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Willem Dafoe knows he has a “distinctive face.” However, he hasn't always known it, he told Willie Geist at the Sunday TODAY.
Geist mentioned that Dafoe is now part of the Marvel universe. The veteran actor acknowledged that his role as the Green Goblin in the Spider-Man films brought him the kind of attention where he could be recognized anywhere.
“A movie like that is so widely seen that you can be in Timbuktu and people will recognize you,” he said.
Willem Dafoe's “distinctive face”
He then told the story of how he found out he had a “distinctive face.”
“And I've learned I have a ‘distinctive face,'” he stated jovially which had Geist laughing. “Something I didn't know.”
The host then replied, “It's true. I can confirm.”
“And I'll always remember, I was on the subway years ago when New York was still pretty rough. And I was taking my kid by subway from downtown to the Bronx Zoo,” Dafoe started telling the story.
“And some guys got on the train…,” the actor paused and asked if he was allowed to swear. Geist waved it away and Dafoe proceeded.
“And they're sitting there and they're looking at me. And they're looking, kind of, you know, rough. And I think, ‘Oh God, even with my son here, these guys are gonna, you know, roll me for money or something. Something bad is going to happen.' Because they were looking kind of mean, and then they were looking at each other,” he continued.
“Then I heard one say, ‘Yeah, gotta be him. Nobody looks like that motherf***er!” That's when I knew it.”
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Dafoe continued after Geist had burst out laughing again, “I don't know whether that was worth telling.” The host assured him that “it might have been a compliment.”
The actor then said, “I'm not ashamed because I'm telling the story, aren't I?”
Dafoe: 48 years in Hollywood and counting
That “distinctive face” has certainly served Dafoe well. The actor has been working for 48 years.
His only film in 1986 was Oliver Stone's Vietnam War movie Platoon where he played the compassionate Sergeant Elias Grodin. It was the movie that had given the widest exposure in his career at that time.
His most recent film is Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things as Dr. Godwin Baxter, for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Awards as Best Supporting Actor, along with co-star Mark Ruffalo. He also voiced the Elder Pelican in the English-dubbed version of Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron.
He can next be seen in multiple movies. One is Robert Eggers' Nosferatu remake, which is a full-circle moment for the actor, having played the original Nosferatu Actor Max Schreck in the 2000 film, Shadow of the Vampire.
He's also in the highly anticipated Tim Burton sequel, Beetlejuice 2, as an after life police officer. He will also star in the upcoming fantasy movie The Legend of Ochi with Finn Wolfhard and Emily Watson.
