In a career spanning close to four decades, American film and stage actor Willem Dafoe has appeared in over a hundred films and has received numerous accolades, including multiple Academy Award nominations. Widely regarded as one of the best character actors of his generation, Dafoe made his feature film debut with an uncredited role in the epic western film Heaven`s Gates (1980), and subsequently rose to prominence courtesy of his performances in acclaimed movies like Platoon (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Mississippi Burning (1988). Of these, Dafoe`s portrayal of Sergeant Gordon Elias in the anti-war drama Platoon (1986) earned him his maiden Academy Award nomination in 1986.

In the following decade, the actor continued to prove his versatility through films like Light Sleeper (1992), The English Patient (1996), Affliction (1997) and The Boondock Saints (1999). In 2000, Dafoe landed his second Academy Award nomination when he played silent era actor Max Schreck in the metafiction horror movie Shadow of the Vampire (2000); a performance that ranks among his best and also won him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor. However, it was his portrayal of fictional supervillain Green Goblin (a.k.a., Norman Osborn) in the superhero movie Spider-Man (2002) that catapulted the actor to international fame. Dafoe subsequently essayed comedic roles in movies like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and Mr. Bean`s Holiday (2007), before playing one of the most controversial roles of his career in Lars von Trier`s Antichrist (2009).

In 2017, Dafoe earned the third Academy Award nomination of his career for his portrayal of Bobby Hicks, the manager of a rundown motel, in the acclaimed drama film The Florida Project. Other significant acting credits in recent times include Murder on the Orient Express (2017), the biographical drama At Eternity`s Gate (2018) in which he played celebrated painter Vincent van Gogh; the DC superhero film Aquaman (2018) and the crime-drama Motherless Brooklyn (2019). His 2021 release includes Zack Snyder`s Justice League.