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| Willem Dafoe: five best moments | Willem Dafoe: five best moments |
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| Willem Dafoe stands out as a champion villain. If it’s a curling lip, a leer or a chilling laugh you’re after, he’s got more than enough acting ammunition in his arsenal. | Willem Dafoe stands out as a champion villain. If it’s a curling lip, a leer or a chilling laugh you’re after, he’s got more than enough acting ammunition in his arsenal. |
| Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, out this in UK cinemas this week and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his last roles, sees Dafoe delicately play a complex character toeing the line between good and evil, and inspired us to look back at some of his greatest past performances. | |
| We’ve picked five here, but which of Dafoe’s roles would top your own list? Let us know in the comments below. | We’ve picked five here, but which of Dafoe’s roles would top your own list? Let us know in the comments below. |
| Please note that the following clips contain material of an adult nature. | |
| Wild at Heart | Wild at Heart |
| With David Lynch behind the camera, Dafoe took on one of his early bad-guy roles. He played Bobby Peru, a slimy and creepy gangster terrorising Nicolas Cage’s Sailor Ripley and Laura Dern’s Lula Fortune, with memorable menace. | With David Lynch behind the camera, Dafoe took on one of his early bad-guy roles. He played Bobby Peru, a slimy and creepy gangster terrorising Nicolas Cage’s Sailor Ripley and Laura Dern’s Lula Fortune, with memorable menace. |
| Antichrist | Antichrist |
| Though Charlotte Gainsbourg bagged the Cannes film festival award for best actress in this horrifying 2009 Lars von Trier creation, Dafoe’s performance shone, too. Critics jeered and laughed at the film’s talking fox and booed during its closing credits, but Dafoe pulled off a captivating, disturbing and impactful role as Gainsbourg’s husband. Dafoe spoke of the film’s extreme “gross-outs” as a device to make viewers connect to the characters, and not just as pieces of gratuitous gore. | Though Charlotte Gainsbourg bagged the Cannes film festival award for best actress in this horrifying 2009 Lars von Trier creation, Dafoe’s performance shone, too. Critics jeered and laughed at the film’s talking fox and booed during its closing credits, but Dafoe pulled off a captivating, disturbing and impactful role as Gainsbourg’s husband. Dafoe spoke of the film’s extreme “gross-outs” as a device to make viewers connect to the characters, and not just as pieces of gratuitous gore. |
| Platoon | Platoon |
| Dafoe was cast against type as a compassionate good guy, and not a villain, in his Oscar-nominated performance as Sgt Elias. Platoon received high praise from critics, bolstered by Vietnam war veteran and director Oliver Stone’s personal experience adding to the film’s gravitas and authenticity. | Dafoe was cast against type as a compassionate good guy, and not a villain, in his Oscar-nominated performance as Sgt Elias. Platoon received high praise from critics, bolstered by Vietnam war veteran and director Oliver Stone’s personal experience adding to the film’s gravitas and authenticity. |
| Spider-Man | Spider-Man |
| Dafoe occupied familiar dastardly territory in Sam Raimi’s 2002 superhero film. As the Green Goblin, or Norman Osborn to his nan, he mustered up a deliciously villainous cackle and sneer – it was over-the-top Hollywood baddie fare, but Dafoe added a level of nuance to the role. | Dafoe occupied familiar dastardly territory in Sam Raimi’s 2002 superhero film. As the Green Goblin, or Norman Osborn to his nan, he mustered up a deliciously villainous cackle and sneer – it was over-the-top Hollywood baddie fare, but Dafoe added a level of nuance to the role. |
| The Grand Budapest Hotel | The Grand Budapest Hotel |
| Dafoe barely said a word as JG Jopling, in Wes Anderson’s 2014 stylised caper, but played his murderous role with truly Anderson-like precision. His bloodthirsty performance stood out in a film (typically) bursting at the seams with fleeting cameos by secondary characters. | Dafoe barely said a word as JG Jopling, in Wes Anderson’s 2014 stylised caper, but played his murderous role with truly Anderson-like precision. His bloodthirsty performance stood out in a film (typically) bursting at the seams with fleeting cameos by secondary characters. |