[80], Later in 2002, Dafoe starred with Greg Kinnear in Paul Schrader's biographical film Auto Focus, Dafoe's third collaboration with Schrader. There's gotta be a next project, and they're sitting there and there's so many lessons I learned during that movie. And Tom Cody will be the football hero. The film delves into fiction when, over the course of Nosferatu's production, the cast and crew come to discover that Schreck is actually a vampire himself. Much of the film's critical praise went to Dafoe; Roger Ebert wrote that Dafoe "embodies the Schreck of Nosferatu so uncannily that when real scenes from the silent classic are slipped into the frame, we don't notice a difference". "[174] Dafoe portrayed sled dog breeder, trainer, and musher Leonhard Seppala in Togo. Dafoe played John Clark, a CIA agent conducting a covert operation against a drug cartel in Colombia with Jack Ryan. This cult favorite features a razor-sharp cast and original songs written by Jim Steinman, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty and Ry Cooder and performed by The Blasters and The Fixx. The two didn't work together again for nearly four decades, when Hill wrote a part for Dafoe in his 2022 western Dead for a Dollar, in which he plays opposite Christoph Waltz. [191] They split their time between Rome, Los Angeles, and New York City. Conceptually. Rick Moranis, Diane Lane, and Willem Dafoe in the opening scene to 1984's Streets of Fire. "He'd say it would be inappropriate to direct this movie if there were any blood", said Gross. It went $14 million over budget, I think and I kept saying to Joel, how are they allowing this? [4], Walter Hill thought "the audience will go with you when you set up an abstract world with teenage values and play out a drama within this. As the biker gang leader Raven Shaddock in STREETS OF FIRE, costume designer Marilyn Vance put him in black patent leather fisherman's waders. [4], Streets of Fire has a number of similarities to Capcom's hit 1989 beat 'em up video game Final Fight. [118][119] Dafoe played a former vampire who has a cure that can save the human species in the science fiction horror film Daybreakers, which starred Ethan Hawke as a vampire hematologist. However, when they realised they would not get it in time, they asked Steinman for a song, which he wrote in two days. [116] During an interview with L Magazine, it was revealed Dafoe had a stand in for scenes where his character's penis was on screen as his own was too big. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Willem Dafoe is a 67 years old American actor from Appleton, Wisconsin. Streets of Fire (1984) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. You know, I was disappointed in one aspect: a voiceover from Tom's sister that we had, which Walter later decided to cut. [5] At the time he was cast in March 1983, Par had appeared in two films, Eddie and the Cruisers and Undercover, which had not yet been released. "[4], They submitted the script to Universal executive Bob Rehme on a Friday (in January 1983) and by the end of the weekend, the studio had given them the go-ahead to make the film. So they didn't pull the trigger and Berg ended up selling it to Universal. To escape, the group hijacks the tour bus of a doo-wop group called the Sorels. Nishitani said that, at the time, the team were not "aware of Streets of Fire, but I've Googled it and there does indeed seem to be something familiar about it" but that "this style of story was very popular back then" and many "fighting games made use of it" so "I guess we were part of that crowd! In 2021 he was featured in another Anderson film, The French Dispatch, playing a crooked accountant. Dafoe flourished as an actor in such big-budget mainstream films as Spider-Man (2002) and three of its sequels (2004, 2007, and 2021), in which he played the comic villain the Green Goblin; the animated Finding Nemo (2003) and its sequel, Finding Dory (2016), for which he provided the voice of a fish; and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Wes Andersons comedy about an idiosyncratic marine documentary crew. The exterior of the Richmond Theater where Ellen Aim sings at the beginning of the film was shot on the backlot, with the interior done in the Wiltern Theater in L.A. for two weeks. [143] Dafoe next appeared in Lars von Trier's two-part erotic art film Nymphomaniac, his third and final film release of 2013. [131] In 2011, Dafoe began narrating a series of television commercials for the Greek yogurt company Fage and starred in a Jim Beam commercial titled "Bold Choices". [72], Dafoe took on two leading roles in 2001, both of which were as priests. [138] Later in 2012, Dafoe co-starred in the low-budget crime thriller Tomorrow You're Gone with Stephen Dorff and Michelle Monaghan. I don't think there was any other way to do it given the circumstances.