Los Angeles, Aug 5 (IANS) One of the most versatile actors, the four-time Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe has opened up on his portrayal of a billionaire.

He might not seem like the obvious choice to portray a swaggering, playboy billionaire modeled on Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, and he also wasn’t too sure about playing the character, reports ‘Variety’.

He said, “Me? Playing a Greek shipping tycoon? I don’t think so”.

He is perhaps selling himself short. But for his latest film, ‘The Birthday Party’, which premieres August 7 in the Piazza Grande at the Locarno Film Festival, the Wisconsin-born star takes on a new challenge, stepping into the exquisite loafers of a self-made Greek billionaire planning an elaborate birthday fete for his daughter.

As per ‘Variety’, adapted from the novel by U.K.-based Greek author Panos Karnezis, the film is directed by Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez and produced by Greece’s Palme d’Or-winning production outfit Heretic, in co-production with Fasten Films, Lemming Film and Raucous Pictures. Heretic and Bankside are repping world sales.

Willem Dafoe leads a star-studded cast that includes acclaimed Spanish actor Emma Suarez, ‘Peaky Blinders’ star Joe Cole, and Danish breakout Vic Carmen Sonne, coming off her scintillating performance in Magnus von Horn’s best international feature film Oscar nominee ‘The Girl With the Needle’.

At the helm is Dafoe as Marcos Timoleon, a shipping magnate and larger-than-life personality who decides to throw a lavish birthday celebration for Sofia, his daughter and sole heiress, played by Sonne. Set in the 1970s, ‘The Birthday Party’ unfolds over 24 hours on the billionaire’s private island, with the celebration offering a perfect excuse for many of Timoleon’s associates and hangers-on to approach him with their own agendas.

The billionaire, who is used to ruthlessly controlling everything and everyone around him at any cost, is also secretly plotting a major decision on his daughter’s behalf. As the night goes on and the party grows rowdier and more decadent, the duo is set on a collision course.

–IANS

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