Willem Dafoe

Actor Willem Dafoe speaks during a press conference at the 15th Pusan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea in 2010.

A mesmerizing figure on stage and screen, known for experimental stage works, independent films and the occasional blockbuster, Dafoe was earned three Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, most recently for the 2017 drama "The Florida Project."

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan

"The Florida Project"

In "The Florida Project," Dafoe plays Bobby, the manager of a motel on the seedy outskirts of Orlando, that is home to struggling families always on the edge. "I'm kind of, in the movie, connective tissue," Dafoe laughed. "I'm always going around putting out fires, because all these people have pretty challenging lives, and there's lots of problems at this budget motel, and I've gotta sort things out."

Because director and co-writer Sean Baker made the film on a minuscule budget, it wasn't money that attracted Dafoe to the project: "The fact that basically he was making it, you know, with a mixed cast of professional and new performers and children and non-performers filming in an actual place, telling a story that's not usually told, of an underclass, of a world I didn't really know," Dafoe said.

Lower East Side

CBS News' Martha Teichner with actor Willem Dafoe in Tompkins Square Park, on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

"I'm very high-minded about what I do," he said. "I'm very serious about what I do. And it can be very important. When I was a young actor, you know, everybody used to always say, 'Ah, you know, it's not brain surgery.' Well, it is a little bit. Because you can change how people think. You can change how you think by performing."

Actor

An undated head shot of Willem Dafoe.

The son of a surgeon and a nurse, William Dafoe, hailing from Appleton, Wis., was the second youngest of eight children. "Willem" was a nickname that stuck.

He performed in college production at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. And at age 22 he came to New York City ("Mecca," he called it) and found himself living in the East Village, where he began working with The Wooster Group, an experimental theater company at its most experimental.

"Point Judith (an epilog)"

Willem Dafoe in the Wooster Group's "Point Judith (an epilog)" (1979), produced at The Envelope in New York City.

"Point Judith (an epilog)"

Willem Dafoe, Spalding Gray, Matthew Hansell and Ron Vawter in the Wooster Group's "Point Judith (an epilog)" (1979), produced at The Envelope in New York City.

"Point Judith (an epilog)"

Willem Dafoe and Michael Rivkin in the Wooster Group's "Point Judith (an epilog)" (1979), produced at The Envelope in New York City.

"It was a new kind of work," he said of Wooster. "It wasn't a commercial work; it was a work that was personal and it was a work that pushed forms."

Twenty-seven years with the company taught Dafoe a very physical kind of acting. "I have a lot of faith in the wisdom of the body," he said. "I feel like the body doesn't lie."

"To Live and Die in L.A."

After being cut from Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate," and having small roles in films (including "The Hunger"), Dafoe made big impressions as criminals in "Streets of Fire" and William Friedkin's "To Live and Die in L.A." (left), in which he played a counterfeiter. 

"Platoon"

Willem Dafoe as Sgt. Elias in Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning Vietnam War film, "Platoon" (1986). Dafoe received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

"Platoon"

Willem Dafoe as Sgt. Elias in Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning Vietnam War film, "Platoon" (1986). Dafoe received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

"Mississippi Burning"

Willem Dafoe is an FBI agent investigating the disappearance of three civil rights advocates in the segregated South, in the 1988 drama "Mississippi Burning."

"The Last Temptation of Christ"

Willem Dafoe as Jesus in Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), based on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel. The film was a powerful examination of morality, political agency and spirituality, as Christ questions his own divinity and is forced, by Satan, to make a terrible choice. 

"The Last Temptation of Christ"

Willem Dafoe as Jesus being visited by a spirit in the desert in "The Last Temptation of Christ," adapted from Nikos Kazantzakis' novel about Christ as a revolutionary against Roman rule, and, more intrinsically, the duality of Jesus' nature as both man and divine spirit. 

"Brace Up!"

Anna Kohler (on video) and Willem Dafoe in the Wooster Group's "Brace Up!" (1989-1991), adapted from Chekhov's "Three Sisters."

"Born on the Fourth of July"

Willem Dafoe and Tom Cruise as disabled Vietnam veterans in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989).

