Willem Dafoe embraces controversial role in 'Antichrist'

Most people probably know Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin from the first blockbuster "Spider-Man" movie.

But the two-time Oscar nominee is also a star of what will certainly be the most controversial, polarizing motion picture of 2009: Lars von Trier's "Antichrist," opening today at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.

He and Charlotte Gainsbourg play a husband and wife who lose a child, then go to an isolated cabin in the woods to work out guilt and grief, with shocking, catastrophic results.

I sat down with Dafoe at Chicago's Wit Hotel in the Loop and asked him the burning question: When shooting the two hard-core sex scenes in "Antichrist," did he use a "stunt double"?

"I did on those two porn shots," Dafoe said.

"We did a lot of stuff nude," he added, "but he (Lars) cut it out because he said it was too distracting."

"Antichrist" has the ability to really upset some viewers, especially if they're not prepared for what they're about to experience.

"I can understand why," Dafoe said, "if you're not interested in unfamiliar things. If you're not interested in some rough, visceral moments, seeing things you're not usually seeing in films. I understand that. And it's not so much those rough moments as those unrelenting meditations on guilt, and depression.

"It's very difficult. But for me, a movie like that puts me in touch with something ... it gets me engaged with something that makes me feel more free. It engages me in a way that lifts me up, ironically."

I would put Dafoe on my list of the most fearless actors working in films today. Where does that courage come from, I asked?

"I don't really think it has to do with courage," Dafoe said. "Some people get excited by a big paycheck. Some get excited by a big trailer. Those things may be nice and I've had them, but they don't sustain me.

"What sustains me is a combination of fear and not knowing what to do, then, getting through it! As I get older, the most important thing is to be flexible and to be able to not be afraid. That's the best thing we can aspire to in our lives.

"You get in these situations that are scary. You trust people. You get through it. You make something beautiful. Sometimes not. Sometimes you fail. But the attempt to try to get there is my pleasure."

Were there any advantages to growing up in Wisconsin? I asked.

"I take a certain pleasure in knowing that I've come a long, long way to discover what I want to do," he said. "In Wisconsin, being an actor, doing the things I'm doing now, were very far away from me. Because nobody I knew did these things. It's much different when I see people who are born into the movie business.

"I grew up as a square, God-fearing, obey-the-law, nice, quiet, don't-rock-the-boat, white, Protestant, Midwesterner in a paper mill town of 60,000 people with a view of the world that didn't extend much beyond Chicago.

"Once you see there's a world beyond that, that's when your other life starts to begin."

Do you feel more comfortable now that you're in your 50s?

"I do," Dafoe said. He quickly added, "But on the other hand... noooooo! I do, because you can see the patterns more, and in seeing those patterns you find comfort. Also, it makes you more tolerant. It also makes you more game because you know certain things aren't going to kill you. So you can take risks.

"But on the other hand, everything goes faster. It's only headed one way. I don't like that part. I'm not sure I believe in heaven. So when I'm gone, I'm gone."

What's the appeal of acting?

"When I'm performing, the world drops away," Dafoe said. "I feel useful. I have pleasure. I get lost in the task. I like jobs that are simple tasks, but are connected to higher things."