Willem Dafoe (born "William Dafoe", July 22, 1955) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated American film and stage actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group. He is best known for his roles in Body of Evidence, American Psycho, The Boondock Saints, "To Live And Die In LA" Platoon, The Last Temptation of Christ, Shadow of the Vampire and the Spider-Man films.

In 1979, Willem Dafoe was given a small role in Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" from which he was fired. His first feature role came shortly after in Kathryn Bigelow's "The Loveless." From there, he went on to perform in over 60 films - in Hollywood ("Spider-Man," "The English Patient", "Finding Nemo," "Once Upon A Time In Mexico," "Clear And Present Danger," "White Sands," "Mississippi Burning," "Street Of Fire) and in independent cinema in the U.S. ("The Clearing," "Animal Factory," "Basquiat," "The Boondock Saints," "American Psycho") and abroad (Lars von Trier's "Manderlay," Yim Ho's "Pavilion Of Women," Yurek Bogayevicz's "Edges Of The Lord," Wenders' "Far Away So Close," and Brian Gilbert's "Tom & Viv"). He has chosen projects for diversity of roles and opportunities to work with strong directors. He has worked in the films of Wes Anderson ("The Life Aquatic"), Martin Scorsese ("The Aviator," "The Last Temptation Of Christ"), Paul Schrader ("Auto Focus," "Affliction," "Light Sleeper"), David Cronenberg ("Existenz"), Abel Ferrara ("New Rose Hotel"), David Lynch ("Wild At Heart"), William Friedkin ("To Live And Die In LA"), and Oliver Stone ("Born On The Fourth Of July," "Platoon"). He was nominated twice for the Academy Award ("Platoon" and "Shadow Of The Vampire") and once for the Golden Globe. Among other nominations and awards, he received an LA Film Critics Award and an Independent Spirit Award. Recent projects include "Mr. Bean's Holiday," Spike Lee's "Inside Man," Paul Weitz's "American Dreamz" and Giada Colagrande's "Before It Had A Name" (which was co written by Mr. Dafoe) and the Nobuhiro Suwa segment of "Paris je t'aime." Other upcoming films include "Fireflies In The Garden" starring opposite Julia Roberts, Henry Miller's "Anamorph," Paul Schrader's "The Walker" and "Adam Resurrected," Abel Ferrara's "Go Go Tales" and the Lions Gate release "Daybreakers." Dafoe is one of the founding members of The Wooster Group, the New York based experimental theatre collective. He has created and performed in the group's work since 1977, both in the U.S. and internationally.