Daybreakers

For over 30 years Willem Dafoe has
played more than his share of complex men.

He's also brought to the screen a gallery of grotesques that have marked him as an actor capable of plumbing the depths of the human psyche. Yet this ordinary guy from a quiet town in Wisconsin tends not to linger over his creations.

Like contemporaries, such as John Malkovich and Gary Sinise, Dafoe flits between movies and theatre. He's lived the real-life role of starving actor. He's seen the lean times. Now he is cosily domiciled in Italy though, he is quick to point out, New York remains his spiritual and cultural home.

"...I was a totally regular kid. I liked sports. I never did think I was going to be an actor because, where I grew up, nobody was an actor. I didn't even know anyone in New York City. That's not what people did, so it never occurred to me..."