Random Crossovers: When Willem Dafoe Joined the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution

The 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution stands the tall as one of the most memorable modern uprisings in world history. It is remembered as a time when the Filipino people banded together to defeat tyranny. A lot of stories get lost or forgotten when the story of EDSA gets told these days (for one reason or another). And here's one of them: Decorated American actor Willem Dafoe, known for films like The Florida Project, Wild At Heart, Spiderman, and The Boondock Saints, among others, had joined some of our countrymen on the streets back then.

At the 3:30 mark onwards in this Vanity Fair video, Dafoe talks about how he accidentally found himself in one of the nation's greatest moments when he was shooting the movie Platoon back in February 1986. They had been told that the production had to stop because of the protests. Quite the crossover.

ALSO READ:

Would An EDSA Revolution Be Possible Today?

EDSA People Power Revolution: The Photos

"For about three or four days, me and a couple of other people that were there ahead of time were out on the streets with the people," he explained. "It was an incredible feeling because it was a revolution that happened for the most part without violence."

Oliver Stone's Platoon featured a star-studded cast that included the likes of Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Johnny Depp, and Forest Whitaker, among others. The film, which was about the horrors of the Vietnam War, would go on to win four Academy Awards and a place in the United States Congress' National Film Registry. Dafoe would also receive his first Oscar nomination for his role as Sergeant Elias Grodin.

Dafoe would end up becoming part of the estimated two million people who would march through the streets of EDSA from February 22 to 25 to topple the Marcos regime. The Marcoses, who got away with widespread corruption and violence during Martial Law, were sent into exile in Hawaii.

They would return again in 1991 and have stayed ever since. In 2022, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the son of the man the Filipinos protested against then, completed his family's comeback when he became president himself.

Yeah, Green Goblin was part of the first People Power Revolution. Now that's another weird story you tell the kids. Dafoe is still acting to this day, too, and has gone on to become one of the most coveted performers in the business.. The Marcoses, on the other hand, are as powerful as they've ever been since Martial Law. Lord, historical crossovers are weird.