Willem Dafoe biography
Willem Dafoe is an American actor, born on 22 July 1955 in Appleton.
Willem Dafoe's screen career began in 1980 with Heaven's Gate, playing Willy.
Willem Dafoe has appeared in 150 films and 8 television or streaming titles.
The most recent films are Tenzing (2026), The Man in My Basement (2025), The Souffleur (2025).
Honours include Saturn Awards, Donostia Award and Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Coming up next: Werwulf (2026), Time Out, White Lies.
- Born
- 22 July 1955 (age 71)
- Birthplace
- Appleton
- Work
- Film actor, Voice actor, Screenwriter, Model, Film producer
- Film industries
- Hollywood and beyond
- Years active
- 1975 to present
- Awards
- Saturn Awards
- Donostia Award
- Film Independent Spirit Awards
- Satellite Awards
- Honorary Golden Bear
- Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Willem Dafoe filmography
154 films and 8 television or streaming titles, newest first.
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Lies | Post-production | |||
| Time Out | Post-production | |||
| Lincoln in the Bardo | Everly Thomas | Upcoming | ||
| 2026 | Werwulf | Old Hunter | Post-production | |
| 2026 | Tenzing | John Hunt | ||
| 2025 | The Man in My Basement | Anniston Bennet | ||
| 2025 | The Souffleur | Tenured Hotelier | ||
| 2025 | Late Fame | Ed Saxberger | ||
| 2025 | The Birthday Party | Marcos Timoleon | ||
| 2025 | The Phoenician Scheme | Knave | ||
| 2025 | The Legend of Ochi | Maxim | ||
| 2024 | Nosferatu | Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz | ||
| 2024 | Zero | Voice on the Phone | Voice | |
| 2024 | Saturday Night | David Tebet | ||
| 2024 | Beetlejuice Beetlejuice | Wolf Jackson | ||
| 2024 | Kinds of Kindness | Raymond/George/Omi | ||
| 2023 | Pet Shop Days | Francis | ||
| 2023 | Poor Things | Dr. Godwin Baxter | ||
| 2023 | Asteroid City | Saltzburg Keitel | ||
| 2023 | Inside | Nemo | ||
| 2023 | Gonzo Girl | Walker Reade | ||
| 2023 | Finally Dawn | Rufus Priori | ||
| 2023 | The Boy and the Heron | Noble Pelican | Voice; English dub | |
| 2022 | Spider-Man: No Way Home - The More Fun Stuff Version | English | ||
| 2022 | Dead for a Dollar | Joe Cribbens |
Show all 154 films
| Year | Title | Role | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Wild One | |||
| 2022 | The Northman | Heimir the Fool | ||
| 2021 | Spider-Man: No Way Home | Norman Osborn / Green Goblin | ||
| 2021 | Nightmare Alley | Clem Hoately | ||
| 2021 | The Card Counter | Major John Gordo | ||
| 2021 | The French Dispatch | Albert the Abacus | ||
| 2021 | Zack Snyder's Justice League | Vulko | Director's cut of Justice League | |
| 2021 | Twelve Minutes | Cop (voice) | ||
| 2021 | River | Narrator | Voice; Documentary | |
| 2020 | Siberia | Clint | ||
| 2020 | The Last Thing He Wanted | Dick McMahon | ||
| 2020 | Sportin' Life | English | ||
| 2019 | The Lighthouse | Thomas Wake | ||
| 2019 | Babenco: Tell Me When I Die | Portuguese | ||
| 2019 | Tommaso | Tommaso | ||
| 2019 | Togo | Leonhard Seppala | ||
| 2019 | Motherless Brooklyn | Paul Randolph | ||
| 2019 | Birds of a Feather | Yves | Voice | |
| 2018 | Aquaman | Vulko | ||
| 2018 | At Eternity's Gate | Vincent van Gogh | ||
| 2018 | Vox Lux | Narrator | Voice | |
| 2017 | Murder on the Orient Express | Gerhard Hardman | ||
| 2017 | The Florida Project | Bobby Hicks | ||
| 2017 | What Happened to Monday | Terrence Settman | ||
| 2017 | Death Note | Ryuk | Voice | |
| 2017 | Opus Zero | Paul | ||
| 2017 | Mountain | Narrator | Voice; Documentary | |
| 2016 | The Great Wall | Ballard | ||
| 2016 | A Family Man | Ed Blackridge | ||
| 2016 | Dog Eat Dog | 'Mad Dog' | ||
| 2016 | Sculpt | Man | ||
| 2016 | Padre | James Verdun | ||
| 2016 | Finding Dory | Gill | Voice cameo | |
| 2015 | My Hindu Friend | Diego Fairman | ||
| 2014 | John Wick | Marcus | ||
| 2014 | Nymphomaniac Director's Cut | |||
| 2014 | The Fault in Our Stars | Peter Van Houten | ||
| 2014 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Jopling | ||
| 2014 | Whiskey Bay | English | ||
| 2014 | Pasolini | Pier Paolo Pasolini | ||
| 2014 | A Most Wanted Man | Tommy Brue | ||
| 2014 | Bad Country | Bud Carter | ||
| 2013 | Nymphomaniac | L | ||
| 2013 | The Smile Man | English | ||
| 2013 | Out of the Furnace | John Petty | ||
| 2013 | Odd Thomas | Chief Wyatt Porter | ||
| 2013 | Nymphomaniac: Volume II | English | ||
| 2013 | Beyond: Two Souls | Nathan Dawkins (voice) | Also motion capture and likeness | |
| 2012 | John Carter | Tars Tarkas | Motion-capture performance | |
| 2012 | Tomorrow You're Gone | The Buddha | ||
| 2011 | The Hunter | Martin David | ||
