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" 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. "

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" The Midwest isn't somewhere you mix with those from the performing arts. But my mum and dad would go off to Chicago every so often to see shows. They would bring back the albums and the movies, those little eight metres, and we would all watch. I think that was when I fell in love with acting. "

Willem Dafoe

Movies

Think

You

" Basically, when I hear the words 'family drama,' I run in the opposite direction. "

" All the time, as an actor, you want to be asking what's next and where things are going. If you're not asking those questions, you're not growing. "

" Corruption is something you face all the time. Avoid it. "

" In order to inhabit a character, you've got to embrace and empathise with them. "

" Truth is, generally I like film festivals; somewhere at some level there's an exchange of ideas. "

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

" When you work on anything, you want to find the range of impulses - which ones get portrayed is another question, but you want to have that complexity and that fullness, even if you're playing a cartoon character. "

" A lot of critics are lazy. They don't want to look closely and analyze something for what it is. They take a quick first impression and then rush to compare it to something they've seen before. "

" 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. "

" I'll never be able to really see a film that I'm in. "

" I wish to Christ I could make up a really great lie. Sometimes, after an interview, I say to myself, 'Man, you were so honest - can't you have some fun? Can't you do some really down and dirty lying?' But the puritan in me thinks that if I tell a lie, I'll be punished. "

Willem Dafoe

Man

Lie

" I think back story can help guide your choices, but when you're playing a scene, you're not making choices; you're just intuitive. "

" I was born William. My father was William. I came from a big family, I hated being called Billy. Willem's a nickname; it's a Dutch name, very common in the Netherlands. "

" You can be intuitive when you've got a more expansive role. You can get into the poetry of telling the story rather than just pushing buttons. "

Willem Dafoe

Got

Role

" Any actor who tells you that he makes choices, absolutely, is wrong. You find work and work finds you. "

" 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. "

" You have to lose yourself to find yourself. "

" Turn off the sound in a movie, and if you can tell what's going on, the movie should work. "

" Plenty of bad movies are very successful, and plenty of good movies are not. And distribution is so crazy, some films won't even get their day in court. "

" I don't have a preference between theatre and film; I like to do both. But I will say that there's something about theatre that is more nourishing and sustaining than film ever can be. "

" 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. "

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

Willem Dafoe

Very

Style

" I have no doubt that if I met Bob Dylan, it would be disappointing - and annoying to him. But that's why I like Bob Dylan. "

" Great theatre is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to fantasize about a world we aspire to. "

Willem Dafoe

Theatre

World

" I do want to be in mainstream movies that are going to be seen. I suppose it satisfies the showbiz side of me. "

" In films you do a scene, you play around with it and unless you're doing a lot of reshooting, which no one has the luxury to do, you deal with the problem for a day and then you move on. On some level, it never allows you to go very deep into what performing is about. "

" I'm not attracted to naturalism, I'm not attracted to behavior, I'm attracted to dance. I'm attracted to gesture, I'm attracted to singing with your voice, as opposed to having a natural manner. I'm a theater actor first, so that probably influences a lot of my approach. And I think in many ways, naturalism has ruined movies. "

" 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. "

" The English Patient' is about the coming together of a French-Canadian nurse, an English patient, a Sikh in a turban and me, Caravaggio, and each of us is seeking a resolution to our own problems. "

Willem Dafoe

Together