Willem Dafoe Nominated for Oscars 2019 Best Actor Category for At Eternity's Gate: All About Dafoe and His Chances of Winning at 91st Academy Awards
It would be hard to believe but the man who has done over a hundred films was uncredited as an extra in his debut movie, Michael Cimino's 1980 Western film, Heaven's Gate.
American actor Willem Dafoe is one of the nominees in the Best Actor category at 91st Academy Awards, popularly known as Oscars 2019. The 63-year-old earned his first nomination in this category for his portrayal of Vincent van Gogh in 2018 biographical drama At Eternity's Gate. Willem Dafoe had a fantastic year, which saw him star in one of the biggest box office hits of 2018, Aquaman and the critically-acclaimed At Eternity's Gate earned landed him Best Actor nomination. Despite having three Oscar nominations (all in the Supporting Best Actor category), Dafoe has yet to win his first Academy Award. Oscars 2019 Full Nominations List in PDF: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Picture & More Category-Wise Nominees at 91st Academy Awards.
We have known Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin from Spider-Man (2002) or moorish idol fish, Gill from Finding Dory (2003). Most recently, we saw him as Nuidis Vulko, mentor of Aquaman in the 2018 DC film. But this is not even the tip of Dafoe’s filmography. Born to a surgeon and a nurse on July 22, 1955, in Wisconsin, Willem found his calling in drama and theatre. Oscars 2019: Date, Venue, Nominations and Everything You Need To Know About The 91st Academy Awards.
It would be hard to believe but the man who has done over a hundred films was uncredited as an extra in his debut movie, Michael Cimino's 1980 Western film, Heaven's Gate. In fact, Willem Dafoe was fired from his first film (though good for him, because the film was one of the biggest box office bombs as well as worst films ever made). Six years later, the major breakthrough role came Dafoe’s way when he portrayed the role of Sergeant Gordon Elias in Oliver Stone’s Vietnam war drama, Platoon. It earned him his first Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. He earned two more in the same category for Shadow of the Vampire (2001) and The Florida Project (2017). Christian Bale Nominated for Oscars 2019 Best Actor Category for Vice: All about Bale and His Chances of Winning at 91st Academy Awards.
Speaking of his role in At Eternity's Gate, Willem Dafoe brings painter Vincent van Gogh's life on the silver screen. The film directed by Julian Schnabel "focuses on the painter's final years spent in the South of France (Arles and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence) and in Auvers-sur-Oise (near Paris)." Interestingly, Willem Dafoe was 62 years old at the time of filming, making him 25 years older to the character he was playing. Vincent van Gogh was 37 when he breathed his last.
Watch Video of Willem Dafoe's At Eternity's Gate Official Trailer
According to Éntertainment Weekly, "Defoe immersed himself in the artist's life, learning to paint, reading his letters, and ultimately shooting on location in artistically recognizable landscapes". Defoe added, "You're not illustrating who you think van Gogh is; you're communing (with) his memory and what he's left behind... It all comes together in a swirl--a swirl of color, a swirl of light. It's not naturalistic representation. But it captures the spirit... [Van Gogh] thought art was a language; art was a way of seeing; art was a way of waking up."
Willem Dafoe is going to be up against four heavyweights - Christian Bale for his role of Dick Cheney in another biographical film of 2018, Vice; Bradley Cooper as Jackson "Jack" Maine, a country singer battling alcohol and drug addiction in A Star is Born; Rami Malek in portraying Freddie Mercury in his biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody and Viggo Mortensen as Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga in Green Book. We wish Willem Dafoe and others very good luck ahead of Oscars 2019 night.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 15, 2019 06:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).