Willem Dafoe Quotes

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.

The director's very important to me, particularly when the director has a recognizable style.

It makes me laugh when I hear a guy talking about being in touch with his feminine side. But I gravitate towards women, I identify with them. And I do cry very easily, more and more as I get older.

Each of the actors is quite different, but they're all living in the same world.

I love Sam Neill. The thing that I always say about him, and I think it's true, is he's so dry. When he's serious, I think he's joking; when he's joking, I think he's serious.

I am confident only when I am constantly in motion. Between projects, the doubt creeps in.

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

I love theaters. I love the event of going there and seeing a movie with a lot of people. I like the community coming around the story.

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.

I'm no different to anyone else; I want people to like me. I just don't particularly want them to understand me.

I've never had any close male friends. The most important relationships in my life have always been with women.

I don't think people want to see me as a regular guy. Besides, I'm a regular guy in real life. I guess I just want to be reckless in my work.

Usually when you meet with a director, just meeting them after you've seen something you're interested in, they say, "Oh I'd love to work together," and sometimes you never hear from them again.

Celebrity is okay as long as you know it's not about you.

With theatre, you have to be ready for anything.

When I give over to somebody's vision rather than have an idea of what I need to do, it takes me to places I wouldn't have got to by myself. I'm always attracted to a strong director.

It's no fun for an actor to keep repeating what you did before. It's always changing. I'm changing. The target keeps moving. That's the beauty of it.

In my experience, sometimes a movie just hits at the wrong time, gets the wrong press, or gets the wrong representation, and it gets misunderstood.

I love doing action and stuff; the problem is usually action movies are not that interesting. Also as I get older I feel like there's less opportunities for me.

That's a frustration sometimes, that certain directors that I'd like to work with, they just aren't doing stories that I'm sort of castable in. Not always, but sometimes I have that frustration.

My dad was a surgeon, my mom a nurse, and they were always out working. I had five sisters and a brother. They didn't care what I got up to.

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.

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.