Willem Dafoe gave up eating lobster after filming The Lighthouse

3 January 2020

Willem Dafoe gave up eating lobster during filming for 'The Lighthouse'.

Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe

The 'Aquaman' star was fond of the seafood before starting work on Robert Eggers' psychological horror but an experience with a pot-bound crustacean on location on the edge of a peninsula in Nova Scotia put him off from dining on the delicacy.

Speaking to Baz Bamigboye in the Daily Mail newspaper, Dafoe said: "I knew about massaging a lobster [a technique of putting the creature asleep before boiling it]. And how to prepare it.

"But this time, up in Nova Scotia, it bothered me. That lobster was speaking to me. So one day, I just stopped eating lobster, on that shoot. Haven't eaten one since. I cooked up pasta, rice and vegetable dishes."

Dafoe plays veteran lighthouse keeper Thomas Wake in the movie who works alongside apprentice Ephraim Winslow - played by Robert Pattinson - on an isolated island in the late 1800s.

The two men begin to lose their sanity after a storm traps them on the island.

Dafoe has described the weather on set as "harsh" and claims that nature was "a character" in Eggers' story.

He explained: "The wind almost blew me into the water. The weather was harsh. Actors love to brag about how hard their job is. But, the truth is, nature was a character in this movie."

The 64-year-old American actor also revealed that he and Pattinson had different methods of preparing for the film.

He said: "Because of Eggers' language - I felt that I needed to explore it first through rehearsal.

"But Rob, besides having a different background, he's a more reflective character. He didn't want to do things in rehearsal that might flatten out when it came time to film. He just didn't want to go there. In retrospect, it worked out OK. He threw himself into it, just not necessarily into rehearsal."

Dafoe has also described English thespian Pattinson - who has been cast as the next Batman - as a very "driven" individual.

The 'Spider-Man' star said: "In person, he's self-effacing and 'aw shucks'. But he's really hungry, and I appreciate that. I don't think people know how driven he is to achieve excellence."