![]() That’s his modus operandi throughout much of the film-he’s strikingly out of place in this square town, and he’s going to play up every moment of that, even if it’s just to see how people react. Covered almost head-to-toe in leather, Dafoe cuts a menacing figure as Vance, the head of a biker gang whose first major scene sees him leaning into the window of a woman he helps on the side of the road and forcing a kiss, seemingly just to get a reaction. After an uncredited appearance in Michael Cimino’s notorious flop/reclaimed cult object “Heaven’s Gate,” Dafoe had his first leading role in “The Loveless,” the directorial debut of Kathryn Bigelow (co-directed by Monty Mongomery, the Cowboy from “ Mulholland Drive”). If there’s a constant to his best work, he’s a man on the outside, removed in one way or another from his environment and circumstances, whether he’s a figure of good or evil.Įarly in his career, Dafoe seemed destined to exclusively play the latter. That speaks to his background in experimental theater as a founding member of The Wooster Group, and to the kind of roles he’s attracted to. Even so, he’s still someone whose every quiet moment communicates decades’ worth of disappointment and hard choices as he runs The Magic Castle, a small motel purposefully trying to call to mind the "Happiest Place on Earth." It’s one of the high points of a nearly 40-year career that’s seen him teaming with directors ranging from Oliver Stone to Lars von Trier, Werner Herzog to Theo Angelopoulos, Abel Ferrara to Wes Anderson, often on strange, difficult projects. He’s back in a semi-heroic role as Bobby in “ The Florida Project,” one of the kindest, most decent characters he’s ever played. ![]() At the same time, he tries to find the human in the monster, the flaws in the hero, the painful pasts and deepest desires of both. ![]() He’s followed that pattern throughout his career, veering wildly back and forth between virtuous and venal, sinners and saints, comic book villains and Jesus Christ. ![]() Willem Dafoe broke out with both of these characters-one satanic, one angelic-a year apart from each other, his agile body and distinctively angular face stretching in diametrically opposed directions. ![]()
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