“Conversation with” at the 20th Marrakech IFF, interview with actor Willem Dafoe

Long-lasting collaborations with great directors

“So much in film is about finding a kind of trust and a kind of language […], and if you have that once, it’s a little easier to return to it, but there’s also that thing that I like to be part of someone’s vocabulary, and they’re invested in you, so they give you different things to do, they aren’t trading on a persona that you’re created because you’re a fluid thing for them because you’re part of their work. You’re a color in their palette and you gotta show up and be there to be that color… It’s a way to enter their iconography or their language, their vocabulary.”

Working with younger filmmakers

“Obviously, because you’re seen as the old hand and they’re seen as the new person, the balance can be messed up. […] An actor can’t have too much power over a director, I just don’t think that’s a good working relationship. You do try to help them, but you also try to fold in and become material for them.”

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