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).
I Am Vengeance is a 2025 American gothic action thriller film written and directed by Adam Wingard and produced by Zack Snyder and Robert Eggers. It is heavily influenced by Norse Mythology. The film stars Emma Watson and Everleigh McDonell alongside Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill, Willem Dafoe, Djimon Hounsou, Anya Taylor-Joy, Michael Caine, and Cate Blanchett. Its story follows a widowed hunter who raises her young daughter in the Icelandic snow forests. When she discovers that she is the child of a goddess, and her daughter gets kidnapped by her own half-brother, she goes on a rampage to get her back while also studying who she really was. I Am Vengeance opened in theaters on January 16th, 2025; it was a financial success, grossing $1.45 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing release of 2025. The film received universal and critical acclaim, with praise for Watson and McDonell's performances, screenplay, direction, story, visual effects, emotional weight, action sequences, themes, and Hans Zimmer's musical score. It received numerous awards and nominations with Watson and McDonell each winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress; Hawke won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor as did Neill and Dafoe, while Blanchett was awarded an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. A sequel is currently in development.
