Latest Willem Dafoe Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

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

  Willem Dafoe

  Sometimes, Like You

  Source: www.ign.com

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

  Willem Dafoe

  Source: film.avclub.com

• I like to work with people of different cultures, different points of view. But yeah, I feel much more comfortable. That's the problem I sometimes have with going to Hollywood. I feel like they don't share the same values as I do. They aren't interested in the same things. It's not always true, but sometimes, I feel it deeply, because as an industry, they celebrate things that I'm less interested in, and it's all about the business.

  Willem Dafoe

  People, Different, Culture

  Source: film.avclub.com

• For every role, you have to always find a different way to approach it, one that's specific and suits what the key is. Every role's a mystery. I think if you know what it is, you probably shouldn't even do it.

  Willem Dafoe

  Thinking, Different, Mystery

  Source: film.avclub.com

• Sometimes you're wrong, but if I'm a repeat customer, it means I must have valued the past experiences.

  Willem Dafoe

  Mean, Past, Sometimes

  Source: film.avclub.com

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

  Willem Dafoe

  Nice, People

  Source: film.avclub.com

• 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 not just about admiration for their films, it's how they deal with you, and whether they get you or the way you work. If they don't, you better adjust your way of working to suit them. I want to work with people who are good at what they do, and people who are passionate. 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.

  Willem Dafoe

  Character, People, Giving

  Source: film.avclub.com

• I have some sort of affinity for compulsive behavior. The most interesting stories come up from the people on the outside. They don't waste energy marching to the same drummer most of us do. It gives us an opportunity to look at things in a different way, which is the purest thing cinema can do.

  Willem Dafoe

  Opportunity, People, Giving

  Source: film.avclub.com

• I'm more interested in talking about what I do. And I don't think people are interested in my personal life. I've never had a Hollywood life. I've always been a worker. But it's true: If you know something about a person outside of the movie that is really repulsive to you, it's hard to shake. So I prefer to do my speaking through the work. I don't want people to know anything about me, because that's not important. I'm more interested in the me that takes shape through these characters. The other stuff is personal and too easy to trivialize out of context.

  Willem Dafoe

  Character, Thinking, People

  Source: film.avclub.com

• If you know what it is before you even start, it's not as interesting. 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. I try to attach myself to people who really inspire me, and directors who are really passionate. That way, I can give myself more fully and trust the impulse behind why the film is being made, and I can be a little more irresponsible in finding out what the character is. I have to worry less about what the character means if I trust the director.

  Willem Dafoe

  Adventure, Character, Mean

  Source: film.avclub.com

• I like the idea of sitting in a theater with a bunch of people. With technology now, people are getting more and more isolated. I like the community coming around the story. You don't have that with a DVD. People go home, they're tired from work, they can turn it off. It doesn't make you commit the same way, if you can control the movie. More difficult movies, it's too easy to turn them off. All the time, I see movies I know if I had seen it on DVD, I wouldn't have hung with it. If you see it on the screen, you hang with it and it pays off better than a movie you can easily sit through on DVD.

  Willem Dafoe

  Home, Tired, Technology

  Source: film.avclub.com

• I'm an optimist. I hope if a movie's good that it will be a success, but that's not always true, just because of popular taste or any other reasons. When something doesn't do better than it deserves to in your mind, it's pretty transparent - you usually know why. Is that a comfort? Yes, because it's logical. Does it make you happy? No, because if you think a movie is beautiful or interesting, you want to share it. Sometimes you make very interesting movies that aren't meant for everybody. But this is a capitalist society, so everything conspires to put value on whether it sells or not.

  Willem Dafoe

  Beautiful, Thinking, Interesting

  Source: film.avclub.com

• While we have a very strong popular culture, the roots of American culture are very shallow, and we put emphasis on how a movie does as far as the box office goes. Many years ago, it would have been vulgar to print box - office grosses in the paper. Now The New York Times does it, and it's the big story for people interested in arts and entertainment on Monday. Which is why emphasis has shifted away from filmmakers and fallen on movie stars and business people.

  Willem Dafoe

  Art, Strong, Monday

  Source: film.avclub.com

• 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.

  Willem Dafoe

  Character, Suffering, Actors

  Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

• 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.

  Willem Dafoe

  Giving, Stronger, Directors

  Interview with Steven Hyden, film.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

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

  Willem Dafoe

  People, Passionate, Want

  Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

• 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.

  Willem Dafoe

  Opportunity, Directors, Sleeves

  Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

• I try to attach myself to people who really inspire me, and directors who are really passionate. That way, I can give myself more fully and trust the impulse behind why the film is being made, and I can be a little more irresponsible in finding out what the character is.

  Willem Dafoe

  Character, People, Giving

  Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

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

  Willem Dafoe

  People, Interesting, Stories

  Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

• 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.

  Willem Dafoe

  Adventure, Different, Actors

  Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

• The truth is, if you're around long enough, you have a story about everyone. But it's best to keep your mouth shut sometimes.

  Willem Dafoe

  Long, Stories, Mouths

  Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

• I don't worry so much about the audience. I want them very much to be involved and enjoy the movie, but I try to just inhabit the character in a full way, where I can create a personal stake.

  Willem Dafoe

  Character, Worry, Trying

  Interview with Steven Hyden, film.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

• I don't want people to know anything about me, because that's not important. I'm more interested in the me that takes shape through the characters.

  Willem Dafoe

  Character, People, Important

  Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

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

  Willem Dafoe

  People, Doe, Internet

  Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.

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

  Willem Dafoe

  Thinking, Hollywood Life, People

  Interview with Steven Hyden, www.avclub.com. September 25, 2007.