At 71, Willem Dafoe still eager to scale new heights

Willem Dafoe plays Col. John Hunt in the film 'Tenzing,' which depicts the 1953 first ascent of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. Dafoe says he enjoyed working with younger cast members and still sees himself as 'the kid' despite being called 'the older actor' on set.

He described the high-altitude filming as feeling like a mission, noting that helicopters brought the cast to the mountain each day but could not land when clouds rolled in, requiring them to descend for pickup. Dafoe said the experience gave him real contact with the mountain and training in ice climbing, crampons, and navigating crevices.

When not working, Dafoe lives on a farm outside Rome with his wife, director Giada Colagrande, where he cares for alpacas, sheep, goats, donkeys, chickens, and turkeys, and does chores including cleaning stalls and putting animals to bed at night. He practices ashtanga yoga for an hour to 90 minutes six days a week, saying it calms his mind, reduces stress, aids concentration, and helps him stay flexible.

Dafoe encourages embracing a can-do mentality at any age, saying, 'Stop missing when you were young. It’s gone. Get over it. Life moves in cycles, so why not enjoy the cycle that you’re in? Create your own peace with aging.'

Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal