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cover of episode Willem Dafoe on “Nosferatu”

Willem Dafoe on “Nosferatu”

2024/12/20
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The New Yorker Radio Hour
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威廉·达福认为观众很难将他扮演的角色与他本人区分开来，他扮演的角色类型多样，从大制作到小众独立电影都有。他选择与导演合作的标准是：导演要有独特的愿景，并且能够创造出他能够融入并表达的个人体验，他更看重导演的整体构思和对拍摄的掌控，而不是仅仅关注角色和剧本。他与罗伯特·埃格斯的合作让他能够沉浸在一个细节丰富、历史悠久的世界中，并从中获得启发。在塑造角色时，他通过研究和想象角色的内心世界，而不是仅仅关注角色的独特性。他认为埃格斯执导的《诺斯费拉图》旨在重塑吸血鬼的恐怖形象，回归到人们真正相信吸血鬼存在的时代，埃格斯在创作中注重历史背景和民间传说，力求让影片具有真实感和结构性。他认为《诺斯费拉图》适合在圣诞节上映，因为它能够吸引更广泛的观众群体，埃格斯电影的长镜头拍摄手法能够增强观众的沉浸感，并对演员的表演提出了更高的要求。他保持高产的原因是热爱表演，并认为演员需要不断练习。他惋惜影院观影体验的衰落，并认为流媒体平台虽然有其优点，但也导致了电影内容的同质化和浅薄化，他认为观众最终还是希望被电影感动和挑战，而不是仅仅寻求逃避现实。他认为如今电影的宣传方式变得更加复杂，也更注重通过各种渠道来吸引观众的关注。他更专注于电影创作本身，而不是将其视为一项商业活动。

Deep Dive

Key Insights

Why did Robert Eggers want to remake 'Nosferatu'?

Eggers was obsessed with the original film since he was nine years old and has been trying to make this version for ten years. He wanted to bring back the scary vampire by grounding the story in historical folklore and separating it from modern vampire tropes like those in 'Twilight'.

What is unique about Willem Dafoe's approach to working with directors?

Dafoe seeks directors with a specific vision, often auteurs, who create certain kinds of worlds. He wants to serve their vision while making the experience personal and transparent for the audience.

How does Robert Eggers' filmmaking style influence the experience of acting in his movies?

Eggers meticulously designs shots and sets, providing a structured environment that actors can inhabit. This detailed setup allows actors to focus on their performance without worrying about technical aspects, creating a fluid and immersive experience.

What was Willem Dafoe's goal in creating his character in 'Nosferatu'?

Dafoe aimed to understand the thinking of his character, Professor von Franz, an occultist and alchemist. He researched vampire lore and tried to convey the character's authority on the subject, making him believable as a vampire hunter.

Why is 'Nosferatu' being released on Christmas Day?

The release date aims to capitalize on the holiday season when people are off work and more likely to go to the movies. It also allows for a broader audience to experience the film in theaters, which is essential given Eggers' long, designed takes and fluid camera movements.

How does Willem Dafoe feel about the current state of theatrical movie-going?

Dafoe laments the decline in theater attendance and the shift to streaming, which he believes dilutes the communal and immersive experience of watching a film. He thinks challenging and rewarding films are harder to appreciate in a distracted, at-home setting.

What does Willem Dafoe enjoy about working on multiple projects in a year?

Dafoe enjoys the practice and adventure of acting, likening it to creating a new life and then returning to his own. He values the variety of roles and projects, which keeps his work engaging and fulfilling.

Chapters
This chapter explores Willem Dafoe's diverse career, highlighting his ability to inhabit vastly different roles and his collaborations with renowned directors such as Robert Eggers. It touches upon audience reactions to his roles and his approach to working with directors who have a strong vision.
  • Willem Dafoe's versatility in acting
  • His distinctive face and voice
  • His collaborations with various directors including Robert Eggers
  • Audience reactions to his roles and the difficulty of disassociating him from his characters

Shownotes Transcript

Willem Dafoe has one of the most distinctive faces and most distinctive voices in movies, deployed to great effect in blockbuster genre movies as well as smaller indie darlings; he’s played everyone from Jesus Christ to the Green Goblin. His most recent project is the highly anticipated “Nosferatu,” which opens Christmas Day. Robert Eggers’s film is a remake, more than a century later, of one of the oldest existing vampire movies, and Dafoe plays a vampire-hunting professor.  After “Twilight” and hundreds of other vampire stories, “Nosferatu” aims “to make him scary again,” Dafoe told The New Yorker Radio Hour’s Adam Howard). It’s his third collaboration with the director, after “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse.” “When you do a Robert Eggers movie,” he says, “there’s a wealth of detail and it’s rooted in history. … So you enter it and the world works on you. And I love that.”