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).
The play explores the meanings of the body and mind in today's world. The miraculouspossibilities offered by technological development are present in the work, but not at its centre. The play'smost important themes are related to overcoming grief, questions of identity and authenticityin the present and in our near future. Kristi and Tom have been dreaming of a baby for some time. Now this dream is coming true – Kristi is pregnant. Then Kristi gets into a car accident and dies, but the baby survives. At the same time as Kristi's death certificate, Tom receives the information that the woman had recorded her consciousness. This consciousness is handed over to Tom in the form of a small chip. It would be possible to activate the chip and allow Tom to communicate with Kristi. So Tom activated the chip. Their communication feels real. Kristi jokes, sings to their baby, talks to Tom. The man longs for Kristi's physical and mental presence in every cell of his body, and the grief is too overwhelming. Tom has the opportunity to transfer hisdigitized consciousness to a surrogate body. Tom chooses a new body for Kristi, which comes back to life. They are now trying to pick up where Kristi's lifeleft off.
