Express Milwaukee: You went from one type of horror movie to another. From Antichristto this one. What was your first reaction when you got this script?
Willem Dafoe: When I first read the script I thought the part wouldreally be fun. I'm always looking to do action. I love doing action.
Express Milwaukee: Were you surprised that the script was completely original, not basedon a comic book or anything else?
Willem Dafoe: No, because I always assume that it's going to beoriginal. The world that I live in, mostly it is. I tend to do more independentmovies, although I've made those movies and I like making those movies…you knowthat's funny, that didn't occur to me. I didn't say where did this come from?It was clear, it was very specific.
Express Milwaukee: You were in or seven movies that came out this past year. When do yousleep?
Willem Dafoe: We shot this movie a long time ago and the post on itwas very long. I think they were tryingto be very savvy about where to place it with the consciousness with othervampire movies. It's a question of stuff when gets released. They all had theirslowdown and there was a bottleneck and now a lot of stuff is flowing again asfar as releases.
Express Milwaukee: What was the most challenging thing about doing this part?
Willem Dafoe: I think it was finding the right tone. Often that'sthe truth - it's about how to enter the world and how to serve the world andfind that balance. How goofy should it be, how much do you lose yourself in it,those are calibrations that are sometimes hard to find because the reality ofit is hard to relate to because it doesn't remind you of much of anything inyour life; it's so fantastical and extreme.
Express Milwaukee: What advice would you give aspiring actors?
Willem Dafoe: If someone comes up to me and says oh, I really wantto do this. I'm like, “Ok, go see what you like.” You find a theater you like,go there. Find out whatever you can do just to be close to it, even if it'sbeing an usher and seeing them perform every night. Get close to that, see what‘sgoing on, that‘s the best education there is. Insinuate yourself into asituation you want to get close to and pretty soon, if that's what you love todo, you may not be doing it but you're around it and you slowly work your waytowards the center and that becomes yours and that's the way to find your way.
Express Milwaukee: Can you talk about John Carter of Mars?
Willem Dafoe: I don't know much about it but I can tell you thatnext week I go to Londonto start to train to prepare for it. I play a 10-foot Martian warrior.
Express Milwaukee: Do you know how Martian warrior fights yet?
Willem Dafoe: Or speak or move…(smiling) it'll be acomplicated performance.
Express Milwaukee: What type of director brings out your best acting?
Willem Dafoe: It doesn't work that way and with each project adifferent performance is necessary. There's many different ways of performingand some obviously you have tendencies to be better than others, some you donaturally others you have to learn. It's such a mixture of all these things soit's really hard to say. I can say that I seek them out; I get most excited bypersonal filmmakers, as close as we have to auteur which there are very fewof.
