Willem Dafoe

“My eye goes to one of my favorite films right away and I'll take it. Onibaba. A very, very special film. In fact I wanted to remake it, but I—and I even got the rights for a while, but I couldn't find a way to do it because it's so specific to its time. And I, I felt like anytime I tried to put a spin on it, I ruined the source material. So I couldn't do that.”

“The Leopard. Fantastic. When I think I'm not right for a role because I'm not enough like the character, I always think of Burt Lancaster in The Leopard. I mean, this Hollywood guy, you know, that I'm thinking from The Swimmer and from movies, you know, Indian wrestling, you like it, like that kind of thing. He's going to be an elegant Sicilian gentleman? I don't think so. But you know what? It worked fantastically. So when you don't think you're right for something, you actually may be very right for it, or you may be able to find a way to get there, which is cool.”

“Pickpocket. Of course, Bresson. You know, Schrader has always got this on, on his mind, and I guess I do too.”

“Ashes and Diamonds. I, I remember seeing that as a kid and I thought, ooh, cool, black and white, love the hairdos, love the glasses, but didn't quite get it. I should probably look at that again because I saw it when I was too young.”

“Gate of Flesh. This I watched exhaustively because we used it for material when I worked with a theater company called The Wooster Group, and this was an inspiration and very important for one of our theater pieces. So, Gate of Flesh, I'll steal that.”

“The Devil's Backbone. Ooh, it may be one of his best movies. Guillermo del Toro expertly combines Gothic ghost story, murder mystery, and historical melodrama in a stylish mélange. Couldn't have said it better myself.”

“The Mirror. Lars von Trier asked me to look at this before we did Antichrist. Surprise, surprise.”

“The Piano Teacher. We love Isabelle. We love her so much. She's such a good actress and she always is surprising us, and she's, she's a peach.”

“8½. You can't kick about 8½.”

“Oh, ladies and gentlemen, you know this man? He's, he's a little bit more than a man. Or is he?”

“Life Aquatic. Oh, I think I have a copy, but I love this movie. It's the first time I worked with Wes Anderson. I like Life Aquatic because it floats for a long time and there's lots going on where you think, what the hell? But at the end, it lands emotionally in a way that is incredible. This movie should be seen more. Some of those shots are, you know, very beautiful.”

“Rossellini Bergman. Fantastic. Stromboli I know, Journey to Italy I know, I don't know Europe '51. What is Europe '51? Well, I'm going to find out.”