Willem Dafoe
Biography
Willem Dafoe is an American actor whose career has shifted between mainstream studio films and arthouse work. Born in Appleton, Wisconsin, he began in experimental theater and helped found The Wooster Group in 1975. His first film appearance was an uncredited part in Heaven's Gate (1980), and he gained wide attention as a compassionate sergeant in Platoon (1986), which earned him an Academy Award nomination. He played Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), then Norman Osborn across the Spider-Man trilogy from 2002 to 2007 and again in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Other Oscar nominations came for Shadow of the Vampire (2000), The Florida Project (2017), and At Eternity's Gate (2018). His films range from Mississippi Burning (1988) and The English Patient (1996) to Antichrist (2009) and Poor Things (2023). He has also done voice work for Finding Nemo (2003) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). He won a Volpi Cup and in 2018 received an Honorary Golden Bear.
71years old
Turns 72 on July 22in 282 days
- Born Appleton
- Star sign: CancerLast day of the sign, on the Leo cusp
- William James Dafoe (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 115
- Career span
- 42 years1983 to 2025
Genres
First and latest
Photos
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First role
Dafoe's film debut in Heaven's Gate was uncredited: his role as a cockfighter was cut from most of the film, though he appears in a cockfight scene.
A role that slipped away
Screenwriter Sam Hamm spotted physical similarities and briefly considered Dafoe for the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman (1989), though the part was never offered to him and Jack Nicholson got it instead.
Early training
Dafoe attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to study drama, then departed after 18 months for Theatre X, an experimental theater company in Milwaukee.
First role
For The Loveless, Dafoe played the leader of an outlaw motorcycle club, his first leading role, in a film co-directed by Kathryn Bigelow that paid homage to The Wild One.
Willem Dafoe movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Paul Schrader directed seven of these films, Wes Anderson five and Abel Ferrara four. Two actors appear in five of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
J.K. Simmons's page
Udo Kier's page
Johnny Depp's page
Brad Dourif's page
Tom Berenger's page
Tobey Maguire's page
All films by Paul Schrader
All films by Wes Anderson
All films by Abel Ferrara
Also four films together1 more actor
- Rosemary HarrisSpider-Man 3 (2007), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man (2002) and Tom & Viv (1994)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Willem Dafoe's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$11.4 billion
84 of the 114 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 114 films: 84 worldwide figure; 7 us gross only; 3 never in cinemas; 1 streaming, short cinema run; 19 figure not found.
- 84Worldwide figure
- 7US gross only
- 3Never in cinemas
- 1Streaming, short cinema run
- 19Figure not found
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 64% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$1.9B16.9% of the total
- 2$1.2B10.1% of the total
- 3$940M8.3% of the total
- 4$895M7.9% of the total
- 5$822M7.2% of the total
- 6$789M6.9% of the total
- 7$452M4.0% of the total
- 8$353M3.1% of the total
$4.1 billionfrom the other 76 films with a worldwide figure, 36% of the total
Awards
Seven awards and honors from 2001 to 2019, one of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venice Film Festival | |||
| 2018 | Volpi Cup for Best Actor | Won | |
| Other honors | |||
| 2019 | Romics d'Oro | Won | |
| 2018 | Honorary Golden Bear | Honorary | |
| 2005 | Donostia Award | Won | |
| 2001 | Film Independent Spirit Awards | Won | |
| Satellite Awards | Won | ||
| Saturn Awards | Won | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.