The 45-minute conversation preceding the screening of The Loveless—Vanguard Actor award winner Willem Dafoe’s first feature film—delved into facing fear and the need to alternately hide behind and take off masks, but it was early on that Dafoe made his most outspoken confession.
Moderator Elvis Mitchell: When I first met you—I’m gonna betray some confidences here—you said something to me: “You know, a lot of my life’s been about just rebelling against being, like, a middle-class white kid from Milwaukee.”
Dafoe: I don’t remember that! [laughter, applause] That was in confidence! And we’re not exactly alone.
Mitchell: Shh, they can’t hear you. [additional laughter]
Dafoe: Naw, the truth is … I think that’s true.
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