Actor Willem Dafoe on Branching Out Beyond the Bad Guy

Many listeners will know Clennon from his role as Miles Drentell on the ABC TV show "thirtysomething." He received and Emmy nomination for the part. Now he plays a drug dealer in the new Paul Schrader film "Light Sleeper" along with Willem Dafoe and Susan Sarandon. He's also been in the films "Missing," "the Right Stuff," "Sweet Dreams," "The Thing," "The Paper Chase," and many others. Offscreen, he's very active in Central American politics.

Dafoe was once pigeonholed as a villain, but he's since earned a wide variety of film roles. He's starred in "Platoon," "The Last Temptation of Christ," "Mississippi Burning," and "Wild at Heart." He's currently starring in the new Paul Schrader film, "Light Sleeper," along with Susan Sarandon.

Dafoe says he is attracted to roles that are morally ambiguous. His villainous turns include: "To Live in Die in L.A.," "Platoon," "Wild at Heart," and "The English Patient." When he's not starring in films he's performing on stage with productions by the Wooster Group, an experimental theater in New York. The group's director is Elizabeth LeCompte, Dafoe's longtime companion, and mother of their 14 year old son.