

The untold truth of Willem Dafoe



Whether it's an Oscar-nominated role in a film like Platoon or Shadow of the Vampire or a Razzie-nominated role in a movie like Speed 2: Cruise Control, you know Dafoe is going to bring his all and throw himself into the performance. And today, we're taking a look at some of the lesser-known facts about one of the best actors currently working. From his real name to crazy facts about his impressive career, here's the untold truth of Willem Dafoe.

His real name isn't Willem


Dafoe appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and he explained why he goes by the strange permutation of his first name. As he explained to Colbert, growing up, he came from a a really large family. "Father's called William," Dafoe said. "Love the guy, but I don't want to be Billy. I don't want to be William Jr. You know, you want your own identity. ... A friend of mine started calling me 'Willem,' like a lazy way of saying 'William.' I didn't even know how to spell it."


He caught a nasty disease during Platoon



These are the sacrifices some actors make for their craft.

Willem Dafoe has died in over two dozen roles

Willem Dafoe has over 100 acting credits to his name, and he's died in a lot of those films. As of this writing, he's kicked the bucket in 28 movies, two television shows, three video games, and a music video. That puts Dafoe up in the "Sean Bean" levels when it comes to actors who always seem to die.

It isn't just the amount of on-screen deaths Dafoe has suffered that's impressive. He's also had some iconic deaths as well. What's the image you think of when picture Platoon? That's Dafoe with his hands in the air. A vampire exploding in sunlight? Dafoe did it. Jesus Christ being crucified? You bet that's Dafoe on the cross. He even got murdered by the original live-action Spider-Man.


He's a bit of a health nut




Dafoe's impressive 'manhood' has caused some problems

Willem Dafoe is pretty well known for taking on challenging and bizarre roles, as well as not being shy about pushing boundaries with his characters. One role that embodies this philosophy was Dafoe's character in Lars von Trier's Antichrist. It's a really strange work with tons of bonkers scenes, including one where Dafoe's character (known only as "He"), um, bleeds in a very unique and disturbing way.

It's not a movie for the faint of heart.



He was expelled from high school




He voiced a puppet polar bear in frozen food commercials




Willem Dafoe's bizarre feud with a reporter




He was fired from his first film job for a strange reason

Few movies live in Hollywood infamy quite like Heaven's Gate. The Telegraph called it "the movie that sunk a film company, incinerated its director's career, and pretty much called a halt to a whole era of cinema." Michael Cimino's epic disaster bankrupted the studio United Artists, and it still serves as a monument to unchecked ego in Hollywood. It also happened to be the first Hollywood film Willem Dafoe was cast in.

Luckily, he escaped the fallout, as he was actually fired from the set and uncredited in Heaven's Gate. The reason? He laughed at a joke.

As Dafoe tells it, here's how it went. "I had scenes and everything and was really enjoying it, and then one day we were doing a lighting set-up for a long time; basically eight hours standing in place, and a woman told me a joke in my ear, and I laughed at a moment of silence. [The director] Cimino turned around and said, 'Willem step out,' and that was that. I was the lamb for sacrifice."

Embarrassing, but maybe not as embarrassing as it would've been to have Heaven's Gate as his first true credit.

Willem Dafoe thinks about murder a lot




He's appeared in several comic book movies ... but not in the MCU

Willem Dafoe has been in many films over the years, so it's only natural that he's appeared in some comic book movies. After all, it seems like we get several every month at this point. But despite his ability to bring these characters to life, Dafoe has yet to appear in the big dog of superhero franchises, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Granted, he has appeared in a Marvel franchise. He was in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy as Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin. However, that was well before the MCU came to be. More recently, he appeared in the film adaptation of Death Note, and he's also joined the DC Cinematic Universe, as Vulko in Aquaman.

We would love it if Dafoe appeared in the MCU, but we'll have to wait and see if that's in the cards for the veteran actor. With the superhero trend showing no sign of slowing down, there will be plenty of roles that Dafoe is suited for.