"Wild at Heart"

Willem Dafoe as Bobby Peru in David Lynch's "Wild at Heart" (1990).

"Clear and Present Danger"

Willem Dafoe (pictured with Harrison Ford) as a black-ops officer in the Tom Clancy thriller "Clear and Present Danger" (1994).

"Basquiat"

Willem Dafoe and Jeffrey Wright in the biopic "Basquiat" (1996), Julian Schnabel's biopic of the post-modern artist.

"The English Patient"

Willem Dafoe as an intelligence officer in the wartime drama "The English Patient" (1996).

"The Hairy Ape"

Willem Dafoe in the Wooster Group's 1997 production of Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape," at the Selwyn Theatre in New York City.

"Shadow of the Vampire"

Willem Dafoe earned his second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as silent film star Max Schreck, whose portrayal of a vampire in the F.W. Murnau classic "Nosferatu" turns out to be more realistic than expected, in "Shadow of the Vampire" (2000).

"Spider-Man"

Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin in "Spider-Man" (2002), one of the more colorful villainous characters he has portrayed.

"A lot of the villains I play with a lot of love and a lot of pleasure," he told Martha Teichner. "And you also play them as heroes, you know? You don't judge them."

"Finding Nemo"

Willem Dafoe voiced the character of Gill, a moorish idol fish, who plots an escape from a dentist's office fish tank in "Finding Nemo."

"The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou"

Waris Ahluwalia, Michael Gambon, Anjelica Huston, Noah Taylor, Bud Cort, Bill Murray, Matthew Gray Gubler, Seu Jorge, Jeff Goldblum, Cate Blanchett and Willem Dafoe in Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004).

"Manderlay"

Willem Dafoe in Lars von Trier's "Manderlay" (2005).

"Inside Man"

Denzel Washington, Willem Dafoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor in the 2006 crime thriller "Inside Man," directed by Spike Lee.

"Mr. Bean's Holiday"

Willem Dafoe is an auteur who discovers the premiere of his latest work at the Cannes Film Festival has been upset by the bumbling antics of Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean, in the 2007 comedy "Mr. Bean's Holiday."

"Antichrist"

Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe are a couple who struggle to overcome the death of their child in Lars von Trier's "Antichrist" (2009).

"The Idiot Savant"

Willem Dafoe and Alenka Kraigher in Richard Foreman's "The Idiot Savant," produced at New York's Public Theater in 2009.

"My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?"

Chloë Sevigny and Willem Dafoe in the mystery "My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?" (2009), directed by Werner Herzog and produced by David Lynch.

Venice Film Festival

Actor Willem Dafoe with his wife Giada Colagrande are seen on the red carpet at the 69th Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2012 in Venice, Italy.

"Out of the Furnace"

Woody Harrelson and Willem Dafoe in the thriller "Out of the Furnace" (2013).

"A Most Wanted Man"

Willem Dafoe plays a European banker whose money-laundered funds might fall into the hands of political refugee Grigoriy Dobrygin in "A Most Wanted Man" (2014), based on the John le Carré thriller.

Sundance Film Festival

Actors Willem Dafoe, Rachel McAdams and Philip Seymour Hoffman, stars of "A Most Wanted Man," pose during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, January 19, 2014 in Park City, Utah.

"The Grand Budapest Hotel"

Willem Dafoe and Adrien Brody were among the villains and cads of Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014).

"Pasolini"

Willem Dafoe as the Italian filmmaker, author and intellectual Pier Paolo Pasolini, in director Abel Ferrara's meditation on his life and art, "Pasolini" (2014).

New York Film Festival

Actor Willem Dafoe attends the premiere of "Pasolini" during the 52nd New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall on October 2, 2014 in New York City.

Super Bowl Ad

Actor Willem Dafoe portrays Marilyn Monroe in a Snickers ad, which aired during the 2016 Super Bowl.

"Dog Eat Dog"

Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe star in director Paul Schrader's crime comedy, "Dog Eat Dog" (2016).

"The Florida Project"

Dafoe as the motel manager in "The Florida Project." His understated performance has earned him his third Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.