1980–1985: Early roles Dafoe made his film debut in a supporting role in
Michael Cimino's 1980 epic Western film ''
Heaven's Gate''. Dafoe was present for the first three months of an eight-month shoot. His role, that of a
cockfighter who works for
Jeff Bridges' character, was removed from a majority of the film during editing but was visible during a cockfight scene. Dafoe did not receive a credit for his work on the film. Following a brief
bit part in
The Hunger (1983), Dafoe again played the leader of a biker gang in
Walter Hill's 1984 action film
Streets of Fire. His character in the film served as the main
antagonist, who captures the ex-girlfriend of a mercenary, played by
Diane Lane and
Michael Paré, respectively.
Janet Maslin of
The New York Times felt there were no great performances in the film, but praised Dafoe's "perfectly villainous" face. Dafoe starred alongside
Judge Reinhold in
Roadhouse 66 (1985) as a pair of young men who become stranded in a town on
U.S. Route 66. Later in 1985, Dafoe starred with
William Petersen and
John Pankow in
William Friedkin's thriller
To Live and Die in L.A., in which Dafoe portrays a
counterfeiter named Rick Masters who is being tracked by two Secret Service agents. Film critic
Roger Ebert commended his "strong" performance in the film. He enjoyed the opportunity to play a heroic role and said the film gave him a chance to display his versatility, saying "I think all characters live in you. You just frame them, give them circumstances, and that character will happen." Principal photography for the film took place in the
Philippines and required Dafoe to undergo
boot camp training.
Los Angeles Times writer
Sheila Benson praised his performance and found it to be "particularly fine" to see Dafoe play "something other than a psychopath". At the
59th Academy Awards, Dafoe was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Dafoe provided his voice to the documentary
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987) and, in 1988, Dafoe starred in another film set during the Vietnam War, this time as Buck McGriff in the action thriller
Off Limits. His second release of 1988 was
Martin Scorsese's epic drama
The Last Temptation of Christ, in which Dafoe portrayed Jesus. The film was adapted from the
novel of the same name and depicts his struggle with various forms of
temptation throughout his life. Like the novel, the film sparked controversy for departing from the biblical portrayal of Jesus and was branded as being blasphemous. Dafoe's performance in the film was widely praised, however, with Janet Maslin opining that Dafoe brought a "gleaming intensity" to the role. In his final release of 1988, Dafoe starred opposite
Gene Hackman in the crime thriller
Mississippi Burning as a pair of
FBI agents investigating the disappearance of three civil rights workers in fictional Jessup County, Mississippi during the
civil rights movement.
Variety praised Dafoe's performance, writing, "Dafoe gives a disciplined and noteworthy portrayal of Ward", although they felt it was Hackman "who steals the picture". As with
The Last Temptation of Christ, the film was the subject of controversy, this time among African-American activists who criticized its fictionalization of events. Dafoe was briefly considered for the role of the super-villain the
Joker in the
Tim Burton-directed superhero film
Batman (1989), as screenwriter
Sam Hamm noticed physical similarities, but was never offered the part that eventually went to
Jack Nicholson. Dafoe starred in the drama
Triumph of the Spirit in 1989 as Jewish Greek boxer
Salamo Arouch, an
Auschwitz concentration camp inmate who was forced to fight other internees to death for the
Nazi officers' entertainment. It was filmed on location at Auschwitz, the first major film to do so. Dafoe reunited with
Platoon director Oliver Stone for a small appearance in the biographical war drama
