BEST WILL IN WORLD

Dafoe movie addresses big issues

- By Yolanthe Fawehinmi

IF WILLEM Dafoe and Corey Hawkins had to diagnose the current state of the world, they wouldn't even know where to begin.

However, since working on their new film, The Man In My Basement, adapted from Walter Mosley's 2004 novel of the same name, the American actors have gained a deeper understanding of the ideologies, themes, and perspectives that have contextualised power, morality, race and identity in modern-day society.

"I'm asking myself this question every day. That's the biggest challenge of them all," says Oscar nominee Dafoe, 70, as he sits in a hotel room in Canada during the Toronto International Film Festival.

"You see what you see of the world, and don't always get the whole picture, because it's grounded in your experiences and where you're coming from. So you are constantly juggling conditions and aspirations, with the knowledge you do and don't have."