Age: 70
male
William James "Willem" Dafoe (born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, four Golden Globe Awards, four Critics' Choice Movie Awards, and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Lars von Trier, Julian Schnabel, Wes Anderson, and Robert Eggers. Dafoe was a founding member of experimental theatre company The Wooster Group. He made his film debut with an uncredited role in Heaven's Gate (1980). Dafoe's early career includes credits for The Loveless (1982), Streets of Fire (1984), and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985). He earned his first Academy Award nomination for the war drama Platoon (1986), followed by nominations for his roles in Shadow of the Vampire (2000), The Florida Project (2017), and the Vincent van Gogh biopic At Eternity's Gate (2018). He also gained acclaim and wide recognition for his roles as Jesus Christ in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and as the supervillain Norman Osborn 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). His other film appearance include roles in Mississippi Burning (1988), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Wild at Heart (1990), Light Sleeper (1992), Body of Evidence (1993), Clear and Present Danger (1994), The English Patient (1996), Affliction (1997), New Rose Hotel(1998), Existenz (1999), The Boondock Saints (1999), American Psycho (2000), Auto Focus (2002), Finding Nemo (2003), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Inside Man (2006), Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007), Antichrist (2009), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Nymphomaniac (2013), The Fault in Our Stars (2014), John Wick (2014), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Aquaman (2018), The Lighthouse (2019), Nightmare Alley (2021), Poor Things (2023), and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024).
Willem Dafoe
Arthur Fleck
for Arthur Fleck in Mad Love is a Punchline
Suggested by thecrusaderfilms
A deeper look at the relationship of possibly the most interesting villain romance in the history of superhero media- The Joker and Harley Quinn, along with how the villains around them think of them, and the main antagonist- The Batman. The antagonist of sorts driving the story is Alexis Kaye, AKA Punchline, a psychotic Joker fangirl who with his teachings, gassed and shot up her school. Joker has seemed to grow an attachment with her, calling her the funniest person he has ever meet, causing extreme jealousy by Harley. The film goes deep into their origins as well-- along with what sets Harley and Punchline apart. Harley was broken, already near violence, with deep and intense attachment issues (She spent time in juvie for stalking her crush for months and hurting his girlfriend has worked for years to get better)- a woman with all of that mixed into 1 and knowingly/unknowingly manipulated by The Joker (He knew he was lying, just didn't know how it was actually working on her). Punchline on the other hand is a pure sociopath who fell in love with the idea of the joker and what he stands for. She meet him online, grew a friendship, asked him how to make his fear gas, he taught her, she asked him for a bunch of guns, he gave it to her. She worships Joker like an ideology. She is cruel and sadistic- which Harley ISN'T. Harley does it because she loves Joker and loves the thrill, Punchline does it because she LOVES DOING IT. Punchline is like what Joker wanted Harley to be- a pure sadist who is in love with how he acts and who he is/the idea of who he is. She’s pure violence. No delusion. No love. No cracks. She’s loyal only to the idea of the chaos, destruction, and death. Batman acts as the villain in the way he's an party pooper who is GOING to ruin the fun, and that's the joke of it all. The movie is Harley's perspective most of the time but also part of Joker's perspective and at times the other villain's perspectives and what they think about the 3 mustketerrorists. When you see the story of Harleen from Harley's perspective, Joker is shown as an ultra hot and misunderstood broken genius who got beat down by society who now just wants to have a little bit of fun, by Joker's POV it's him just making up a bunch of stuff to get through his boring Arkham interviews while he plans to escape, and when Harley loses his mind for her he's shocked, but she pretty much instantly becoming an annoying puppy who's constantly irritating him- but she's cute, pretty submissive, and easy to sympathize with and she's pretty violent, athletic, and good at her hench woman job so he keeps her around. From the villain's POV, Joker is a goddamn madman- and Harley is his funny/hot girlfriend who's pretty DUMB all things considered. They think they're both crazy beyond comprehension but one is a lot smarter and more capable than the other. Punchline views Joker more as a symbol than a man, which she likes a lot, and she likes the man just as much- they spend house torturing people FOR FUN, they're perfect together. Harley views Punchline as a threat because- well Joker likes her a LOT more clearly, so one of the major fights will be Harley vs Punchline. Punchline views Harley as more like a golden retriever- so goddamn pathetic, it disgusts her.(Apart of The DCU, set 5 years before Brave And The Bold)
