6 Weird Willem Dafoe Performances That Show He's Great At Everything

Some Hollywood stars find success by playing variations of the same character throughout their careers. Some examples would be John "I'm always a tough American guy" Wayne, Jason "I'm always a tough British guy" Statham. In addition, there are experienced actors who can play almost any role that you offer them. Willem Dafoe, in his long and illustrious career, has shown himself to be a respectable member of the latter category.

Here are some of the roles he has played that prove that he can handle any genre deftly and be believable in any role.

6 PHOTOS

1. In 1986, Dafoe appeared in Oliver Stone's Platoon and starred in one of the most iconic war movie moments of all time.

2. When watching American Psycho, it's hard to notice anything else when Christian Bale plays the role of Patrick Bateman. But Dafoe also puts on a knockout game in the film, playing Detective Donald Kimball.

3. The character Marcus in the John Wick universe is an elite member of the previous generation of professional assassins. Dafoe plays this friend and mentor of protagonist Keanu Reeves and supports Wick's decision to retire after the death of his wife.

4. It's not easy for even the most capable actors to get a credible performance when the script calls for a fish to play. Defoe played the role of Gill (a member of the extravagantly named species called Moorish Idols) in Finding Nemo and gave him the necessary toughness and mystique.

5. Dafoe plays the white-haired lighthouse keeper in The Lighthouse so convincingly that one would think he was actually a 19th-century New England "Wickey".

6. Hitmen are a dime a dozen in Hollywood movies, but Dafoe turned the run-of-the-mill henchman archetype into something stylish and special in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel.