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).
Midnight Shroud is a 2026 American science fiction action martial arts film and the first installment in the Midnight Shroud franchise. Produced by Legendary Pictures and The Stone Quarry and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is the first film in the Global Ninja Warrior Universe. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from a screenplay by Chad Stahelski and Zack Snyder, the film stars Rina Sawayama, Michael Jai White, Jude Law, Sydney Sweeney, and Jimmy Wong as the Midnight Shroud, alongside Anna Akana, Kelsey Grammer, Jeremy Renner, Mads Mikkelsen, Willem Dafoe, Michelle Yeoh, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. In the film, a team of five heroic ninjas—Phantom Ronin, Silver Viper, Cypher, Nightshade, and their leader Vanguard travel across the world to dismantle the operations of their biggest enemy, the Eclipse Clan, to prevent them from endangering innocent lives. Midnight Shroud had its world premiere at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on September 6th, 2026, and was released on October 8th;it was a box-office success, grossing $813 million worldwide, and received generally positive reviews from critics, audiences, and fans of the martial arts genre, citing its story, themes, visuals, action sequences, performances, and the emotional weight compared to previous martial arts films. A sequel is in development as well as a prequel intended to focus on Phantom Ronin's origin story.
