Willem Dafoe has become one of the most recognizable and iconic actors of his generation, with head-turning performances in movies from Platoon (1986) to Spider-Man (2022) and Poor Things (2025).
But his personal life has been much quieter; he was in a 27-year relationship with a theater company director, with whom he welcomed his son, Jack. In 2004, he met Italian actress Giada Colagrande on the set of Wes Anderson's film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and they tied the knot a year later.
© dpa/picture alliance via Getty IJack, however, remains Willem's only son, and the pair are close, with Jack very occasionally supporting his father on the red carpet. But he mostly lives a private life in Maine with his family as an environmentalactivist activist…
When was Willem's son Jack born?
The Spider-Man star welcomed his only child Jack in June 1982 with Elizabeth LeCompte.
© Ron Galella Collection via GettyThey raised Jack in New York and California, but he spent a lot of time traveling with his parents; at the age of three he visited the Philippines jungle and stayed with his father as Willem shot Platoon.
In 1987, Willem spoke to Bomb Magazine about raising a child as a working actor, sharing that Jack often traveled with his father, with Willem calling it an "interesting relationship".
"It's interesting to bring a kid up around a bunch of adults who are essentially playing around with things. He has a very weird vision of what people do for a living," said Willem.
© LightRocket via Getty ImagesJack also had a nanny, Dennis Dermody, who went on to work as a film critic at Paper for more than 30 years.
Jack attended Yale University
After graduating from high school, Jack attended Yale University, where he wrote for the student newspaper, the Yale Daily News. He graduated in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature.
Jack then went on to receive a doctorate of law from the University of Michigan Law School.
© Patrick McMullan via Getty ImageIs Jack an activist?
Jack has become an environmental policy activist, working with various organizations throughout his career.
"Since I was very young, I was a huge, self-described environmentalist," Jack said in a 2008 interview for Apollo Alliance, where he was a senior policy and research associate, promoting sustainable urban environments through clean energy solutions.
"I saw the challenge of climate change was something that was very major to me and I was very excited to see this alliance come together."
© AFP via Getty ImagesJack went on to work as an environmental attorney, and a law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, based in Boston.
He now lives in Maine, where he is the Assistant Attorney General of the Natural Resources Division.
How did Jack inspire Willem?
© Patrick McMullan via Getty ImageIn 2003, Willem decided to take on a new type of acting role – the video game Beyond: Two Souls.
He shared with Metro that his knowledge of gaming mostly came from his son's childhood, sharing that "when he was smaller I remember him playing Sega Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog".
Does Willem's son Jack have a family?
Jack is married and lives in Maine with a family of his own. He and his wife, Alejandra, a musician from Portland, have a son named Tom and a daughter named Ursula.
Did Willem and Elizabeth marry?
The pair began dating in 1977 after Willem joined the theater company, The Performance Group. However Elizabeth was always very clear with Willem that she did not want to be married.
"She's the mother of my son, but we never married because to her marriage represented ownership, and I respected that,” Willem told The Guardian in 2009.
© Getty Images"But after a while, I was more interested in getting married than she was. Increasingly I found it's not so good going around saying, 'I'm with this person but I'm not married to them.' It's confusing, to you and other people. If you're traveling around a lot, you have to make a decision about whether you're going to be monogamous."
Was Willem in an open relationship?
Willem and Elizabeth met when he was 22 and joined her theater company, but at the time, she was dating Spalding Gray, another member of the company who would become a prolific autobiographical monologue writer.
But the three were not in an open relationship, with Elizabeth soon ending her romance with Spalding for Willem.
"It was complicated, because we were all working together," Willem recalled in a 2018 interview with Esquire. "In fact, the three of us lived in the same loft, but we divided it in half."
