Willem Dafoe Has Gone Viral for His Bizarre Poses Again, and Even He Doesn’t Know Why

Willem Dafoe has quietly built one of the strangest side careers in Hollywood: turning ordinary magazine photoshoots into full-blown internet events. It started with old GQ Italia photos that kept resurfacing as memes, then escalated in June when a Collectible DRY Issue 31 shoot spread widely across social media, cementing his reputation as an actor who treats every camera setup like a stage.

That reputation has only grown alongside an already packed résumé. At 71, Dafoe recently took on the role of theatre director for the Venice Biennale Teatro, all while juggling a string of upcoming film projects, including his fourth collaboration with director Robert Eggers on the horror film ‘Werwulf,’ alongside titles like ‘The Birthday Party,’ ‘Late Fame,’ ‘Gonzo Girl,’ ‘The Souffleur,’ and ‘Tenzing.’

Now Dafoe has done it again. His latest photoshoot, shot in Rome for A Rabbit’s Foot Issue 16 and titled ‘The Chameleon,’ shows the actor stretching across the floor, folding himself into yoga-like positions, balancing on furniture, and staring intensely into the camera while holding a candle, courtesy of photographer Daniel Sannwald.

At one point during the shoot, Dafoe swayed to music by Rosalía before dismantling an oak prop table piece by piece and carefully stacking it, an unplanned bit of performance that alarmed the set’s prop designer even as it delighted everyone watching. Reflecting on that instinct afterward, Dafoe admitted, “Sometimes, I don’t know why I do these things,” but added that once he’s committed to a bit, he figures he might as well commit fully and do it properly.

That kind of candid self-awareness is exactly what’s made these shoots such reliable viral moments. Social media reaction to the new photos arrived almost instantly, with one widely shared post simply declaring that new Dafoe poses had dropped, while fans elsewhere joked that he seems constitutionally incapable of a normal pose but somehow radiates star power in every frame regardless.

Others framed it as evidence that photographers have essentially learned to just let Dafoe loose in a room and see what happens, a description that tracks given how consistently his editorial shoots have outpaced his actual film promotion in terms of online engagement. It’s a strange but oddly fitting kind of fame for an actor whose career has spanned everything from arthouse dramas to major franchise villains.

Dafoe’s willingness to lean into the absurd during photoshoots seems to mirror how he talks about his approach to acting more broadly. Rather than overthinking a role or forcing literal research, he’s described as preferring to stay open to whatever a director or moment calls for, treating each project, and apparently each shoot, as its own small performance.

That philosophy extends beyond photoshoots, too. Dafoe has separately gone viral this year for an unrelated moment, when a content creator stopped him on the street for a man-on-the-street interview without immediately recognizing who he was, leading to a similarly good-natured, unbothered response from the actor.

Between the theatre directorship, a packed film slate, and now another round of meme-worthy photos, Dafoe shows no signs of settling into a predictable rhythm as he moves further into his 70s. If anything, the willingness to fully commit to whatever strange creative impulse strikes him in the moment, whether it’s a role, a pose, or an impromptu dismantling of studio furniture, seems to be exactly the throughline that’s kept audiences endlessly entertained.

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