Willem Dafoe Quotes

I was born William. My father was William. I came from a big family, I hated being called Billy. Willem's a nickname; it's a Dutch name, very common in the Netherlands.

The worst thing is to get involved with people who aren't passionate about what they're doing.

The English Patient' is about the coming together of a French-Canadian nurse, an English patient, a Sikh in a turban and me, Caravaggio, and each of us is seeking a resolution to our own problems.

Great theatre is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to fantasize about a world we aspire to.

Sometimes I think women are lucky because they can develop in ways men can't. The old-boy network may be oppressive to women, but it actually stunts men in terms of personal growth.

I never act. I simply bring out the real animal that's in me.

The mask can be a limitation, but you just deal with it. You do get superhuman strength and pumpkin bombs and all this other stuff to express yourself with.'

You have to lose yourself to find yourself.

Action breeds inspiration more than inspiration breeds action.

I guess they often cast me as the bad guy, because I'm not, er, conventional looking. I look sort of violent. I'm the odd one out, the outsider.

You can be intuitive when you've got a more expansive role. You can get into the poetry of telling the story rather than just pushing buttons.

Film is fragmented and gets into lots of other people's hands. There are a lot of pleasures that theatre gives me. You get to perform uninterrupted.

Weirdness is not my game. I'm just a square boy from Wisconsin.

Basically, when I hear the words 'family drama' I run in the opposite direction.

A lot of critics are lazy. They don't want to look closely and analyze something for what it is. They take a quick first impression and then rush to compare it to something they've seen before.

I don't have a preference between theatre and film; I like to do both. But I will say that there's something about theatre that is more nourishing and sustaining than film ever can be.

When I was a kid I was very interested in the idea of the will, finding out what you're capable of. I liked those kind of challenges.

Performing is about developing empathy, which leads us to a broader view of the world and encourages us to develop compassion; so we can comfort each other and not be so brutal with each other.

When you have something to work with, then you fly with it.

As you get older, you suffer fools less easily. That's why there's all those cranky character actors. I'm an exception. I'm a sweetheart.

There's a real wisdom to not saying a thing.

Turn off the sound in a movie, and if you can tell what's going on, the movie should work.

Any actor who tells you that he makes choices, absolutely, is wrong. You find work and work finds you.

I'm a task-oriented actor. A pretender. And I try to invent my process anew each time I make a new project. So I frown on any method.

I want to work with people who are good at what they do, and people who are passionate.

All the time, as an actor, you want to be asking what's next and where things are going. If you're not asking those questions, you're not growing.

I do want to be in mainstream movies that are going to be seen. I suppose it satisfies the showbiz side of me.

I have some sort of affinity for compulsive behavior. The most interesting stories come up from the people on the outside.

I set myself challenges every time I work. Ideally I approach everything as though it's the first time - with a beginner's mind and an amateur's love.

The best thing an actor can be is ready. Be flexible, be ready.

I'm learning in my old age that the only thing you can do to keep your sanity is to stay in the moment.

I think on some level, you do your best things when you're a little off-balance, a little scared. You've got to work from mystery, from wonder, from not knowing.

Let's hope I never end up on a deserted island, because I could never make a decision on which three CDs to take with me.

I pride myself on being fairly polite on a set so it's kind of a guilty pleasure to poke others on the set.

It's fair to say that if you have a lot of experience, your power is greater. You have more of an opportunity to roll up your sleeves with younger directors.

Emotionally men and women are different, but only as a result of the physical differences. It all comes back to our bodies.

I aspire to be an instrument of the director. I'm happiest like that. The stronger the director, the more I'm willing to give them.

It's nice to go back with people that you already trust.

Sometimes you feel like you have to do research to make something, other times you know you don't feel it so much.

I was watching 'Wild at Heart,' and I can honestly say I did nothing for that apart from show up!

Film is an editor's medium. You can create very good raw material and they can make it horrible, or you can do not so well and they can make it beautiful. You don't really know.

I'll never be able to really see a film that I'm in.

Plenty of bad movies are very successful, and plenty of good movies are not. And distribution is so crazy, some films won't even get their day in court.

Truth is, generally I like film festivals; somewhere at some level there's an exchange of ideas.

Central to being an actor is pretending, and the adventure of it all. That's why you become a junkie for different kinds of situations.

It's too easy to trivialize people. The Internet does it all the time.

I don't think people are interested in my personal life. I've never had a Hollywood life. I've always been a worker.

I try to do as many of my own stunts as possible. If you keep on taking yourself out of the role you play, you lose the thread of the character.

I've been in very few flat-out comedies. But I feel like I've always made comedies.

Socially, I like the idea of sitting in a theater with a bunch of people.