I Know That Face | Willem Dafoe – Part 1

Call us Ishmael, because we’ve just landed our first white whale! In celebration of our first anniversary we’ve decided to cover the inestimable Willem Dafoe. Over two episodes we’ll be looking at his long, varied screen career with Part One covering his work in the 80s and 90s. From Kathryn Bigelow’s biker drama The Loveless to William Friedkin’s amoral masterpiece To Live and Die in L.A. Dafoe’s early film years were dominated by villains and dirtbags. This changed with Oliver Stone’s Platoon scoring him his first of four Oscar nods and his first role as Willem Dafriend. More varied roles came in the tail end of the 80s with Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ and Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning. This led to his role as Bobby Peru in David Lynch’s Wild At Heart, his first collaboration with Paul Schrader in 1992’s Light Sleeper and his first collaboration with Abel Ferrara in New Rose Hotel. His ceaseless work ethic, iconic features and desire for challenge put him in good stead as the 90s gave way to the 2000s.

Andrew
Twitter: @Andrew_Carroll0

Stephen
Twitter: @StephenPorzio

Editor and Community Manager: Charline Fernandez
Instagram: @charline_frnndz

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I Know That Face
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Andrew’s To Live and Die in L.A. article
Andrew’s William Friedkin article
Stephen’s interview with Abel Ferrara – print and podcast

Intro and Outro Music: No Boundaries (motorik groove) by Keshco.
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