Dafoe is almost a paradox. He's an interestingly shaky, brittle
leading man, yet craggily reliable in support. He belongs to the John
Hurt/Peter Weller school of the permanently hung over, a quality which
Paul Schrader exploited marvellously in Light Sleeper, perhaps the
actor's ideal film habitat. Although oddly disreputable, with his
nasal delivery and gaunt face, he has played Jesus twice, in Last
Temptation and as the saintly Elias in Platoon. Recent roles have
polarised him even more between worthless attention-seeking
villainy (Speed 2) and self-effacement so quiet he almost vanishes
from the screen (Affliction, American Psycho).