Born on the Fourth of July (1989). Dafoe played a paraplegic, wheelchair-using Vietnam veteran who befriends the film's subject
Ron Kovic (played by
Tom Cruise), another paraplegic veteran. Dafoe made a
cameo appearance in
John Waters' musical comedy
Cry-Baby (1990) as a prison guard who gives a brief lecture on values to the title character, who is played by
Johnny Depp. Rita Kempley of
The Washington Post found the scene to be one of the film's highlights. In the same year, Dafoe co-starred in
David Lynch's crime film
Wild at Heart with
Nicolas Cage and
Laura Dern. Dafoe played a criminal who engages in a robbery with Cage's character before demonstrating his dark side. He wore fake, corroded teeth and grew a
pencil moustache that bore resemblance to his previous collaborator, John Waters. He was due to star opposite
Joan Cusack in the comedy
Arrive Alive in 1991, but the film was canceled during production. Dafoe had two lead roles in 1992. The first to be released,
White Sands, saw Dafoe play a small-town sheriff who impersonates a dead man after finding his dead body and a suitcase containing $500,000 to solve the case, resulting in an investigation. In his next starring role,
Paul Schrader's drama
Light Sleeper, Dafoe played John LeTour, a lonely, insomniac, New Yorker working as a delivery man for a drug supplier, who is played by
Susan Sarandon. Roger Ebert praised Dafoe's "gifted" portrayal of LeTour and Owen Gleiberman opined that "even when the film doesn't gel, one is held by Willem Dafoe's grimly compelling performance." Dafoe next starred in the erotic thriller
Body of Evidence (1993) with
Madonna. The story concerns a lawyer, played by Dafoe, who engages in a sexual relationship with the woman he is representing in a murder case. The film was panned by critics and performed poorly at the box office, with some audience members laughing during the sex scenes. In his review of the film,
Vincent Canby felt that Dafoe lacked sensuality in the role. Later in 1993, Dafoe appeared in a supporting role as Emit Flesti in the German fantasy film
Faraway, So Close!, directed by
Wim Wenders. Dafoe co-starred in the spy thriller
Clear and Present Danger (1994), an adaptation of the
Tom Clancy novel of the name starring
Harrison Ford as operative
Jack Ryan. Dafoe played
John Clark, a CIA agent conducting a
covert operation against a drug cartel in Colombia with Jack Ryan. Dafoe portrayed the poet
T. S. Eliot in the drama
Tom & Viv (also in 1994), which tells the story of Eliot and his first wife,
Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot, who was played by
Miranda Richardson. The film was met with a mixed reception from critics, although
Caryn James of
The New York Times felt that Dafoe's "stunningly sharp, sympathetic portrait raises the film above a script that is full of serious holes and stilted dialogue". In 1995, he played an 18th-century writer in the period drama
The Night and the Moment. In his first of three film appearances in 1996, Dafoe made a cameo appearance as an electrician in the biographical drama
Basquiat. Next, he played an operative in the romantic war drama
The English Patient.
The English Patient was filmed in
Tuscany, where Dafoe said he particularly enjoyed the "quiet moments in the monastery between shoots". In the period drama
Victory—which was filmed in 1994 and premiered in Europe in 1996, but was not released until 1998—Dafoe played a European living on an island in the Southeast Asia who becomes the target of redemption after preventing a woman, played by
Irène Jacob, from being raped.
1997–2013: Established actor In 1997, Dafoe returned to playing a villainous role in the action thriller
Speed 2: Cruise Control, expressing the necessity of appearing in both independent and
blockbuster films. The film starred
Sandra Bullock and
Jason Patric as a couple vacationing on a luxury cruise that has been hijacked by Dafoe's character, Geiger, a hacker that has programmed the ship to crash into an oil tanker.
