Willem Dafoe Was Down For The Lighthouse After First Page [Interview]

The list of legendary performances is starting to get quite long for Willem Dafoe. Oh, and we don’t mean over his 40-year career, we’re just talking about the past 10 years. “Antichrist,” “A Most Wanted Man,” “Pasolini,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Florida Project,” “At Eternity’s Gate” and now, “The Lighthouse.” The Robert Eggers period drama is one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year (82 on Metacritic) and a lot of that credit has to go to Dafoe and his co-star, Robert Pattinson.

Set sometime in the late 1800s, Eggers cast Dafoe as Thomas Wake, a longtime lightkeeper on a remote island off the coast of New England. His junior on this particular assignment is Ephraim Winslow (Pattinson), a former timberman looking to earn his keep for four weeks under Wake’s eye. As time passes, Wake disrespects Winslow to such an extent that both men seem to go mad. The cinematic result is a remarkable two-hander that finds both Dafoe and Pattinson reaching unexpected artistic heights.

Dafoe will be seen next in the Disney+ adventure “Togo,” Dee Rees’ “The Last Thing He Wanted” and Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” He took some time this week to chat about the talented Eggers, the adventure of filmmaking, how important it is for him to support a film like “The Lighthouse” and more.

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The Playlist: I’ve read interviews where you talked about how you reached out to meet Rober directly. What about “The Witch” made you want to do so?

When I saw it, I thought that there’s a filmmaker there because it was so articulate, it was so beautifully made. I entered that world so effortlessly, because of the storytelling, the way it looked. It was beautifully shot. The performances were the kind of performances that aren’t in your face. They’re theatrical, but they’re subtle. You don’t know whether these people are actors or whether they’re found people that he’s just trained very well. It feels realistic and you’re in that world. So, that I not easy to do, particularly with a period film. And now that I know him, I understand how that happens. He has such love and dedication to detail about the research for other periods, and also, he lives so much in his head and his imagination of other periods, because he really feels like he understands his experience now through those periods.

I’m sure you’ve seen other films over the years and said, “I want to meet this director.” And maybe you met them and either you didn’t click, or you came away thinking, “O.K., maybe there’s not really as much there as I thought.” What about meeting Robert in person made you think, “O.K., this guy really has something”?
Well, he’s smart, he’s passionate, he’s kind, he’s obsessed. He knows my theater work, he knows my film work. He’s got a great film culture. He’s just inspiring to be around. I mean, my son is older than he is, you know? But when I get in a room with him, I’m not conscious of my age. I’m not conscious that he’s a younger guy. I mean, of course, he is, and socially in some ways I notice it, but he’s very refined in his intentions and very refined in his thinking and he’s got a great work ethic.

Do you remember how far into reading “The Lighthouse” you were before you realized you wanted to do it?
Oh, about a page. [Laughs.] No, really, really, immediately, because you don’t know the character until you get there. The [dailogue] so beautiful and I knew that was a world that he would make beautifully and it was a world that I wanted to enter. And the fact that he had a very ambitious and very clear of how he wanted to shoot it, and it was very particular, it felt special and you felt connected to it very much. And then he told me Rob Pattinson was going to play the other role and I thought that was good casting. I thought it would be an interesting combination, the two of us together. And then given the story, I thought, “Eventually we’re going to go to a place that I’ve never been before. I’m going to learn something and something is going to happen.”

Do you enjoy the adventure of making films all over the world as much as the potential that’s laid out on the page?
Yes, and it sounds maybe superficial, but people and situations tell you more than the script often does. Not always, but often. And don’t get me wrong, it’s really beautiful lighting and that language is elevated, poetic, really rich. I love it. That was in the text. But films often are not about dialogue. often things are not what happen, it’s how it happens.

I remember talking to you last year for “At Eternity’s Gate” and we were discussed one of the scenes where Julian would just say, “Hey, just go run out into the field and the D.P. will follow you.” This movie is the polar opposite in many ways, isn’t it?
There was none of that. [Laughs.] This was so far from that, just because everything was very designed. And once again, we were out in nature and we built everything that you see in the movie, but we really were out in nature. It was very tough, particularly for the technicians. The camera kept on breaking down. They were doing some really adventurous things with different period lense, the black-and-white kind of film they were using, the lighting was really complicated. They had to take care of that visual language, and they had to do a lot of planning ahead of time. And it was almost like, as actors, we had to submit to that language, which was fine. It actually helps you sometimes, because when you have a clear structure, a strong structure, something that you have to support and something you have to exist inside if you know that there are limitations, somehow it takes away some choices. And you can be a little stronger and a little more present in the limited choices you have.

One of the things I love about the movie is how little we know about each of the characters’ past while they’re on the island. Did Robert provide any backstory for Thomas that helped you define the character? Perhaps things the audience never knew?
No, not at all. He gave me a wealth of research, he gave me interviews of lighthouse keepers, he gave me antique footage, he gave me dialect tapes and e gave me things to read, many things, that I didn’t feel the need. You’re working with an archetype. The world is so specific, that when you enter that world, you know what has to be done. And generally speaking, sometimes you imagine someone’s background, or you create a backstory just to help you with choices of costume but normally, I don’t feel strongly about going towards creating a backstory, because I don’t think you can play backstory. You play the scenes. It’s more about the performance. It’s doing things, it’s a process. It’s not about the interpretation. All movies are different, and sometimes that’s more the case. But generally speaking, yeah, even … I didn’t feel the need to know these things, and also, Robert Eggers, he didn’t feel the need to tell me. I remember Rob Pattinson, he did feel the need for a backstory and had many questions for him. Rob would often come to Rob Eggers and would say, “Oh, is this because this, and is this because this, and is this because of this?” Give him three or four scenarios, and Rob Eggers would say, “Well, they all work. Whatever one you want to do.” Laughs.]

You’ve had so many amazing films on your resume and this is another one where both critics and audiences have gone gaga for, for lack of a better term. Did you get excited about opening weekend? Do you go and read the reviews? Or do you push it aside and just not pay attention?
Are you kidding me? I’ve been working like a dog. I’ve been working like a dog to make people aware of us because it’s an independent film that’s being distributed by A24, a very shrewd, very smart, very filmmaker-friendly distributor. But it’s not like being with Fox Searchlight or a studio that spent a lot on the advertising. They just don’t. Now, it will be interesting. It started out this [past] weekend and had a very good reception, very good critics response, very good attendance. It goes wider next week and that’s why we’re a lot of press to make sure that people know about it. Open your New York Times. You may see big ads for movies. You’re not going to see a big ad for this movie, you know? So we got to compensate by getting the word out there, because I think when people see this movie, they like it very much, and particularly if they come to it in the right way. So I’m very aware of the opening. I’m very aware of the path of its life after we make it. I think this movie is really good, and I’m very invested in Robert Eggers. I think he’s really a talent. And I like this movie, I think it’s special. I don’t generally read reviews, because I think if you read good things it doesn’t help you and if you read bad things, it doesn’t help you. Your job is done. Your job is done. Now all you can do is support the film, particularly if you like, and I love this film very much.

“The Lighthouse is now playing just in New York and Los Angeles. It expands to over 500 theaters on Friday.