[8]. Reva tries to convince Tom to rescue Ellen, but he refuses. [99] He starred with Juliette Binoche in a short film directed by Nobuhiro Suwa as part of the 2006 anthology film Paris, je t'aime. We look back at the cult classic '80s rock and roll fable, Streets of Fire. They were married on March 25, 2005. Steinman later recalled thinking the script was 'terrible', but he thought the film was going to be a big hit, in part because of the enthusiasm of Joel Silver: [He said] this movie is about visuals. [27] At the 59th Academy Awards, Dafoe was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, but the statuette was awarded to Michael Caine (for the 1986 film Hannah and Her Sisters). The title of the former was used as the tagline on some promotional materials for the film. [88][89] Dafoe then had a small role as a tabloid magazine editor in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004), a biographical film about Howard Hughes starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It is described in its opening credits and posters as "A Rock & Roll. [46] In his review of the film, Vincent Canby felt that Dafoe lacked sensuality in the role. While Reva and McCoy go to the diner where Reva works, Tom acquires a cache of weapons, including a pump action shotgun, a revolver, and a lever action rifle. With the assistance of a hard-as-nails woman warrior (Madigan) and manager Billy Fish (Moranis), he enters a shocking world of neon-lit streets, fast cars, and killer assassins lurking around every corner. However, by this stage Gross and Hill had worked together so closely Gross says "I began to develop a strong sense for knowing how to sound like he did. [191][195] Dafoe acquired Italian citizenship through the marriage. Se7en's taking place in another world. McCoy enters and is led upstairs by one of the Bombers, where she then knocks him out and holds Raven and some of his gang members at gunpoint. They can antagonize you and say whatever theywant, and you can't do anything to stop themHe's this weird looking little guy who couldn't get laid in a whore house with a fistful of fifties. At the same time, I was myself knocked out by what Walter and (cinematographer) Andy Laszlo and our editor were doing visually on the film. [71] Dafoe received numerous awards and nominations for his performance, including his second Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination. The story took place in Chicago, so they built Chicago in LA.[19]. Hookers with a heart of gold. And Walter isn't the kind of guy who works well with kids. [65][66] The film performed poorly at the box office, but has since been branded as being a cult film. The defeated gang carries their leader away. THE LIGHTHOUSE isn't the first time Dafoe has donned fisherman's wear. The Lantern's Brett Price wrote that Dafoe was "on another level" in No Way Home and not having his mask made him even more intimidating than he was in the 2002 film. [106] He also reprised his role again as Norman Osborn in Spider-Man 3 (2007) in a brief cameo. So Walter said were going to make a high school movie that's also going to be a comic book and also going to be a musical. [5] All 10 days of filming in Chicago were exteriors at night, on locations that included platforms of elevated subway lines and the depths of Lower Wacker Drive. [6][7] He has five sisters and two brothers and is of English, French, German, Irish, and Scottish descent. In 2009 Dafoe starred in von Triers controversial Antichrist, which centres on a couple who struggle to cope with the death of a child. Gross published a diary from the shoot of 48 Hours which had an entry dated 12 August 1982, the night before filming on that movie started: Walter presents me with a page of notes he's prepared for a new script. Tom and Raven duel using sledgehammers and their fists, with Tom ultimately being victorious. And you're dumb. "[4], The film went on to make a total of $8 million in North America, compared to a production budget of $14.5 million. [141] The game polarized reviewers, although Dafoe and Page's performance were widely praised. [60] Following a villainous supporting role in the romantic mystery drama Lulu on the Bridge,[61] Dafoe starred alongside Christopher Walken and Asia Argento in Abel Ferrara's cyberpunk drama New Rose Hotel in 1998. [103] In the same year, Dafoe voiced the main villain, an evil wizard, in the English dub of the Japanese animated fantasy film Tales from Earthsea,[104] had a supporting role as a US Senator in the drama The Walker, his fourth collaboration with Paul Schrader,[105] and took on the lead role in the psychological thriller Anamorph, in which Dafoe played a detective who notices the case he is investigating bears similarities to a previous case of his. It's not New York. [22] Later in 1985, Dafoe starred with William Petersen and John Pankow in William Friedkin's thriller To Live and Die in L.A., in which Dafoe portrays a counterfeiter named Rick Masters who is being tracked by two Secret Service agents. The first thing he says to me is "Do you just act cool, or are you really cool?" Speed 2 was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics,[57] with Dafoe himself receiving a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actor. After having sex, Tom and Ellen discuss the possibility of eloping. Reply . [3] Gross later recalled: Streets of Fire began in the euphoria of knowing that Paramount really liked 48 and wanted to be in business with us if they could. "[4], Production began on location in Chicago in April 1983, then moved to Los Angeles for 45 days, and finally two weeks at a soap factory in Wilmington, California, with additional filming taking place at Universal Studios. Upon his return, Tom defeats a small gang of greasers and takes their car. He told me he's going to do this new thing: he's going to put a female character right in the centre of the narrative."