Speed 2 was met with negative reviews from critics, with Dafoe himself receiving a
Razzie Award nomination for
Worst Supporting Actor. For his next film,
Affliction (1997), Dafoe worked with Paul Schrader for a second time, playing the brother of
Nick Nolte's character and served as the film's narrator. Also in 1997, Dafoe took on a voice acting role in an episode of the animated sitcom
The Simpsons titled "
The Secret War of Lisa Simpson", voicing the commandant of a military academy that
Bart and
Lisa Simpson are attending. Following a villainous supporting role in the romantic mystery drama
Lulu on the Bridge, Dafoe starred alongside
Christopher Walken and
Asia Argento in
Abel Ferrara's
cyberpunk drama
New Rose Hotel in 1998. It follows X (Dafoe) and Fox (Walken), a pair of corporate raiders attempting to lure a Japanese scientist from one megacorporation to another. Although the film was largely dismissed by critics, critic
David Stratton found there to be "compensation" in the performances. In 1999, Dafoe gave a supporting performance in
David Cronenberg's
Existenz, a science fiction thriller in which he played a gas station owner named Gas. Later in the year, Dafoe starred in the action film
The Boondock Saints. He played an eccentric, gay FBI agent assigned with investigating a series of murders committed by the MacManus twins (played by
Sean Patrick Flanery and
Norman Reedus) who are acting as vigilantes after an act of self-defense.
The Boondock Saints was negatively received by film critics, largely for its extreme violence and lack of emotional depth, though some critics praised Dafoe's role in the film. The film performed poorly at the box office, but has since been branded as being a
cult film. In his first film of the 2000s, Dafoe was featured in a supporting role in
American Psycho (2000) as a private investigator investigating the disappearance of a co-worker of
Patrick Bateman (played by
Christian Bale), an investment banker who leads a double life as a serial killer. He then acted in
Steve Buscemi's crime drama
Animal Factory, starring as an incarcerated veteran con-man who takes a young inmate (played by
Edward Furlong) under his wing and introduces him to his gang. The film was positively received by critics and
Elvis Mitchell of
The New York Times wrote that "Dafoe steals the picture with his comic timing". That same year he starred in
Shadow of the Vampire, his final film of the year. He portrayed a fictionalized version of the German actor
Max Schreck during the production of the 1922 horror film
Nosferatu, in which Schreck starred as the vampire
Count Orlok. Dafoe's co-star
John Malkovich portrayed the film's director,
F. W. Murnau. The film delves into fiction when, over the course of
Nosferatus production, the cast and crew come to discover that Schreck is actually a vampire himself. Much of the film's critical praise went to Dafoe; Roger Ebert wrote that Dafoe "embodies the Schreck of
Nosferatu so uncannily that when real scenes from the silent classic are slipped into the frame, we don't notice a difference". The
Chicago Reader critic
Jonathan Rosenbaum felt the film's "only redeeming quality" was Dafoe's "enjoyably over-the-top, eye-rolling performance". Dafoe received numerous awards and nominations for his performance, including his second
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination. Dafoe took on two leading roles in 2001, both of which were as priests. In the drama
Pavilion of Women, he played an American priest living in China who falls in love with a local married woman (played by the film's screenwriter
Luo Yan) while giving her son a Western education. He starred opposite
Haley Joel Osment in
Edges of the Lord, playing a compassionate priest helping a young Jewish boy pose as a
Catholic to protect him during Nazi Germany's occupation of Poland. Dafoe played the supervillain the
Green Goblin in
Sam Raimi's 2002 superhero film
Spider-Man, starring
Tobey Maguire as the titular
Marvel Comics superhero. Dafoe played the
Norman Osborn incarnation of the Green Goblin, the billionaire founder and owner of the corporation
Oscorp, becoming the Green Goblin after testing an unstable strength enhancer on himself, turning him insane and making him extremely powerful. The role required Dafoe to wear an uncomfortable costume and mask that made it impossible to emote using his face, confining Dafoe to convey emotion through his voice and head movements. Dafoe also had to wear a prosthetic teeth for his part as Norman, whereas the hallucinations of the character had Dafoe in his natural teeth. Dafoe's role in the film was generally well-received, including a
New York Daily News reviewer who felt he put "the scare in archvillain" and
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian who deemed him "strong support". Conversely, critic
