Willem Dafoe Talks Yoga, Acting, and Hollywood Stardom

When Willem Dafoe was honored with a Hollywood Star on Tuesday, his acceptance speech included references to his storied career and hinted at lessons he’s learned from his decades-long yoga practice.

“I love making films, it’s arguably the most collaborative of art forms,” the charismatic actor and ashtanga yogi said. “It’s wonderful to be part of this community of artists and entertainers. People that, by sharing their experience, imagining others’ perspectives, telling stories, and musing on what is, was, and most importantly could be, they make us feel closer to each other and connect us. I’m glad to be with people like this and hopefully we’re making this a better world somehow.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ_7Cu9_5mI&t=14s

Dafoe, who has appeared in more than 100 movies, recently drew a Golden Globes nomination for Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role in Poor Things. There’s also speculation that when Oscar nominees are announced on January 23, he’ll pick up his fifth nomination for that role. In addition, he was recently honored with Excellence in Artistry by the Hollywood Creative Alliance at the Astra Film Awards.

The difficulty of acting, Dafoe explained in a past interview with The New York Times, lies largely in understanding one’s relative lack of control and submitting to the collective work rather than considering it “my work.” He cited his long-standing regular ashtanga yoga practice as one of the secrets to contributing to that acceptance and to navigating everyday life. “It probably saves me,” he said.

The actor started practicing yoga because, as he told GQ in 2017, “I got old.” Dafoe expounded on that in a video created by the Jivamukti Yoga Center, in which he explained that he initially got into yoga because he was looking for “some kind of physical discipline, sorta a very superficial, narcissistic desire to keep your body fit and keep flexible and keep your instrument tuned as a performer.”

That changed when he became more familiar with the practice. “It’s calmed me down,” explained Dafoe in a YouTube video chronicling his reasons for staying with yoga, among them its ability to help him experience “equanimity” and “concentration” and a talent for “directing your mind.”

“You start noticing certain patterns and functions of the mind. And then once you start to know your mind, and once you start to practice meditation and contemplation, I think that leads you to look inward, know yourself,” he says.

At 68, Dafoe still practices. “As I get older, ashtanga is very useful for health and peace of mind, obviously,” he shared with Yoga Journal. “In certain things, I am not as strong, as flexible as I once was, just superficially. But other things, I am actually better at, you know? Like breathing, for example. I am better in touch with my breath.”

Although he’s no longer pushing himself so hard. “Ashtanga tends to attract type A people!” he quipped. And yet his practice has allowed him to understand the futility of this.

“So many of our actions in the world seem to be driven by where are we going,” he shared in the Jivamukti video. “You can feel your ego at work there. It’s a question of effort and surrender. I think everything in life has to do with how much effort and how much grace, that’s why I respond so much to the asana practice, it’s so experiential.”

When asked what life advice he would give young actors, Dafoe offered a yogic-like response from the Astra red carpet. “My big thing is, don’t do this to get that. Don’t trade things. Be where you are and find pleasure and value in what you are doing. Don’t reach too much outside yourself. Be where you be, enjoy it, learn it, and that will take you to the next step.”

Poor Things will soon be available for purchase and rent on VOD and will eventually stream on Hulu.