10 Best Willem Dafoe Film Performances

10. Vincent Van Gogh - At Eternity's Gate (2018)

Biopics always allow actors to show their salt as a performer. Not only are you required to give a strong performance, but you also have to be respectful and well-informed about the real-life figure you're playing.

In Julian Schnabel's At Eternity's Gate, Willem Dafoe plays Vincent van Gogh in his final days, as his life is consumed by emotional exhaustion and he finds himself confined to a mental hospital after cutting off part of his ear. Based on the controversial theory that van Gogh was murdered instead of committing suicide, the film is a daring but heartfelt exploration of one of history's most enduring historical figures.

In the role, Dafoe is a revelation, painting a portrait of an artist who was as emotionally scarred as he was artistically gifted, as passionate as he was depressed. Dafoe is able to cut right into the complexities of the man, balancing his virtues with his sins, and in doing so makes van Gogh as vibrant and whole as some of his most acclaimed paintings.