biography

Willem Dafoe has become known for his widely diverse roles. He has been cast as a drug dealer, an F.B.I. agent, a Vampire, a Sergeant, the Son of God, and more. He has fulfilled the dreams of many actors by taking on such diverse roles and has been in demand with casting directors. There seems to be nothing the Willem Dafoe will not do in the name of his art.

Dafoe is the second youngest of a family of eight children who, reportedly, look and sound the same. The similarities, though, stop there as Willem Dafoe is the only one to take the artistic path. All his siblings became professionals. Dafoe was born July 22,1955 in Appleton, Wisconson and had his first taste of acting in a soft porn production in high school that promptly got him expelled.

Dafoe's chosen path is marked by oddities. Not only did his first experience in acting get him kicked out of school, his first big break in theatre ended up with the Performance Group's artistic director, Elizabeth LeCompte, proclaiming "I don't know who the [f--k] this guy is, but get him out of my house." (quote from Mr Show Biz) Apparently, Ms. LeCompte had been hired to replace the director who had originally cast Dafoe and had given his part to another actor. Things did not end as you would expect after such a proclamation though, Dafoe and LeCompte now share a home and a son, Jack.

Dafoe spent most of his early career in theatre groups. He and LeCompte were actually founding members of the renowned Wooster Group in 1977. Dafoe's first film, Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" bombed and even though the fight to come back was difficult, Dafoe managed it. He has since had the success of such films as "Platoon", which netted him a Oscar nomination, "Born on the Fourth of July", "The Loveless", "To Live and Die in L.A.", "Wild at Heart", "Light Sleeper, Affliction", "The English Patient", "eXistenZ", "Mississippi Burning", and "The Last Temptation of Christ", which had his name hit headlines. Through it all, though, Dafoe has reveled in the curiosity of the roles he has been cast. Dafoe enjoys the uniqueness of being able to choose his roles because as he puts it "I've never been hot, and I've never been not." (quote from JPremiere.com - The Golden Season | Willem Dafoe)