A. O. Scott wrote that his performance was "uninspired and secondhand".
IGN Richard George commented that Green Goblin's armor, particularly the helmet, was "almost comically bad... Not only is it not frightening, it prohibits expression". Steven Scaife at
Vice wrote that Dafoe's Goblin "represents everything that's fun about superhero villains, as well as everything that's great about Raimi's campy films", also commending Dafoe's voice and body language, which helped overcome the bulky Green Goblin costume that he compared to that of a
Power Rangers villain. Later in 2002, Dafoe starred with
Greg Kinnear in Paul Schrader's biographical film
Auto Focus, Dafoe's third collaboration with Schrader. Dafoe portrayed
John Henry Carpenter, an electronics expert who develops a strange friendship with the actor
Bob Crane, leading Crane into a downward spiral. Dafoe provided his voice to the animated
Pixar film
Finding Nemo in 2003. Dafoe voiced Gill, a
moorish idol fish who helps Nemo, a
clownfish, in his struggle to return home to the ocean. In the same year, Dafoe appeared in a small but pivotal role as a drug lord planning a coup d'état against the President of Mexico in
Robert Rodriguez's action film
Once Upon a Time in Mexico. He acted in the murder mystery film
The Reckoning (2004), in which he starred with
Paul Bettany. The film takes place during the Middle Ages and saw Dafoe play the leader of an acting troupe that recreate the events surrounding a woman accused of witchcraft and murder, who they believe is innocent. Dafoe lent his voice and likeness to the
James Bond video game
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (2004) as the villain
Nikolai Diavolo. The following year, Dafoe took on another villainous role in
The Clearing, albeit with a more sympathetic approach. Dafoe co-starred as a man who kidnaps his former boss (played by
Robert Redford) in exchange for a ransom. The film received mixed reviews, although Peter Travers felt that he added a note of "vulnerability to the menace he has made his stock in trade". Dafoe reprised his role as Norman Osborn in
Spider-Man 2 (2004), appearing to his son Harry in an hallucination. The cameo was suggested by Dafoe, comparing it to the
ghost of Hamlet's father visiting his son to ask him to avenge his death. Dafoe was next seen in the comedy-drama
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), his first of three films with director
Wes Anderson. He played the "hilariously doltish" German first mate of a research vessel owned by the eponymous lead character, who is played by
Bill Murray. Dafoe had a small role as a tabloid magazine editor in Martin Scorsese's
The Aviator (2004), a biographical film about
Howard Hughes starring
Leonardo DiCaprio. Also in 2004, Dafoe narrated the documentary ''Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate
, chronicling the production of Heaven's Gate
and co-starred in the direct-to-video thriller Control (2004) alongside Ray Liotta and Michelle Rodriguez. Dafoe co-starred in XXX: State of the Union'' (2005), an action film sequel starring
Ice Cube in which Dafoe played a U.S. Secretary of Defense attempting a coup d'état against the President of the United States. It was largely panned by critics, although Dafoe stated he did not regret appearing in the film. With the
avant-garde drama
Manderlay in 2005, Dafoe began another actor-director collaboration, this time with Danish filmmaker
Lars von Trier. Dafoe co-starred in the film as the father of
Bryce Dallas Howard's character, a woman who discovers a plantation still thriving as if slavery had never been abolished. Along with his wife
Giada Colagrande, Dafoe co-wrote and starred in
Before It Had a Name (2005), which Colagrande directed. Dafoe played the caretaker of a house that is inherited by the lover of its deceased owner, engaging in a sexual relationship with her. The film was excoriated by a
Variety reviewer as a "wannabe haunted house tale laced with silly sex scenes" and an "embarrassment". His fourth and final film appearance of 2005 was the crime thriller
