Hollywood legend Willem Dafoe has left fans scratching their heads after an old clip resurfaced from his time as an acting student, in which his name was pronounced very differently to how it's commonly said today.
The US actor, 71, is known and loved for his dynamic versatility on screen, delighting audiences in a wide array of eclectic films. His turn as Norman Osborn and his alter-ego, the villainous Green Goblin in Sam Raimi's 2002 superhero film Spider-Man, is still highly regarded to this day, and he even reprised the role nearly 20 years later in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which past Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield also joined current star, Tom Holland.
Old clip resurfaces
Willem has been lauded by critics and film buffs for stellar performances in films like 1986's epic war drama Platoon, 2017's poignant drama The Florida Project, 2019's gritty, psychological horror The Lighthouse, and plenty more. Despite his fame and broad medley of acting credits, his name is still something many of us may be getting wrong.
A clip of Willem being interviewed by beloved TV host and comedian Conan O'Brien was recently shared on Facebook by Team Coco, the "official page of Conan O'Brien and the Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend podcast". In it, Conan tells the actor he's "embarrassed" because he's spoken to him a lot of the years and pronounces his surname "da-foe", as most people do.
What the clip revealed
Conan continued: "And then I saw this old tape, and I believe the year is, I think it's 1975… and it's a tape of you as a young acting student, and you're saying your last name. And take a look."
The host then played a clip of the actor on stage in the 70s, where he pronounced his first name as "William" and his surname as "day-foe" and not "daff-oh" as it's most commonly said. After the clip concluded, the camera cut back to Willem and Conan in the studio, where the actor laughed along with the audience while the host looked baffled.
Conan then said: "You've let everyone mispronounce your name for like 40 years. We've all been saying 'daff-oh' and you've been just sitting there going like, 'well, I won't say anything'."
Why he changed it
Willem simply said: "Let's keep it that way - I was a confused kid." Conan quipped: "You were a kid? Oh, so you were wrong."
Willem then elaborated: "I was wrong. Half of my family pronounced it 'day-foe', the other half pronounced it 'daff-oh' but I found that, like, when you'd go to the dentist or something, you'd check in and say, William 'day-foe', they'd say, 'okay, Dave'."
Conan said: "Oh, okay. So you had to get rid of that." Willem replied: "'Daff-oh' flowed better. And in the end, when I became an actor, it's nicer sounding." Conan agreed "daff-oh" sounded better and Willem commended the host for "exposing" the truth surrounding his name - though the pair didn't discuss the pronunciation of his first name.
Fan reactions
Willem was born William James Dafoe, though is most famously known as "Willem". In the comments section, Facebook users were keen to share their thoughts.
One person simply said: "That's comical!" Another said: "He also said William instead of Willem." A third commented: "Forget his last name, all this time I thought his first name was William…" And someone else added: "We have a road name here that is pronounced the way he said his name. And of course spelled the same."
