"I still think I'm a young guy,” Willem Dafoe shares a quirky reaction to Pedro Pascal's Walk of Fame Ceremony Tribute 

Seasoned actor Willem Dafoe received his Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in a ceremony on Monday, January 8, 2024. The well-deserved recognition was applauded by many actors who joined the ceremony and spoke about him. One of them was The Last of Us actor Pedro Pascal who went into personal details while regaling how Dafoe has inspired him.

The two actors worked together in the 2017 movie The Great Wall. Pedro mentioned seeing the 1986 film Platoon starring Willem Dafoe, which brought him to tears. He continued by pointing out that he was 10 when he watched Dafoe’s Platoon. The 68-year-old Spider-Man actor reacted by accepting that Pedro’s speech made him feel old while he still thought he was young.

“Well, that’s beautiful, but it makes me feel old. I still think I’m a young guy.”

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Willem Dafoe reacted graciously to Pedro Pascal’s compliment

As senior actor Willem Dafoe received his Hollywood Walk of Fame Star, a host of his colleagues and friends attended the ceremony. Patricia Arquette, Pedro Pascal, Camilla Morrone, Mark Ruffalo, and Guillermo del Torro were present to applaud the 68-year-old, besides his wife Giada Colagrande.

While Willem Dafoe gave a shoutout to his wife of 18 years, his friends showed support by speaking about him. Patricia toasted him by handing out the moniker, “the Pope of Hollywood”, and Pedro Pascal spoke about him at length.

The 48-year-old actor recounted one of the incidents from his childhood when he went to watch Dafoe’s Platoon in a theatre with his father. He narrated the event when Dafoe’s acting had reduced him to tears and he had to be sent out of the movie hall.

“I saw Platoon in the movie theatre with my father and [Dafoe] made me cry so hard my dad sent me to the bathroom. This was 1986. I was like ten years old – and I still wanted to be actor.”

In a bid to explain how inspiring Willem Dafoe has been to his career, Pedro regaled the off-the-script funny incident. He further stressed that his “amazing friend” Dafoe had integrity, generosity, kindness, and fun among his various qualities.

In response to Pedro’s speech, the Hollywood Walk of Fame recipient stated that the talk was beautiful but it made him feel old when he thought he was still young. He further elaborated on how he associated his movies with the stages of life he had been in as he looked back. He thought of his life with a strong association with movies which made him relate to anyone who connected incidents with movies.

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Why did Willem Dafoe change his name?

Dafoe changed his name from William to Willem (Image via IMDb and Orion Pictures)

The Platoon actor was christened William James Dafoe. His father, a surgeon, was William Alfred Dafoe which pushed the actor to change his name. He did not want to be called William Jr. or Billy as is the common moniker for people with the name William.

He wanted his own identity and had been looking for a nickname. During high school, he acquired the nickname “Willem”, a lazy pronunciation of his actual name, from a childhood friend. When he became an actor, he stayed with the nickname rather than going back to his birth name which, to him, felt like a stage name.

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At what age did Willem Dafoe start acting?

Dafoe has received acclaim for most of his work (Images via IMDb, MGM Inc. and X@Nerdist)

Born in 1955, Willem Dafoe made his film debut in 1980’s Heaven’s Gate. He moved to New York City in 1976 despite joining Theatre X company in Milwaukee. He joined The Performance Group theatre troupe which later reformed into The Wooster Group of which Dafoe is a co-founder.

Willem Dafoe received his wide acclaim in the 1986 Vietnam War movie Platoon. His second controversial release was 1988’s Martin Scorsese drama The Last Temptation of Christ where he played Christ. His career continued into many more critically acclaimed but controversial roles and projects such as Mississippi Burning, Triumph of the Spirit, and Born on the Fourth of July.

The actor has a huge repertoire of acting projects and a large body of work including Green Goblin of Spider-Man. He moved between different genres and different kinds of roles. In addition to being honored on Monday, Willem Dafoe's most recent endeavor, Poor Things, took home the Golden Globe Award 2024 for Best Motion Picture.