| 2011 | 4:44 Last Day on Earth | Cisco | ||
| 2010 | Problema | English | ||
| 2010 | Miral | Eddie | ||
| 2010 | A Woman | Max Oliver | ||
| 2009 | Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant | Gavner Purl | ||
| 2009 | Daybreakers | Lionel 'Elvis' Cormac | ||
| 2009 | My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done | Det. Hank Havenhurst | ||
| 2009 | Antichrist | He | ||
| 2009 | The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day | Paul Smecker | Uncredited Cameo | |
| 2009 | Farewell | Feeney | ||
| 2009 | Fantastic Mr. Fox | Rat | Voice | |
| 2008 | Adam Resurrected | Commandant Klein | ||
| 2008 | The Dust of Time | A | ||
| 2008 | Fireflies in the Garden | Charles Taylor | ||
| 2007 | To Each His Own Cinema | Hebrew | ||
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Norman Osborn / Green Goblin | Cameo | |
| 2007 | Mr. Bean's Holiday | Carson Clay | ||
| 2007 | The Walker | Larry Lockner | ||
| 2007 | Go Go Tales | Ray Ruby | ||
| 2007 | Anamorph | Stan Aubrey | ||
| 2007 | Tales from Earthsea | Cob | Voice; English dub | |
| 2006 | Inside Man | Captain John Darius | ||
| 2006 | Paris, je t'aime | Le Cowboy | Segment: "Place des Victoires" | |
| 2006 | American Dreamz | Chief of Staff | ||
| 2005 | Manderlay | Grace's Father | ||
| 2005 | XXX: State of the Union | General George Deckert | ||
| 2005 | Ripley Under Ground | Neil Murchison | ||
| 2005 | Before It Had a Name | Leslie | Also co-writer | |
| 2004 | The Aviator | Roland Sweet | ||
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Norman Osborn / Green Goblin | Cameo | |
| 2004 | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou | Klaus Daimler | ||
| 2004 | The Clearing | Arnold Mack | ||
| 2004 | Control | Dr. Michael Copeland | ||
| 2004 | The Reckoning | Martin | ||
| 2004 | James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing | Nikolai Diavolo (voice) | Also likeness | |
| 2003 | Once Upon a Time in Mexico | Armando Barillo | ||
| 2003 | Finding Nemo | Gill | Voice | |
| 2002 | Spider-Man | Norman Osborn / Green Goblin | ||
| 2002 | Auto Focus | John Henry Carpenter | ||
| 2001 | Edges of the Lord | Priest | ||
| 2001 | Pavilion of Women | Father Andre | ||
| 2000 | American Psycho | Donald Kimball | ||
| 2000 | Shadow of the Vampire | Max Schreck / Count Orlok | ||
| 2000 | Animal Factory | Earl Copen | ||
| 2000 | Bullfighter | Father Ramirez | ||
| 1999 | The Boondock Saints | Paul Smecker | ||
| 1999 | Existenz | Gas | ||
| 1998 | New Rose Hotel | X | Also co-producer | |
| 1998 | Lulu on the Bridge | Dr. Van Horn | ||
| 1997 | Affliction | Rolfe Whitehouse | ||
| 1997 | Speed 2: Cruise Control | John Geiger | ||
| 1996 | Basquiat | The Electrician | ||
| 1996 | Victory | Axel Heyst | ||
| 1996 | The English Patient | David Caravaggio | ||
| 1994 | The Night and the Moment | The Writer | ||
| 1994 | Clear and Present Danger | John Clark | ||
| 1994 | Tom & Viv | T.S. Eliot | ||
| 1993 | Faraway, So Close! | Emit Flesti | ||
| 1992 | Body of Evidence | Frank Dulaney | ||
| 1992 | White Sands | Ray Dolezal | ||
| 1992 | Light Sleeper | John LeTour | ||
| 1991 | Flight of the Intruder | Lieutenant Commander Virgil Cole | ||
| 1991 | Arrive Alive | Mickey Crews | Unfinished film | |
| 1990 | Wild at Heart | Bobby Peru | ||
| 1990 | Cry-Baby | Hateful Guard | ||
| 1989 | Triumph of the Spirit | Salamo Arouch | ||
| 1989 | Born on the Fourth of July | Charlie | ||
| 1988 | The Last Temptation of Christ | Jesus | ||
| 1988 | Off Limits | Buck McGriff | ||
| 1988 | Mississippi Burning | FBI Agent Alan Ward | ||
| 1987 | Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam | Elephant Grass | Voice; Documentary | |
| 1986 | Platoon | Sgt. Elias Grodin | ||
| 1985 | To Live and Die in L.A | Eric Masters | ||
| 1985 | Roadhouse 66 | Johnny Harte | ||
| 1984 | Streets of Fire | Raven Shaddock | ||
| 1983 | The Hunger | 2nd Phone Booth Youth | ||
| 1981 | The Loveless | Vance | ||
| 1980 | Heaven's Gate | Willy | Uncredited |
Television and streaming
| Year | Title | Role | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Kingdom | Grand Duc | 3 episodes | |
| 2022 | Finding Satoshi | Narrator (voice) | Documentary | |
| 2017 | Piigs | Narrator (voice) | Documentary | |
| 2010 | American Experience | Narrator (voice) | Episode: "Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World" | |
| 2002 | Globehunters | Hunter (voice) | Television film | |
| 1997 | The Simpsons | The Commandant / Mr. Lassen (voices) | 2 episodes | |
| 1991 | Fishing with John | |||
| 1986 | The Hitchhiker | Jeffrey Hunt | Episode: "Ghostwriter" |