[7]. The Hollywood Reporter thought that Dafoe appeared to think he was "in a pantomime",[101] while a New York Times reviewer felt he was "amusing" in the role. [129], Dafoe's first of two leading roles in 2011 was in Abel Ferrara's apocalyptic drama 4:44 Last Day on Earth, his third film with Ferrara. [79] Steven Scaife at Vice wrote that Dafoe's Goblin "represents everything thats fun about superhero villains, as well as everything thats great about Raimi's campy films", also commending Dafoe's voice and body language, which helped overcome the bulky Green Goblin costume that he compared to that of a Power Rangers villain. [13], After attending Appleton East High School, Dafoe studied drama at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee,[14] but left after 18 months to join the experimental theater company Theatre X in Milwaukee, before moving to New York City in 1976. His character was described as a "diminutive version of Dick Cheney, with wire-rimmed glasses and a fringe of white hair" by The Times writer Caryn James. The cameo was suggested by Dafoe, comparing it to the ghost of Hamlet's father visiting his son to ask him to avenge his death. Later, at a concert, the Sorels open for Ellen and her band. Actor: Spider-Man. Price plans on arresting Raven, so he tells Tom to get out of town, so as to avoid any more violence. [40] Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman felt the role proved Dafoe as a "master of leering, fish-faced villainy". [156] Dafoe starred in the late Brazilian director's Hctor Babenco's final film My Hindu Friend (2015) as a film director close to death who befriends a Hindu 8-year-old boy while hospitalized. [20], Following a "blink-and-you-miss-it" cameo in The Hunger (1983), Dafoe again played the leader of a biker gang in Walter Hill's 1984 action film Streets of Fire. [165][166] In 2017, Dafoe also played and voiced the character of Ryuk, a demonic death god from Japanese mythology, in Netflix's Death Note, and adaptation of the Japanese supernatural-thriller manga of the same name. It was kind of real but it wasn't really. [50] In 1995, he played an 18th-century writer in the period drama The Night and the Moment. Teenage reality. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Gross would do a draft and Hill would rewrite it. The film received mostly negative reviews, although the performances were generally praised. [87] Dafoe was next seen in the comedy-drama The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), his first of three films with director Wes Anderson. "[5], The character of Ellen Aim was written as a 28-year-old woman. Hill was reluctant to cast her because he felt that she was too young for the role. [191] They have since worked together on her films Before It Had a Name and A Woman. We're gonna have to re-build the Wiltern Theater, which they had taken down, it was a million dollars to re-do the ending and I felt all his hostility for Universal. "That broke my heartI hoped, by the time the movie finished, that it would be whipped into a shape and design that would have a real impact. [117] Dafoe next had a small role in the French thriller Farewell as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and co-starred opposite Michael Shannon in Werner Herzog's My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?, in which he played a detective attempting to figure out why a troubled man killed his own mother. [82] In the same year, Dafoe appeared in a small but pivotal role as a drug cartel kingpin planning a coup d'tat against the President of Mexico in Robert Rodriguez's action film Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Elias Grodin in Oliver Stones Platoon (1986), which earned Dafoe his first Academy Award nomination. In high school, he acquired the nickname Willem,[11] the Dutch version of the name William. There was tremendous love and confidence. And we didn't fullyI want to say we had too much integrity. The Attackers were the real-life (Face to Face) bandmates of Sargent, who provided the lead vocals on Ellen's songs "Nowhere Fast", "Never Be You" and "Sorcerer", and supporting vocals on "Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young". The ensuing battle against a nocturnal background of industrial blight, chrome . But he was one of Joel's dear friends, and he ended up making a bunch of movies for Disney. Richard Corliss of Time magazine wrote that Dafoe "triumphs over some awful dialogue by giving the role his nutsy-greatsy weirdness". ", "Streets of Fire movie review & film summary (1984) | Roger Ebert", "From The Other World Walter Hills Streets of Fire in 70mm", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Streets_of_Fire&oldid=1151764782, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Rotten Tomatoes template using name parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Worst Supporting Actress: Diane Lane (1984), This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 02:41.