Willem Dafoe tells us about adventurous new film ‘Tenzing’ and still feeling like an outsider: “There’s an oppressiveness in following the rules”

A decade ago, director Jennifer Peedom told Willem Dafoe that she planned to make a movie about Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa who helped British Army officer John Hunt lead the world’s first successful summit of Mount Everest in 1953. Dafoe, who narrated Peedom’s 2017 documentary Mountain, thought it “sounded like a great adventure”. READ MORE: ‘Late Fame’ review: Willem Dafoe beguiles as a rediscovered genius Now, Tenzing is a reality. With Dafoe starring as Hunt, alongside Genden Phuntsok as Norgay and Tom Hiddleston as mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary, it’s the definition of a tentpole blockbuster. We spoke to Dafoe about the movie, his coming of age in ‘70s New York and why he always feels like an outsider. NME: Hey Willem, how did you relate to John Hunt? Willem Dafoe: “John Hunt ended up being, for me, a very interesting character. On the surface, he’s a military guy. The thing that’s important, as I’m approaching this, is that he’s a little bit of an outsider, too, in a strange way – although he’s representing the Empire. He’s an unlikely candidate to lead this expedition. People resisted him in the beginning because he wasn’t in [the Everest climbing] community.” Was it a high-s...