Willem Dafoe: What I’ve Learned

Published in the March 2012 issue

There’s a real wisdom to not saying a thing.

Turn off the sound in a movie, and if you can tell what’s going on, the movie should work.

“Don’t spit on your luck.” My wife always says that. Good Italian woman. It’s like a mantra for her.

Spitting on Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July was pretty much fun if I remember right. Not to be taken personally, certainly.

Let’s hope I never end up on a deserted island, because I could never make a decision on which three CDs to take with me.

My father used to say, “You don’t deserve it if you can’t take care of it.” I’ve always been haunted by that.

Let’s say you’re a really boorish pickup artist. Certain phrases aren’t available to you in a foreign country, because you don’t have the language available to you. So you have to put a kind of new sincerity into these little phrases. Maybe that’s why some men do better in other countries.

Corruption is something you face all the time. Avoid it.

I have no doubt that if I met Bob Dylan, it would be disappointing — and annoying to him. But that’s why I like Bob Dylan.

I was really lucky. The father of a friend of mine had tickets and he said to his son, “Who do you want to invite along?” That’s how I got to go to the Ice Bowl. I felt really guilty. I was a Green Bay Packers fan, but I was twelve years old and there were people who would have killed for that ticket. I was so worried about being cold that I put on so many socks that I think I cut off the circulation in my feet. I must’ve gotten frostbite. When I got home, my feet were screaming pain. Only in retrospect do you appreciate how fantastic that game was.

You gotta leave Wisconsin behind when you’re playing Christ, right?

I think you do your best when you’re doing it for someone else. Think of when you’re first in love, what power that gives you. You’re like Superman — because you’re doing it for someone else.

Before we started filming Platoon, we had these Vietnam veterans take us out in the bush, and for two weeks, with no contact to the outside world, they taught us how to do soldierly things… It was beautifully practical, and it created a special stake. We wanted to respect their experience. You always have to earn your right to pretend.

At some point when I do a role, I feel like I’m the only guy to do it. Nobody else should be doing this. You always gotta get to that place where you own it.

Of course the devil could tempt me. What he could offer me would be that state where you disappear into an action. When you disappear into doing. It’s the sensation that I seek over and over again. When you’re in motion and doing something and the world drops away and you become that thing. I would take that if I could sustain that forever.

If you call it a risk, it’s probably not a risk.

I was born William, but I was called Billy growing up. I didn’t like it. It was diminutive — it didn’t have any force to it. So as a kid I was always looking for a nickname. It doesn’t take a psychologist to tell you that would be a form of mask.

When I went to Milwaukee, I was living in this house with a bunch of crazy people, and one guy really took it upon himself to call me Willem. Willem. And it kind of stuck. When I became an actor, I thought of changing my name back to William, but that seemed too formal and British. So I just stayed with Willem and now go through life with a fake name.

I remember the first time I saw my name on a marquee. I was in Hong Kong. To Live and Die in L.A. I never thought I cared about those things, but it was exciting. Probably because it was in Hong Kong.

Why do I die so much? It’s confusing to me. Maybe it’s because I like strong characters. And it’s natural that in a story sometimes they want to get rid of those strong characters.

Celebrity is okay as long as you know it’s not about you.

The things that you worry about aren’t the things you should worry about. The things that you don’t worry about are the things you should worry about.

Sometimes there is no second or third take.

It’s never one or the other. It’s always that balance between control and abandon. How much control, and how much do you let it go? You’re always regulating between the two.

As I get older, I die less.

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/willem-dafoe-quotes-0312#ixzz1n2oQtz7u

Milla Jovovich and Campari: A World of Good

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/#ixzz1lAEhmhoU

Those wily, Bond-loving Brits have discovered one more way to improve your vodka martini: Stir it with a pencil. According to brainy readers of the European science magazine New Scientist, a thin, wooden object trumps a metal cocktail spoon or — gasp! — a regular old tablespoon for stirring the drink, on account of the fact that metal is highly conductive and thus warms your booze. Wood, on the other hand, will leave your martini ice-cold.

Cocktail nerds have long lamented Bond’s famous drink order (“vodka martini — shaken, not stirred”), objecting that real martinis are made with gin, which is to be poured into a chilled glass that has been washed with vermouth and then stirred, never shaken. Shaking is said to “bruise” the vodka/gin, and we all know how sensitive clear spirits can be. Now you have more evidence to stick with the spoon — and leave Bond to the good lines. [The Telegraph]

For all its complexity and highbrow implications, Scotch is actually a relatively simple proposition. Of course, there’s the business of single-malt versus blended, and French oak as compared to sherry casks, but in the end, it’s just whisky, an “e” subtracted. And whisky, like whiskey, is for everyone. (I’m looking at you, too, ladies.) And if for no other reason than this being the most shuttered, useless weekend of the year — the football wasteland, the weather, that glass on the ottoman over there — herewith is my handy new guide.

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/#ixzz1kzfaI5dQ

Steak Sandwich

It doesn’t take much more than some nice meat on some nice bread to make an out-of-this-world steak sandwich. Cut steakhouse executive chef Lee Hefter gives us his steak recipe.

By Francine Maroukian

A sandwich should be thoughtfully laid out, with components that add up to a complete meal, but the most important thing is that the ingredients should be of excellent quality. They should also be easy to come by: It’s a sandwich, after all. That’s why I start with steak. It’s never been easier to buy great beef. For the perfect steak sandwich, don’t be afraid to buy a nice cut of beef. The three basic cuts I use to make a sandwich without requiring the tenderization process of a marinade are rib eye, New York strip (sirloin), and filet, all available from any butcher. To season it, simply salt and pepper the meat, and that’s it. That’s all you have to do to it.

This open-faced sandwich is a bit more elegant than one you pick up; it’s like a great steak salad on toast. Again, other than salt and pepper, there’s no need for seasoning. You get all the zing you need from glazing the sautéed vegetables with a little steak sauce added right to the pan. Everything you want is already in that bottle — the tomatoes, the spices, the vinegar — and in just the right proportions. It’s a fail-safe way to add flavor; you’re going to look like a genius.

Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie