Key Insights

• Collaboration: Robert Eggers and Willem Dafoe have teamed up for four films, starting with The Witch.
• Discovery: Dafoe discovered Eggers’ work through a poster for The Witch while in New York.
• Upcoming Film: Their latest collaboration is titled Werwulf, set in the 13th century.
• Director Preferences: Dafoe prefers to work with directors he has previously enjoyed collaborating with.

Robert Eggers and Willem Dafoe are the director-actor pair we didn’t know we needed until we got it. And it wouldn’t have happened without Eggers’ first film, The Witch – which still stands as the only movie Eggers and Dafoe haven’t done together.

Willem Dafoe recently told Esquire about how he came about the work of Robert Eggers, saying he stumbled upon his debut The Witch. “I was walking down the street in New York, and I saw a poster for a small film called The Witch by Robert Eggers. I thought, I got time, let me check this out. It was totally impulsive. I entered the theater and was like, ‘Wow, this guy’s a filmmaker.’ I went home and told my wife about it, and the next day we saw the movie again. I felt even deeper about it. Then I called my manager and I said, ‘Get me a meeting with this guy.’ We met, we got along very well. And now I’m doing my fourth film with him.”

That fourth film – which follows The Lighthouse, The Northman, and Nosferatu – is Werwulf. And while we don’t yet know the role Willem Dafoe will play for Robert Eggers, we do know that the movie will be very much what we’ve come to expect of the director: it will be set in a time long before cell phones and feature dialogue appropriate for the period (here, the 13th century).

Before launching into his remembrances of discovering Robert Eggers, Willem Dafoe was asked if there were any specific directors he would also like to work with, to which he dodged the question by saying, “I hate to name-drop. It’s good advertising, and maybe they’ll read it and come calling. I tend to work with people that I’ve really enjoyed working with before. There are many directors that I return to. As far as other directors, every time I see a beautiful movie I make a note and that director is on my radar. Sometimes you just don’t fit in the world they’re making. Be patient and you throw your hat in the ring sometimes.”

Which other filmmakers would you like to see Willem Dafoe work with that he hasn’t yet had the chance to? Give us your dream pairing below!