Ripley Under Ground, in which he played a
museum curator. Dafoe had a supporting role in
Spike Lee's 2006 crime thriller
Inside Man, playing a veteran captain helping with a hostage negotiation during a bank heist on Wall Street. Dafoe co-starred as the White House Chief of Staff in
American Dreamz, a comedy satirizing both popular entertainment and American politics. His character was described as a "diminutive version of
Dick Cheney, with wire-rimmed glasses and a fringe of white hair" by
The Times writer
Caryn James. He starred with
Juliette Binoche in a short film directed by
Nobuhiro Suwa as part of the 2006
anthology film ''
Paris, je t'aime''. In 2007, Dafoe played a pretentious film director in the British comedy film ''
Mr. Bean's Holiday, starring Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean. The Hollywood Reporter thought that Dafoe appeared to think he was "in a pantomime", while a New York Times'' reviewer felt he was "amusing" in the role. Dafoe starred as the owner of a strip club in Abel Ferrara's
Go Go Tales (2007);
Manohla Dargis praised his "twitchy, sympathetic performance" in the film. In the same year, Dafoe voiced the main villain, an evil wizard, in the English
dub of the Japanese animated fantasy film
Tales from Earthsea, had a supporting role as a US Senator in the drama
The Walker, his fourth collaboration with Paul Schrader, and took on the lead role in the psychological thriller
Anamorph, in which Dafoe played a detective who notices the case he is investigating bears similarities to a previous case of his. He reprised his role again as Norman Osborn in
Spider-Man 3 (2007) in a brief cameo. Dafoe starred with
Ryan Reynolds,
Julia Roberts, and
Emily Watson in the drama
Fireflies in the Garden, which premiered at
Berlinale in 2008 but was not released theatrically until 2011. Dafoe played a cold, domineering English professor who has a strained relationship with his family. The film received mostly negative reviews, although the performances were generally praised. Roger Ebert thought that Dafoe was "fearsome" in the role, while Manohla Dargis felt he and Roberts were "awkwardly matched" as a married couple. Dafoe co-starred as a Nazi officer in Paul Schrader's
Adam Resurrected (2008), which starred
Jeff Goldblum as a concentration camp internee. In his final release of 2008, Dafoe starred in the Greek drama
The Dust of Time as an American film director of Greek descent making a film about his mother's (played by
Irène Jacob) life. The critic
Peter Brunette felt the cast's performances, especially Dafoe's, were unconvincing. Dafoe appeared in seven films in 2009, the first of which was in Lars von Trier's
experimental film Antichrist. Dafoe and
Charlotte Gainsbourg played a couple whose relationship becomes increasingly sexually violent and sadomasochistic after retreating to a cabin in the woods following the death of their child. The film received a polarized response from critics and audiences, receiving both applause and boos at the
Cannes Film Festival and was called the "most shocking movie" to be shown at the festival because of its graphic sex scenes. Roger Ebert commended Dafoe's and Gainsbourg's performances as being "heroic and fearless". During an interview with
L Magazine, it was revealed Dafoe had a stand in for scenes where his character's penis was on screen as his own was too big. Dafoe next had a small role in the French thriller
Farewell as the
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He then co-starred opposite
Michael Shannon in
Werner Herzog's
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?, in which he played a detective attempting to figure out why a troubled man killed his own mother. Dafoe played a former vampire who has a cure that can save the human species in the science fiction horror film
Daybreakers.
Richard Corliss of
Time magazine wrote that Dafoe "triumphs over some awful dialogue by giving the role his nutsy-greatsy weirdness". Dafoe had a voice role in Wes Anderson's
stop-motion animated film
Fantastic Mr. Fox starring
George Clooney as the titular
Roald Dahl character.
