Dafoe is the weirdly compelling Oscar-nominated character actor who has played everyone from Jesus Christ to the Green Goblin.

Dafoe grew up in Wisconsin before moving to New York in 1977. Shortly after arriving in the city, Dafoe met Elizabeth LeCompte who, despite being a decade his senior, became his girlfriend. The two formed the Wooster Group and began putting on off-Broadway plays. Dafoe's theater experience helped him land small parts on screen, first as an extra in 1980's Heaven's Gate, and later in films like The Loveless, Streets of Fire, and To Live and Die in L.A. His big break came in 1986 with Oliver Stone's Platoon. He's worked steadily since, turning in solid performances as diverse as deranged bank robber Bobby Peru in Wild at Heart and as Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ.

Over the last few years, he's been keeping particularly busy: He raised his profile with a memorably creepy performance as the Green Goblin in the Spiderman franchise and for pairing up with Wes Anderson in films like The Life Aquatic and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Despite his regular film roles, he hasn't ditched his first love, theater, starring in the likes of North Atlantic with Steve Buscemi, To You, The Birdie with Frances McDormand and The Life and Death of Marina Abramović with famed-crazy, performance artist Marina Abramovic.

Dafoe's relationship with Elizabeth LeCompte lasted 27 years. In 2004, he ditched the director to pursue the much-younger Italian director Giada Colagranda, with whom he collaborated on the 2004 film The Widow's Lover for the Venice Film Festival. Dafoe and Colagranda made their union official in 2005. Dafoe has a grown son, Jack from his marriage to LeCompte. [Image via Getty]