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Dafoe has been
nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his transformational
performance in the highly anticipated "Shadow of the Vampire"
as Max Shreck. He was also named Best Supporting Actor by the Los
Angeles Film Critics and runner-up by the New York Film Critics.
Directed by Elias Merhige and written by Steven Katz, the film is
based on the making of F.W. Murnau's classic horror film, "Nosferatu."
Produced by Jeff Levine at Saturn Films, along with Nicholas Cage
and Paul Brooks, it was filmed in only 35 days on location in Luxembourg
and also stars John Malkovich, Eddie Izzard, Catherine McCormack
and Cary Elwes. Dafoe's portrayal has also received critical acclaim
at this years' Cannes, Telluride, Toronto and Boston Film Festivals.
Lions Gate Films will release "Shadow of the Vampire"
on December 29th, 2000.
In January 2001, Dafoe will begin production on the live-action
action-adventure, "Spider-Man." Dafoe plays Norman Osborn,
aka the "Green Goblin," the rival to the iconic web-spinning
hero (Tobey Maguire). Sam Raimi is directing with a screenplay by
David Koepp and Scott Rosenberg. Columbia Pictures will release
the film on May 3rd, 2002.
Dafoe recently completed work on Paul McGuigan's ("Ganster
#1) "Morality Play." "Morality Play" concerns
a priest on the lamb who takes up with a traveling band of actors.
Dafoe will play the leader of the troupe of thespians, who discover
a murder and set about to solving it, by re-creating the crime in
a play.
Next year, Miramax films will release writer/director Yurek Bogayevicz's
"The Edges of the Lord" starring Dafoe opposite Haley
Joel Osment. A WWII drama seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old
Jewish boy (Osment) who's hiding with a family of Catholic peasant
farmers to escape the Nazi's. Dafoe plays the role of the eccentric
but understanding priest who guides the ravaged community's children
through a series of humorous and tragic events that come to a shattering
conclusion when faith collides with fear.
Dafoe filmed the upcoming romantic drama,"Pavilion of Women"
on location in China. Based on the novel by Pearl S. Buck and directed
by Yim Ho, the film is set in Old China and concerns the uproar
following a Chinese woman's decision upon her fortieth birthday
to have her husband take a younger woman as a second wife. Dafoe
plays 'Brother Andre,' a missionary who falls in love with the woman
while giving her son a Western education. The film was produced
by and also stars actress Yan Luo and will be released by Universal
Focus Summer 2001.
Dafoe most recently starred in Steve Buscemi's "Animal Factory"
opposite Edward Furlong. Edward Bunker adapted the screenplay from
his own novel. "Animal Factory" is the story of how the
prison system made a hardened criminal out of a once promising young
man (Furlong) who finds himself in a situation he can't get out
of and then turns to the "King of the Yard" Earl Copen
(Dafoe). Earl takes Ron under his wing, shows him the ropes and
keeps Ron alive. Decker and Copen form a bond not unlike a father
in son. He also appeared in "American Psycho", based on
the controversial book by Brett Easton Ellis. Directed by Mary Harron,
Dafoe portrayed Detective 'Donald Kimball,' who follows the trail
of the title character, played by Christian Bale.
Dafoe also starred in Troy Duffy's controversial "Boondock
Saints." The story centers around two Irish twin brothers who
become vigilantes in Boston, fighting crime as part of their calling
from God - and the one thing that stands in the way of their 'cleansing'
- an FBI man (Dafoe) charged with the task of bringing them down.
.
Dafoe has made a name for himself working with some of the most
critically acclaimed directors in the world: with his turn as 'Caravaggio'
the thumb-less thief in Anthony Minghella's Academy Award winning
drama, "The English Patient;" his Academy Award nominated
performance as "Sergeant Elias' in Oliver Stone's "Platoon;"
his starring role in "The Last Temptation of Christ" for
director Martin Scorcese; his memorable turn as low life 'Bobby
Peru' for David Lynch in "Wild at Heart;" his performance
in Wim Wender's multicultural "Far Away, So Close;" and
his role as a civil rights activist in Alan Parker's "Mississippi
Burning."
Other feature credits for Dafoe include David Cronenburg's "Existenz,"
novelist Paul Auster's directorial debut, "Lulu On the Bridge,"
Abel Ferrara's "New Rose Hotel," Jan De Bont's "Speed
2: Cruise Control," Brian Gilbert's "Tom & Viv,"
Phillip Noyce's "Clear and Present Danger," Paul Schrader's
"Affliction" and "Light Sleeper," Oliver Stone's
"Born on the Fourth of July," William Friedkin's "To
Live and Die in L.A." Robert M. Young's "Triumph of the
Spirit," Roger Donaldson's "White Sands," Uli Edel's
"Body of Evidence" and Christopher Crowe's "Off Limits."
On stage, Dafoe most recently starred Off Broadway in "North
Atlantic" for the Wooster Group. With text by James Strahs
and also starring Steve Buscemi, the provocative drama is set on
an aircraft carrier during the Cold War. Staged at The Performing
Garage, "North Atlantic" premiered in October. Dafoe has
been a member of the groundbreaking theater company for more than
twenty years, helping to define a collage based theatrical language
that incorporates influences as diverse as vaudeville and Noh.
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