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When Willem Dafoe was honored with a Hollywood Star on Tuesday, his acceptance speech included references to his storied profession and hinted at lessons he’s learned from his decades-long yoga practice.

“I like making movies, it’s arguably probably the most collaborative of art forms,” the charismatic actor and ashtanga yogi said. “It’s wonderful to be a part of this community of artists and entertainers. Those who, by sharing their experience, imagining others’ perspectives, telling stories, and musing on what’s, was, and most significantly may very well be, they make us feel closer to one another and connect us. I’m glad to be with people like this and hopefully we’re making this a greater world in some way.”

Dafoe, who has appeared in greater than 100 movies, recently drew a Golden Globes nomination for Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role in Poor Things. There’s also speculation that when Oscar nominees are announced on January 23, he’ll pick up his fifth nomination for that role. As well as, he was recently honored with Excellence in Artistry by the Hollywood Creative Alliance on the Astra Film Awards.

The issue of acting, Dafoe explained in a past interview with The Recent York Times, lies largely in understanding one’s relative lack of control and submitting to the collective work reasonably than considering it “my work.” He cited his long-standing regular ashtanga yoga practice as one among the secrets to contributing to that acceptance and to navigating on a regular basis life. “It probably saves me,” he said.

Dafoe brings his trademark humor and charisma to the ceremony celebrating his Hollywood star. (Photo: Amy Sussmann | Getty)

The actor began practicing yoga because, as he told GQ in 2017, “I got old.” Dafoe expounded on that in a video created by the Jivamukti Yoga Center, through which he explained that he initially got into yoga because he was searching for “some sort of physical discipline, sorta a really superficial, narcissistic desire to maintain your body fit and keep flexible and keep your instrument tuned as a performer.”

That modified when he became more accustomed to the practice. “It’s calmed me down,” explained Dafoe in a YouTube video chronicling his reasons for staying with yoga, amongst them its ability to assist him experience “equanimity” and “concentration” and a talent for “directing your mind.”

“You begin noticing certain patterns and functions of the mind. After which once you begin to know your mind, and once you begin to practice meditation and contemplation, I believe that leads you to look inward, know yourself,” he says.

At 68, Dafoe still practices. “As I become older, ashtanga may be very useful for health and peace of mind, obviously,” he shared with Yoga Journal. “In certain things, I’m not as strong, as flexible as I once was, just superficially. But other things, I’m actually higher at, ? Like respiration, for instance. I’m higher in contact with my breath.”

Although he’s now not pushing himself so hard. “Ashtanga tends to draw type A people!” he quipped. And yet his practice has allowed him to know the futility of this.

“So lots of our actions on the planet appear to be driven by where are we going,” he shared within the Jivamukti video. “You’ll be able to feel your ego at work there. It’s an issue of effort and give up. I believe the whole lot in life has to do with how much effort and the way much grace, that’s why I respond a lot to the asana practice, it’s so experiential.”

When asked what life advice he would give young actors, Dafoe offered a yogic-like response from the Astra red carpet. “My big thing is, don’t do that to get that. Don’t trade things. Be where you might be and find pleasure and value in what you might be doing. Don’t reach an excessive amount of outside yourself. Be where you be, enjoy it, learn it, and that may take you to the subsequent step.”

Poor Things will soon be available for purchase and rent on VOD and can eventually stream on Hulu.