What does Willem Dafoe look for in a script?

September 9, 2009 by Lance Carter

What specifically are you looking for the first time you read a script? Is there a philosophy, or a ratio of intellect to gut instinct when you’re considering something?
I think it’s all gut instinct. In a simple way, it’s like, “Do I want to do these things? Does this excite me?” That’s really it. Sometime I read scripts very quickly, I react on a gut level, and then I have to read them again to really see what the story is. But I really think it’s just, “Do I want to do these things?” [Laughs] It sounds moronically simple. I don’t ask myself what they mean, or necessarily who’s going to see it, or if I’m going to see it. I really don’t. It’s more like, “Is this a good invitation to an adventure?”