor) for portraying Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire (2000), Dafoe portrayed the supervillain Norman Osborn / Green Goblin 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) earning him the Guinness World Record for the "longest career as a live-action Marvel character" sharing it with his co-star from the franchise, Tobey Maguire. He received his first Academy Award nomination (as Best Supporting Actor) for his role as Sergeant Elias Grodin in Oliver Stone's war film Platoon (1986). He had his first leading role in the outlaw biker film The Loveless (1982) and then played the main antagonist in Streets of Fire (1984) and To Live and Die in L.A.
He made his film debut in Heaven's Gate (1980), but was fired during production. He frequently collaborates with filmmakers Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Lars von Trier, Julian Schnabel, and Wes Anderson.ĭafoe was an early member of experimental theater company The Wooster Group. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a British Academy Film Award.
William James Dafoe ( / d ə ˈ f oʊ/ born July 22, 1955) is an American actor.