Actor Willem Dafoe speaks in Dodge College master class series

Professor Russell Boast interviewed Willem Dafoe via Zoom as part of Chapman’s Master Class Series on Oct. 27 TIANA CHAN, Staff Writer

When his high school drama teacher announced they could pick any monologues to perform, it was a no-brainer for Karthik Davuluri to select one from his favorite movie: The Lighthouse. 

The freshman business administration major’s chosen monologue was originally performed by Willem Dafoe as Thomas Wake, the lighthouse keeper. Davuluri practiced relentlessly until it was time to perform. He logged onto Zoom, and when it was his turn, he felt completely absorbed in the moment. 

“I love performing, but I always get terrified before I perform,” Davuluri said. “It’s a very loud monologue. I had to use a lot of energy … I was really nervous, but once I started, I was in the moment. I was so committed to getting it right. I was moved, and I was just completely invested in that monologue while I was performing, and it just flew by.” 

Davuluri never imagined meeting Dafoe until his friend sent him an Instagram post about Chapman’s Master Class series. It was at that moment Davuluri discovered Dafoe was scheduled to speak on Oct. 27, and he made it his mission to attend. 

“I felt (amazing) when Willem Dafoe was laughing after I told him about the monologue (at the event),” Davuluri said. “Right after he answered my question, I had to turn my camera off because I was fanboying so hard — I was just cheering in my room. I didn’t expect to be called on, … and I was shaking before I was talking to him, but it was so worth it. I was starstruck; I’m still starstruck.”

Dafoe has 141 acting credits to his name over his 40-year career. He has portrayed the Green Goblin in “Spiderman” (2002), He in “Antichrist” (2009), Vincent van Gogh in “At Eternity’s Gate” (2018) and Thomas Wake in “The Lighthouse” (2019). He has four Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe nominations and four Screen Actors Guild nominations, among many others. Throughout the Master Class, Dafoe discussed the beginnings of his acting career, why he decides to portray certain characters and why filmmaking is important to him. 

Russell Boast, a casting director and professor at Chapman, moderated the Master Class. Boast is well-versed in moderating actors’ panels when he was the president of the Casting Society of America. While this was the first time Boast met Dafoe, he told The Panther he was not nervous. What he was more nervous about, however, was having the students watch him moderate. 

“I was thinking about all the filmmakers watching me do the moderating,” Boast said. “I was imagining what an incredible deal that is to a lot of young filmmakers. I was more nervous about that than the fact I was talking to Willem Dafoe; it was just a conversation. For me, it was the pressure of me being in this unique position to do this interview when I know there’s an audience full of people who adore Willem Dafoe and love his work.”

In preparation for the interview, Boast watched as many interviews as he could. He wanted to ask thought-provoking questions instead of ones Dafoe might have been asked many times, such as why he goes by “Willem” instead of “William.” 

“I just wanted to steer clear of questions that are continually asked of a lot of these actors and try to come up with something a little more substantial,” Boast said. “I’d mapped out the questions. I wanted to hit on early career and his career-industry relationships and wrap it up with his advice to the students.” 

Sellers Thomas, a senior creative producing major and actor in Chapman’s The Players’ Society acting club, was one of few students selected to ask Dafoe a question. Thomas had seen a prior interview with Dafoe in which he discussed deliberately trying to perform scenes badly. This piqued Thomas’ interest, as a fellow actor, and he sought to know the motivations behind this thought process. 

“There was a video that was making the rounds a couple weeks (ago) where (Dafoe) was talking about letting yourself do a scene badly or poorly. Let yourself not be bound by constantly seeking perfection,” Thomas said. “I wanted him to expand upon that. I was lucky enough to get to ask him … He was basically saying it was a very freeing way to approach things — if you actually try to do poorly on purpose. It’s actually really hard to do so.” 

Chloe Leis, a sophomore film production major, spent a lot of time brainstorming her question with her father, whom she said she always goes to for advice. She wanted to make the question unique and something that most people wouldn’t think to ask. 

“Before the class, I called him, (and) I was like, ‘Hi, I have a bunch of question options written down for Willem Dafoe — which one do you think is going to be the best?’,” Leis said. “After conversationally working through different things like, ‘What do I want to get out of it?’ and (finding) a question that he would not only have a good answer to, but (that would be) something other people wouldn’t think to ask, … I wrote it out in script form so I wouldn’t forget my words.” 

When it was time for student questions, a flurry of Zoom hands were raised all at once. It is not unheard of for some actors to not watch their own movies. I wondered: is this the case with Dafoe? Has he ever been surprised to see his performance? I was nervous as I unmuted my mic, introduced myself and posed my question. 

Dafoe was as kind as ever when he greeted me. He explained he does watch his own movies — specifically, during the post-production process of re-recording lines in automated dialogue replacement (ADR) sessions — in order to experience the film as the average viewer.  

“When (the editor is) finished, sometimes you’re asked to respond to the cut, but also I just want to know how they came out, you know?” Dafoe told The Panther. “(I want) to see how much the experience matches the movie — (to see) what surprises you, to see what works better than you thought it would. But I don’t study them; I don’t think that helps you. I think it’s worth saying, when I’m shooting movies, I really tend not to ever look at the monitor, because it breeds a kind of carefulness and self-consciousness I don’t really respond to.”

From the responses gathered by The Panther from individuals in attendance, it’s abundantly clear that those who came to the Oct. 27 event left with inspiration and sage wisdom. Unanimously, the biggest takeaway students shared was Dafoe’s sentiment that starting a career and choosing projects to work on should be driven by passion. 

“Someone asked him about (how to prepare for a career) and one of the things Dafoe said in response was, ‘Do this to do this; don’t do this to do that,’” Leis said. “What he meant by that was … if you’re doing (something) just because you care about getting (fame, or) because you care about where it’s going to eventually take you, ... why are you doing it? If you’re not enjoying the journey, why are you taking the journey to get to the treasure if you’re only looking for the treasure? That’s not a fulfilling way to live. So, do this to do this. Enjoy the moment, choose the things you do wisely. Because it’s valuable time — it’s your life. If that’s what you’re going to dedicate your life to, you might as well make the most of it.”