Hollywood actor Willem Dafoe will be shooting a new short film promoting Laphroaig Scotch whisky on the Isle of Islay.
Dafoe, known for playing the Green Goblin in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and for four Oscar nominations, will be filming over the next three days with British director Tim Pope, best known for his pioneering music videos in the 1980s and his creative partnership with The Cure.
Pope was spotted in Glasgow’s West End yesterday ahead of his shoot with Dafoe on Islay. He is understood to be shooting the commercial with a crew of 200 over the next three days on a very tight schedule.
Laphroaig announced a partnership with Dafoe to launch a 14-year-old single malt selected in collaboration with the distillery’s senior whisky maker Sarah Dowling. The limited-edition Oloroso cask-finished whisky at 53.47% ABV, called ‘Willem by Willem’, is priced at £139 in the UK and $156 in the US. The distillery on the Isle of Islay announced that Dafoe selected the whisky alongside Dowling after he joined the brand as a Friend of Laphroaig in September last year.
The 71-year-old is understood to have chosen the whisky that made his “taste buds and curiosity come alive the most”. Earlier in the year, entrants were invited to submit short films, poems and sketches inspired by the whisky, with the winner earning the chance to star alongside Dafoe in a future Laphroaig short film, which was scheduled to be shot later in the year.
Dafoe said at the time: “It was a pleasure learning about each of the whiskies shortlisted to be ‘the one’. I made my final choice based on the whisky that evoked the most curiosity about its taste – something I still can’t put my finger on, but that’s half the fun.
“For me when I sip ‘Willem by Willem’ I experience…you tell me. For all who drink it, I hope the whisky will inspire discussion.”
Dowling added: “Our experience with whisky is so personal, from how we drink it – whether neat, with water or in a cocktail – to the different opinions about its taste. It was important to Willem and me that we selected a rich and complex spirit, unmistakably Laphroaig, but which allowed people to interpret and enjoy it in their own way. The whisky speaks for itself, and I look forward to hearing what it is saying to people around the world.”
Dafoe isn’t the first actor to have represented the brand. In 2012, Succession star Brian Cox starred in an advert that offered an amusing lesson on how to order the whisky.