Willem Dafoe hallucination. The cameo was suggested by Dafoe, comparing it to the ghost of Hamlet's father visiting his son to ask him to avenge his death. Dafoe was next seen in the comedy-drama "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004), his first of three films with director Wes Anderson. He played the "hilariously doltish" German first mate of a research vessel owned by the eponymous lead character, who is played by Bill Murray. Dafoe then had a small role as a tabloid magazine editor in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" (2004), a biographical film about Howard Hughes starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Also in
Michael Gambon Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. In 2003, he appeared with Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner, playing the principal villain in the Western film "Open Range". In 2004, he appeared in five films, including Wes Anderson's cult comedy "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou"; the British gangster film "Layer Cake"; theatrical drama "Being Julia"; and the CGI action fantasy "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". In 2004, he began playing Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts's headmaster in the third installment of J. K. Rowling's franchise, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", taking over the role