Fresh Air critic
David Edelstein felt Dafoe was one of the film's highlights as a "hep-cat, knife-wielding rat security guard". Dafoe reprised his role from
The Boondock Saints in
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, making a brief cameo appearance. His final appearance of the year was in ''
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant'', another film centring around vampires in which Dafoe played the foppish vampire
Gavner Purl. Between October and December 2009, Dafoe appeared in
Richard Foreman's surrealist play
Idiot Savant at
The Public Theater. Dafoe appeared in two films that premiered at the
Venice International Film Festival in 2010, making a brief appearance in
Julian Schnabel's political thriller
Miral, which some reviewers found to be distracting. and starred in his wife Giada Colagrande's film
A Woman. and narrated
Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World, a
Ric Burns documentary about the history of the whaling industry in the United States. '' in 2011 Dafoe's first of two leading roles in 2011 was in Abel Ferrara's apocalyptic drama
4:44 Last Day on Earth, his third film with Ferrara. He played an actor spending his last hours on Earth before the end of the world with his much-younger lover (played by Shanyn Leigh). The film garnered a poor reaction critics, with a reviewer for
Paste stating "there's only so much depth [Dafoe] can bring to such a shallow character". Dafoe starred in the Australian drama
The Hunter, playing a professional hunter who travels to
Tasmania to hunt down the world's only remaining
thylacine. Critic
Stephen Holden wrote in his review of the film, "Even in the "toughest, most macho roles... [Dafoe] retains a tinge of Christ-like sweetness and vulnerability". In 2011, Dafoe began narrating a series of television commercials for the company
Fage and starred in a
Jim Beam commercial titled "Bold Choices". Dafoe starred alongside
Marina Abramović and
Gretchen Mol in the play
The Life and Death of Marina Abramović, where he played six different roles including Abramović's father Vojin, Abramović's brother Velimir and Abramović's partner
Ulay, and which premiered at
The Lowry in 2011. Dafoe played Martian chieftain
Tars Tarkas in the
Disney film
John Carter (2012), using
motion capture to portray the multi-limbed character. The film was a box office failure and ranks among the
biggest box-office bombs of all time. Later in 2012, Dafoe co-starred in the low-budget crime thriller ''
Tomorrow You're Gone with Stephen Dorff and Michelle Monaghan. In 2013, Dafoe played a police officer in the supernatural thriller Odd Thomas'', starring
Anton Yelchin as the
titular character that possesses supernatural powers to see the dead. Using
motion-capture acting technology, Dafoe co-starred alongside
Elliot Page in
David Cage's video game
Beyond: Two Souls (2013) as a paranormal activity researcher who acts as the surrogate-father-figure to a girl who possesses supernatural powers. The game polarized reviewers, although Dafoe and Page's performance were widely praised. In
Scott Cooper's
Out of the Furnace (2013), starring
Christian Bale, Dafoe played the supporting role of a bookmaker running an illegal gambling operation. Dafoe next appeared in Lars von Trier's two-part erotic art film
Nymphomaniac, his third and final film release of 2013. In the film, Dafoe played a perverse businessman who hires Charlotte Gainsbourg's character to work as a debt collector using sex and sadomasochism. Also in 2013, Dafoe played the devil in a
Mercedes-Benz Super Bowl commercial and starred in three short student films as part of a competition sponsored by
Jameson Irish Whiskey.
2014–present: Independent films and career resurgence In 2014, Dafoe portrayed a wealthy private banker with connections to the Russia mafia opposite
Philip Seymour Hoffman in
Anton Corbijn's espionage thriller
A Most Wanted Man. Dafoe worked with Wes Anderson for a third time with the comedy
The Grand Budapest Hotel (also 2014), featuring as the henchman of
Adrien Brody's character alongside an ensemble cast led by
Ralph Fiennes. Dafoe next starred alongside
Matt Dillon as a detective in the crime thriller
Bad Country, which critic
Justin Chang dismissed as being "blandly constructed". In May 2014, Dafoe served as member of the main competition jury at the
2014 Cannes Film Festival. He was next featured in a supporting role as a mean-spirited, alcoholic author who is visited by a pair of cancer patients, who are played by
Shailene Woodley and
Ansel Elgort, in the romantic drama
The Fault in Our Stars. Dafoe once again collaborated with Ferrara on the drama
Pasolini, in which he played Italian filmmaker
Pier Paolo Pasolini during his last days before his murder in 1975. Film critic Peter Bradshaw noted the physical similarities between Dafoe and Pasolini, although felt Dafoe had too little screen time in the film. His final film of 2014 was the action thriller
John Wick starring
Keanu Reeves, in which Dafoe appeared as the mentor to the titular character, a former hitman who is forced out of retirement to seek vengeance for the killing of his puppy. Dafoe stated he found the use of
gun fu combat created an interesting mix of action, stating "you have the grace of martial arts, but then the bang of the gun". His performance in the film was generally well received by critics, including Peter Travers who felt he provided "ample compensation". Dafoe made his second guest appearance on
