David Thewlis
Acting • Born 1963-03-20
Biography
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
119 credits
Seven Years in Tibet
Movie • 1997
Peter Aufschnaiter
Kingdom of Heaven
Movie • 2005
Hospitaler
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Movie • 2004
Remus Lupin
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Movie • 2007
Remus Lupin
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Movie • 2009
Remus Lupin
The Omen
Movie • 2006
Keith Jennings
James and the Giant Peach
Movie • 1996
Earthworm (voice)
Basic Instinct 2
Movie • 2006
Roy Washburn
Gangster No. 1
Movie • 2000
Freddie Mays
Enola Holmes 2
Movie • 2022
Grail
Damage
Movie • 1992
Detective
The Miracle Maker
Movie • 2000
Judas Iscariot (voice)
Naked
Movie • 1993
Johnny
Goodbye Charlie Bright
Movie • 2001
Charlie's Dad
DragonHeart
Movie • 1996
King Einon
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Movie • 2010
Remus Lupin
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Movie • 2011
Remus Lupin
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Movie • 1996
Douglas
Timeline
Movie • 2003
Robert Doniger
Veronika Decides to Die
Movie • 2009
Dr. Blake
Restoration
Movie • 1995
John Pearce
Black Beauty
Movie • 1994
Jerry Barker
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Movie • 2008
Father
Total Eclipse
Movie • 1995
Paul Verlaine
Life Is Sweet
Movie • 1990
Nicola's Lover
Afraid of the Dark
Movie • 1991
Locksmith / Tom Miller
Anonymous
Movie • 2011
William Cecil
Divorcing Jack
Movie • 1998
Dan Starkey
Besieged
Movie • 1998
Jason Kinsky
All the Invisible Children
Movie • 2006
Jonathan (segment "Jonathan")
Mr. Nice
Movie • 2010
Jim McCann
Endgame
Movie • 2000
Clov
London Boulevard
Movie • 2010
Jordan
The Inner Life of Martin Frost
Movie • 2007
Martin Frost
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
Movie • 2000
Nesbit
The Trial
Movie • 1993
Franz
The Making of 'DragonHeart'
Movie • 1997
Self
War Horse
Movie • 2011
Lyons
Resurrected
Movie • 1989
Kevin Deakin
The Lady
Movie • 2011
Michael Aris
Cheeky
Movie • 2003
Harry Sankey
RED 2
Movie • 2013
The Frog
The Zero Theorem
Movie • 2013
Joby
Filipina Dreamgirls
Movie • 1991
Tim Shanks
Littlemouth
Movie
The Fifth Estate
Movie • 2013
Nick Davies
D.I.Y. Hard
Movie • 2002
Man
Road
Movie • 1987
Joey
The Magic Touch of Harry Potter
Movie • 2004
Self
Vroom
Movie • 1988
Ringe
The New World
Movie • 2005
Wingfield
Queen & Country
Movie • 2015
Sargeant Major Bradley
The Theory of Everything
Movie • 2014
Dennis Sciama
Macbeth
Movie • 2015
Duncan
Regression
Movie • 2015
Professor Kenneth Raines
The Organ Grinder's Monkey
Movie • 2011
Pablo (voice)
Stonehearst Asylum
Movie • 2014
Mickey Finn
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
Movie • 2012
(archive footage)
Legend
Movie • 2015
Leslie Payne
The Big Lebowski
Movie • 1998
Knox Harrington
The Short & Curlies
Movie • 1987
Clive
Swords at Teatime
Movie • 1992
Mike
An Inspector Calls
Movie • 2015
Inspector Goole - The Inspector
Love Story
Movie • 1999
Dealer
Sunday Roast
Movie • 2014
Dick Puck
Little Wolf's Book of Badness
Movie • 2003
Mr. Twister (voice)
Wonder Woman
Movie • 2017
Sir Patrick / Ares
Journey to Knock
Movie • 1991
Terry
American Perfekt
Movie • 1997
Santini
The Mercy
Movie • 2018
Rodney Hallworth
Little Dorrit
Movie • 1987
George Braddle
Hamilton Mattress
Movie • 2002
Hamilton Mattress (voice)
Dinotopia
Movie • 2002
Cyrus Crabb
Separate We Come, Separate We Go
Movie • 2013
Norman
How to Get a Head in Sculpture
Movie • 2011
Self
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic
Movie • 2017
Himself
Justice League
Movie • 2017
Ares
Eternal Beauty
Movie • 2020
Mike
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)
Guest of Honour
Movie • 2020
Jim
Rare Beasts
Movie • 2021
Vic
Skulduggery
Movie • 1991
Tony
Black and Blue
Movie • 1992
Crematorium Attendant
Athena
Movie • 2010
Chuck
Anomalisa
Movie • 2015
Michael Stone (voice)
The Amazing Maurice
Movie • 2022
Boss Man / Rat King (voice)
None of Them Are You: Crafting Anomalisa
Movie • 2016
Self
Zack Snyder's Justice League
Movie • 2021
Ares
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Movie • 2020
Father
Deep Red Instant Love
Movie • 1988
Discovering Dinotopia
Movie • 2002
Cyrus
The Thing with Feathers
Movie • 2025
Crow (voice)
Dreamtown: A Brief Anatomy of Blackpool
Movie • 1994
Self
Radio Pictures
Movie • 1985
JIM 'Grams'
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Movie • 2025
Peylak
Only Fools and Horses
TV • 1981
Stew
Prime Suspect
TV • 1991
James Jackson
Landscapers
TV • 2021
Christopher Edwards
A Bit of a Do
TV • 1989
Valentine Park
TV • 1987
Max
Dandelion Dead
TV • 1994
Oswald Martin
Human Resources
TV • 2022
Memory Bank Manager (voice)
Human Resources
TV • 2022
Lionel St. Swithens (voice)
The Street
TV • 2006
Joe Jennerson / Harry Jennerson
Fargo
TV • 2014
V.M. Vargas
Frank Stubbs Promotes
TV • 1993
Mike Bence
Dinotopia
TV • 2002
Cyrus Crabb
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
TV • 1990
Doctor
The Sandman
TV • 2022
John Dee
Sherlock & Daughter
TV • 2025
Sherlock Holmes
The Artful Dodger
TV • 2023
Norbert Fagin
The Feed
TV • 2019
Lawrence Hatfield
Big Mouth
TV • 2017
Shame Wizard (voice)
Barkskins
TV • 2020
Claude Trepagny
KAOS
TV • 2024
Hades
Big Mouth
TV • 2017
Screen Two
TV • 1985
Franz
The Singing Detective
TV • 1986
Soldier
Dirty Business
TV • 2026
Ash Smith