![]() ![]() He then apprenticed under Richard Schechner, the director of the avant-garde theater troupe The Performance Group, where he met and became romantically involved with director Elizabeth LeCompte. Īfter attending Appleton East High School, Dafoe studied drama at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, but left after 18 months to join the experimental theater company Theatre X in Milwaukee, before moving to New York City in 1976. He later took the new interpretation as part of his stage name because he had become more used to it than his birth name. In high school, he acquired the nickname Willem, the Dutch version of the name William. ![]() ![]() During an interview, he said that half of his family puts the emphasis on the first syllable of the surname while the other half emphasizes the second syllable. His surname, Dafoe, is the English version of the Swiss surname Thévou. 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, is a surgeon and research scientist. He has five sisters and two brothers and is of English, French, German, Irish, and Scottish descent. William James Dafoe was born on July 22, 1955, in Appleton, Wisconsin, the son of Muriel Isabel (née Sprissler 1921–2012) and Dr. The Performing Garage, where Dafoe joined The Wooster Group He also portrayed Nuidis Vulko in the DC Extended Universe films including Aquaman (2018), and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023). Notable roles include in The English Patient (1996), American Psycho (2000), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Antichrist (2009), John Wick (2014), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), The Lighthouse (2019), The French Dispatch (2021), Nightmare Alley (2021), and The Northman (2022).ĭafoe gained wider attention for his role as 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). Other Oscar-nominated films include Shadow of the Vampire (2000), The Florida Project (2017), and At Eternity's Gate (2018). (1985), before his breakthrough roles in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Mississippi Burning (1988).ĭafoe received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Oliver Stone's war film Platoon (1986). He had his first leading role in the outlaw biker film The Loveless (1982) and then played supporting roles 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 and was uncredited despite one of his scenes making it into the final cut of the film. He has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Lars von Trier, Julian Schnabel, Wes Anderson, and Robert Eggers.ĭafoe was an early member of experimental theater company The Wooster Group, which he is credited as co-founding in the 1970s. 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/ July 22, 1955) is an American actor.
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