The Simpsons in November 2014, voicing a new school teacher who bullies
Bart Simpson profusely. Dafoe starred in director's
Héctor Babenco's final film
My Hindu Friend (2015) as a film director close to death who befriends a
Hindu 8-year-old boy while hospitalized. The black comedy
Dog Eat Dog (2016), Dafoe's sixth film with Paul Schrader, starred Dafoe and
Nicolas Cage as a pair of ex-convicts hired to kidnap a baby. In the same year, Dafoe reprised his voice role as Gill, a Moorish idol fish, from
Finding Nemo in its sequel
Finding Dory. He next played the boss of
Gerard Butler's character in the drama
A Family Man and starred in
Loris Gréaud's arthouse science fiction film
Sculpt, which was only screened at the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art for one person at a time. His final film of the year was the monster film
The Great Wall, a Chinese-American co-production directed by
Zhang Yimou starring
Matt Damon as an Irish mercenary in China defending the
Great Wall of China from a horde of monsters, in which Dafoe played a former adventurer working as a teacher in China. Also in 2016, Dafoe appeared in another Super Bowl commercial, this time for
Snickers, recreating
Marilyn Monroe's iconic
white dress scene from the film
The Seven Year Itch. In the end of the decade, Dafoe experienced career resurgence after receiving two
Academy Awards nominations. In 2017, Dafoe co-starred in
Sean Baker's drama
The Florida Project as the manager of a motel who houses a toxic mother and her six-year-old daughter. The film and his performance received critical acclaim, with
The Washington Post critic
Ann Hornaday writing that "Dafoe delivers his finest performance in recent memory, bringing to levelheaded, unsanctimonious life a character who offers a glimmer of hope and caring within a world markedly short on both". Dafoe earned his third
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination, as well as nominations at the
Golden Globes,
SAG Awards, and
BAFTA Awards. In 2017, Dafoe also played and voiced the character of
Ryuk, a demonic death god from Japanese mythology, in Netflix's
Death Note, and adaptation of the Japanese supernatural-thriller
manga of the same name. He narrated Australian documentarian
Jennifer Peedom's documentary
Mountain. Also that year, he co-starred as Gerhard Hardman in a
film adaptation of
Agatha Christie's detective novel
Murder on the Orient Express, directed by and starring
Kenneth Branagh; and played Atlantean scientist
Nuidis Vulko in a deleted role in
Zack Snyder's
Justice League. He later played Nuidis Vulko in a leading role in
James Wan's 2018 film
Aquaman. The same year, Dafoe played
Vincent van Gogh in the biographical drama
''At Eternity's Gate, for which he received the
Volpi Cup for Best Actor and his first
Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. His performance drew raves from film critics. Peter Keough of
Boston Globe'' said Dafoe "may be the best actor around for expressing an inner life in extremis." In 2019, he had a supporting role in
Edward Norton's period crime drama
Motherless Brooklyn where he played powerful developer Moses Randolph's "beaten and broken" brother. In the same year, he played a lighthouse keeper on a storm-swept island in
Robert Eggers' psychological horror
The Lighthouse opposite
Robert Pattinson. It had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film and Dafoe's performance received high praise. Owen Gleiberman of
Variety said "Both actors are sensational (and they work together like one), but in terms of sheer showboating power it's Dafoe's movie." Dafoe won
Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and
Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for the role, and got Oscar buzz, but ultimately did not receive Academy Award nomination, in what was perceived by some as snub. Dafoe portrayed sled dog breeder, trainer, and musher
Leonhard Seppala in
Togo. Dafoe reunited with
Wes Anderson in the latter's ensemble period comedy
The French Dispatch, appeared in
Guillermo del Toro's neo-noir thriller
Nightmare Alley, which were both released in 2021, and
Robert Eggers's historical epic
The Northman, released in 2022. All projects pushed their release dates due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Dafoe voiced the Australian ABC-television documentary
River in 2021, which was written to highlight the precaricity of rivers worldwide. In 2020,
The New York Times ranked him No. 18 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century. Dafoe reprised his role as Green Goblin from Sam Raimi's
Spider-Man trilogy in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe film
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). To avoid having his role in the film prematurely revealed, Dafoe wore a cloak on-set to conceal his appearance from being outed publicly. The star of the film,
Tom Holland, said that he got scared after bumping into Dafoe by accident one day on set and only then found out about his role in the film. Like
Alfred Molina (who reprised his role as
Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus in the film), Dafoe was
digitally de-aged for the character's 2002 self. Upon release of
No Way Home, Dafoe's reprisal was met with universal acclaim.
