David Thewlis
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- March 20, 1963
- Birthplace
- Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK
David Wheeler (born March 20, 1963), better known as David Thewlis, is an English actor and filmmaker. He is known as a character actor and has appeared in a wide variety of genres in both film and television. He has received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and nominations for two BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Award, Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Thewlis made his film debut in Little Dorrit (1987) and acted in the Mike Leigh films Life is Sweet (1990) and Naked (1993), winning the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for the latter. He then appeared in films such as Black Beauty (1994), Restoration (1995), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Dragonheart (1996), and Seven Years in Tibet (1997). He became more widely known to film audiences for his roles as Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter franchise (2004–2011) and Ares / Sir Patrick Morgan in Wonder Woman (2017). Other film roles include Kingdom of Heaven (2005), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), War Horse (2011), The Theory of Everything (2014), Anomalisa (2015), I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020), and Enola Holmes 2 (2022). Thewlis' most notable television roles include V. M. Varga in the third season of FX's Fargo (2017), the voice of the Shame Wizard in the Netflix animated sitcoms Big Mouth (2017–present) and Human Resources (2022–present), Christopher Edwards in the HBO miniseries Landscapers (2021), and John Dee in the Netflix drama series The Sandman (2022). His performance in Fargo earned him nominations for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Critics' Choice Award.
Filmography
Signal One 2026
as Perry
Avatar: Fire and Ash 2025
as Peylak
The Thing with Feathers 2025
as Crow (voice)
The Amazing Maurice 2022
as Boss Man / Rat King (voice)
Enola Holmes 2 2022
as Grail
Val 2021
as Self (archive)
Rare Beasts 2021
as Vic
Zack Snyder's Justice League 2021
as Ares
I'm Thinking of Ending Things 2020
as Father
Eternal Beauty 2020
as Mike
Guest of Honour 2020
as Jim
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal 2018
as Self (archive footage)
The Mercy 2018
as Rodney Hallworth
Justice League 2017
as Ares
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic 2017
as Himself
Wonder Woman 2017
as Sir Patrick
None of Them Are You: Crafting Anomalisa 2016
as Self
Anomalisa 2015
as Michael Stone (voice)
Regression 2015
as Professor Kenneth Raines
Macbeth 2015
as Duncan
An Inspector Calls 2015
as Inspector Goole - The Inspector
Legend 2015
as Leslie Payne
Queen & Country 2015
as Sargeant Major Bradley
The Theory of Everything 2014
as Dennis Sciama
Stonehearst Asylum 2014
as Mickey Finn
- Sunday Roast
Sunday Roast 2014
as Dick Puck, Writer
Separate We Come, Separate We Go 2013
as Norman
The Fifth Estate 2013
as Nick Davies
The Zero Theorem 2013
as Joby
RED 2 2013
as The Frog
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen 2012
as (archive footage)
War Horse 2011
as Lyons
The Lady 2011
as Michael Aris
Anonymous 2011
as William Cecil
50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments 2011
as Self - Remus Lupin
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 2011
as Remus Lupin
The Organ Grinder's Monkey 2011
as Pablo (voice)
How to Get a Head in Sculpture 2011
as Self
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 2010
as Remus Lupin
London Boulevard 2010
as Jordan
Mr. Nice 2010
as Jim McCann
Athena 2010
as Chuck
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2009
as Remus Lupin
Veronika Decides to Die 2009
as Dr. Blake
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas 2008
as Father
The Inner Life of Martin Frost 2007
as Martin Frost
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 2007
as Remus Lupin
The Omen 2006
as Keith Jennings
Basic Instinct 2 2006
as Roy Washburn
All the Invisible Children 2006
as Jonathan (segment "Jonathan")
The New World 2005
as Wingfield
Kingdom of Heaven 2005
as Hospitaler
The Magic Touch of Harry Potter 2004
as Self - Professor Lupin
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2004
as Remus Lupin
Little Wolf's Book of Badness 2003
as Mr. Twister (voice)
Timeline 2003
as Robert Doniger
Cheeky 2003
as Harry Sankey, Director, Writer
Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film 2003
as Self - Clov (archive footage)
D.I.Y. Hard 2002
as Man
Discovering Dinotopia 2002
as Cyrus
Dinotopia 2002
as Cyrus Crabb
Hamilton Mattress 2002
as Hamilton Mattress (voice)
Goodbye Charlie Bright 2001
as Charlie's Dad
Endgame 2000
as Clov
Gangster No. 1 2000
as Freddie Mays
The Miracle Maker 2000
as Judas Iscariot (voice)
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? 2000
as Nesbit
Love Story 1999
as Dealer
Divorcing Jack 1998
as Dan Starkey
The Big Lebowski 1998
as Knox Harrington
Besieged 1998
as Jason Kinsky
Seven Years in Tibet 1997
as Peter Aufschnaiter
American Perfekt 1997
as Santini
The Making of 'DragonHeart' 1997
as Self
The Island of Dr. Moreau 1996
as Douglas
DragonHeart 1996
as King Einon
James and the Giant Peach 1996
as Earthworm (voice)
Restoration 1995
as John Pearce
Total Eclipse 1995
as Paul Verlaine
Hello, Hello, Hello 1995
Director, Writer
Dreamtown: A Brief Anatomy of Blackpool 1994
as Self
Black Beauty 1994
as Jerry Barker
Naked 1993
as Johnny
The Trial 1993
as Franz
Damage 1992
as Detective
- Black and Blue
Black and Blue 1992
as Crematorium Attendant
Swords at Teatime 1992
as Mike
Afraid of the Dark 1992
as Locksmith / Tom Miller
- Journey to Knock
Journey to Knock 1991
as Terry
Filipina Dreamgirls 1991
as Tim Shanks
- Skulduggery
Skulduggery 1991
as Tony
Life Is Sweet 1991
as Nicola's Lover
Resurrected 1989
as Kevin Deakin
Vroom 1988
as Ringe
Deep Red Instant Love 1988
Actor
Little Dorrit 1987
as George Braddle
The Short & Curlies 1987
as Clive
Road 1987
as Joey
Radio Pictures 1985
as JIM 'Grams'
Credits from TMDB.