Willem Dafoe's status as the most-watched actor in the world in recent years, as highlighted by Letterboxd's 2021, 2022, and 2024 rankings, stems from a combination of his prolific output, versatility, and unique presence across diverse film genres.
The American actor has acted in about 140 movies since his debut more than four decades ago. In 2024, he acted in five notable movies: Kinds of Kindness, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Saturday Night, Zero, and Nosferatu.
He is iconic as the Green Goblin in Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), a villain in Poor Things (2023), and a sympathetic figure in The Florida Project (2017). "Dafoe’s intense screen presence, marked by his expressive face and distinctive voice, makes him unforgettable, whether playing villains, heroes, or morally ambiguous characters," a critic once wrote.
A critic writing for Vanity Fair once highlighted Dafoe’s unique status as “perhaps the world’s most famous character actor,” noting his lack of discrimination in choosing roles that others might find unflattering. He described Dafoe’s performative physicality and improvisational flair as emblematic of his unselfconscious approach to acting.
