5 Off My Head: Willem at Heart

.

The living legend Willem Dafoe turns 65 today, and even I, a staunch Dafoe supporter, feel as if I don't give him enough credit. We take him for granted dammit! The man's been turning in legendary performances for four going on five decades, and they're not all whack-jobs either -- although I admit I favor the whack-jobs -- the last thing I saw him in just a few weeks ago was Abel Ferrera's Tommaso and he plays a totally normal dude in that, and rivetingly. 

The sight of Willem Dafoe laughing and dancing is so blood-curdlingly terrifying to me pic.twitter.com/0mEckaOlam

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) June 9, 2020

Okay so the sight of him playing a normal dude does almost always carry with it a sense of frisson, as if he might go loco at any moment, but that's because he's just so electric on-screen. Even in something like The Florida Project -- we all immediately think of the scene where he chases off the pedophile, right? His eyes, even in their kindest moments, shoot sparks. 

Anyway narrowing down a list of faves from him for this here birthday was a challenge today just because a true list of faves would be way, way longer than the one I've come up with below, and would court those smaller performances alongside his grand statements. But I love me a grand statement too much; that's on me. Thank goodness we've got Willem out here making 'em, and how.

My 5 Favorite Willem Dafoe Performances

Thomas, The Lighthouse

"Look at ye, handsome lad with eyes bright as a lady."

Bobby Peru, Wild at Heart

"Speaking of Jack, One eyed Jack's yearning
to go a peeping in a seafood store!"

He, Antichrist

"Acorns don't cry, you know that as well as I do."

Jesus, The Last Temptation of Christ

"If I was a woodcutter, I'd cut.
If I was a fire, I'd burn. But I'm a heart and I love.
That's the only thing I can do."

Max Schreck, Shadow of the Vampire

"I feed like an old man pees.
Sometimes all at once, sometimes drop by drop."

-----------------------------------

What are your favorite Willem Dafoe performances?

.