167 Quotes by Willem Dafoe

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.

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

The worst thing is to get involved with people who aren’t passionate about what they’re doing.

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’m learning in my old age that the only thing you can do to keep your sanity is to stay in the moment.

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.

I feel like it’s important to be flexible, particularly when I’m coming in late in the game and I’m connective tissue in the story. I’m not at the very center. It’s important for me to have a certain kind of flexibility and try to help people do what they need to do.

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 think on some level, you do your best things when you’re a little off-balance, a little scared. You’ve got to work from mystery, from wonder, from not knowing.