The Lantern Brett Price wrote that Dafoe was "on another level" in
No Way Home and not having his mask made him even more intimidating than he was in the 2002 film.
Peter Travers of
Good Morning America Amelia Emberwing of
IGN praised Dafoe, Molina, and Foxx in
No Way Home, while
Vulture Bilge Ebiri said Dafoe "once again gets to have some modest fun with his character's divided self". On January 18, 2022, it was announced that Dafoe would host
Saturday Night Live on January 29, 2022, with musical guest singer
Katy Perry. The
psychological thriller film
Inside had its world premiere at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, and was released in the United States in March by
Focus Features. That same year he reunited with Wes Anderson, playing Saltzburg Keitel in
Asteroid City (2023). He starred opposite
Emma Stone and
Mark Ruffalo in
Yorgos Lanthimos's
Poor Things (2023) which premiered at the
Venice International Film Festival. He played Dr. Godwin "God" Baxter, a disfigured scientist who resurrects a Victorian woman. For his performance, he earned
Golden Globe and
SAG nominations. He portrayed Walter Reade, based on
Hunter S. Thompson, acting opposite
Camila Morrone in
Patricia Arquette's directorial film debut
Gonzo Girl based on the Cheryl Della Pietra novel of the same name. The film debuted at the
2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Also in 2023 he starred in the Italian period drama
Finally Dawn with
Lily James. In October 2023 it was announced that Dafoe would provide the English language voice for Elder Pelican for
Hayao Miyazaki's animated film
The Boy and the Heron. ,
Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and
Joe Alwyn at the
Cannes Film Festival promoting
Kinds of Kindness (2024) The following year he reunited with Yorgos Lanthimos in
Kinds of Kindness (2024) starring
Emma Stone,
Jesse Plemons, and
Margaret Qualley. Dafoe also acted in the British romantic thriller
Pet Shop Days. In
Tim Burton's sequel
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, he appeared as Wolf Jackson, a ghost detective. The film was released on September 6, 2024, to critical and commercial success. He starred as real-life television talent executive
David Tebet in
Jason Reitman's
biographical comedy-drama film
Saturday Night, released on October 11, 2024. He portrayed Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz in
Robert Eggers'
gothic horror film
Nosferatu, which was released on December 25, 2024. He played Maxim, the overly-protective father, in the
A24 fantasy adventure film
The Legend of Ochi with
Helena Zengel,
Emily Watson, and
Finn Wolfhard, which was released in April 2025. He reteamed with Wes Anderson in his feature
The Phoenician Scheme. In August 2025, Dafoe was honored with the
Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award at the
31st Sarajevo Film Festival. Also in 2025, he starred in Miguel Ángel Jiménez's
The Birthday Party,
Kent Jones's
Late Fame,
Gastón Solnicki's
The Souffleur, and the
film adaptation of
Walter Mosley's novel
The Man in My Basement. Upcoming projects Dafoe will next star in
Jennifer Peedom's biographical drama
Tenzing and
Robert Eggers' period horror
Werwulf. == Acting credits and accolades ==