Jul 22, 1955

Appleton, Wisconsin, USA

Willem Dafoe is one of the founding members of The Wooster Group, the New York-based experimental theater collective. He has created and performed in the group's work since 1977, both in the US and internationally. In 1979. after being seen in the theater, he was given a small role in Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate (1980), from which he was fired. His first feature role came shortly after in Kathryn Bigelow's The Loveless (1982). From there, while continuing his work with the Wooster Group, he w... ... (read more...) ent on to perform in over 50 films - in Hollywood (Spider-Man (2002), The English Patient (1996), Clear and Present Danger (1994), White Sands (1992), Mississippi Burning (1988), Streets of Fire (1984)) and in independent cinema in the US (The Clearing (2004), Animal Factory (2000), Basquiat (1996), The Boondock Saints (1999), American Psycho (2000)) and abroad (Lars von Trier's Manderlay (2005), Ho Yim's Pavilion of Women (2001), Yurek Bogayevicz's Edges of the Lord (2001), Wim Wenders' In weiter Ferne, so nah! (1993) and Brian Gilbert's Tom & Viv (1994)). He has chosen projects for diversity of roles and opportunities to work with strong directors. He has worked in the films of Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)), Martin Scorsese (The Aviator (2004), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)), Paul Schrader )Auto Focus (2002), Affliction (1997), Light Sleeper (1992)), David Cronenberg (eXistenZ (1999)), Abel Ferrara (New Rose Hotel (1998)), David Lynch (Wild at Heart (1990)), William Friedkin (To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)) and Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Platoon (1986)). He was nominated twice for the Academy Award ("Platoon" and Shadow of the Vampire (2000)) and once for the Golden Globe. Among other nominations and awards, he received an LA Film Critics Award and an Independent Spirit Award. His upcoming projects include Spike Lee's Inside Man (2006), Paul Weitz's American Dreamz (2006), the Nobuhiro Suwa segment of Paris, je t'aime (2006) and Giada Colagrande's Before It Had a Name (2005). Written with Colagrande, this is his first screenplay.