CINEFILER

David Thewlis

Born
March 20, 1963
David Wheeler (born 20 March 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.
Known For
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
(2004)
Remus Lupin
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
(2007)
Remus Lupin
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(2009)
Remus Lupin
Zack Snyder's Justice League
(2021)
Ares
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
(2011)
Remus Lupin
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
(2010)
Remus Lupin
Justice League
(2017)
Ares
Wonder Woman
(2017)
Sir Patrick / Ares
Kingdom of Heaven
(2005)
Hospitaler
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
(2008)
Ralf Hoess
Enola Holmes 2
(2022)
Grail
Legend
(2015)
Leslie Payne
The Big Lebowski
(1998)
Knox Harrington
James and the Giant Peach
(1996)
Earthworm (voice)
Basic Instinct 2
(2006)
Roy Washburn
Seven Years in Tibet
(1997)
Peter Aufschnaiter
Full Filmography
Acting
The Short & Curlies
(1987)
Clive
Road
(1987)
Joey
Little Dorrit
(1987)
George Braddle
Deep Red Instant Love
(1988)
Vroom
(1988)
Ringe
Resurrected
(1989)
Kevin Deakin
Life Is Sweet
(1990)
Nicola's Lover
Journey to Knock
(1991)
Terry
Skulduggery
(1991)
Tony
Filipina Dreamgirls
(1991)
Tim Shanks
Afraid of the Dark
(1991)
Locksmith / Tom Miller
Damage
(1992)
Detective
Black and Blue
(1992)
Crematorium Attendant
Naked
(1993)
Johnny
The Trial
(1993)
Franz
Black Beauty
(1994)
Jerry Barker
Total Eclipse
(1995)
Paul Verlaine
Restoration
(1995)
John Pearce
DragonHeart
(1996)
King Einon
The Island of Dr. Moreau
(1996)
Douglas
James and the Giant Peach
(1996)
Earthworm (voice)
Seven Years in Tibet
(1997)
Peter Aufschnaiter
American Perfekt
(1997)
Santini
The Making of 'DragonHeart'
(1997)
Self
Divorcing Jack
(1998)
Dan Starkey
Besieged
(1998)
Jason Kinsky
The Big Lebowski
(1998)
Knox Harrington
Endgame
(2000)
Clov
Gangster No. 1
(2000)
Freddie Mays
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
(2000)
Nesbit
The Miracle Maker
(2000)
Judas Iscariot
Goodbye Charlie Bright
(2001)
Charlie's Dad
D.I.Y. Hard
(2002)
Man
Hamilton Mattress
(2002)
Hamilton Mattress (voice)
Cheeky
(2003)
Harry Sankey
Timeline
(2003)
Robert Doniger
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
(2004)
Remus Lupin
The Magic Touch of Harry Potter
(2004)
Self
Kingdom of Heaven
(2005)
Hospitaler
The New World
(2005)
Wingfield
All the Invisible Children
(2005)
Jonathan (segment "Jonathan")
The Omen
(2006)
Keith Jennings
Basic Instinct 2
(2006)
Roy Washburn
The Inner Life of Martin Frost
(2007)
Martin Frost
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
(2007)
Remus Lupin
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
(2008)
Ralf Hoess
Veronika Decides to Die
(2009)
Dr. Blake
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(2009)
Remus Lupin
Athena
(2010)
Chuck
Mr. Nice
(2010)
Jim McCann
London Boulevard
(2010)
Jordan
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
(2010)
Remus Lupin
How to Get a Head in Sculpture
(2011)
Self
The Lady
(2011)
Michael Aris
Anonymous
(2011)
William Cecil
The Organ Grinder's Monkey
(2011)
Pablo (voice)
War Horse
(2011)
Lyons
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
(2011)
Remus Lupin
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(2012)
(archive footage)
The Zero Theorem
(2013)
Joby
Separate We Come, Separate We Go
(2013)
Norman
The Fifth Estate
(2013)
Nick Davies
RED 2
(2013)
The Frog
Stonehearst Asylum
(2014)
Mickey Finn
The Theory of Everything
(2014)
Dennis Sciama
An Inspector Calls
(2015)
Inspector Goole - The Inspector
Anomalisa
(2015)
Michael Stone (voice)
Regression
(2015)
Professor Kenneth Raines
Queen & Country
(2015)
Sargeant Major Bradley
Legend
(2015)
Leslie Payne
Macbeth
(2015)
Duncan
None of Them Are You: Crafting Anomalisa
(2016)
Self
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic
(2017)
Himself
Wonder Woman
(2017)
Sir Patrick / Ares
Justice League
(2017)
Ares
The Mercy
(2018)
Rodney Hallworth
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
(2018)
Self (archive footage)
Guest of Honour
(2020)
Jim
Eternal Beauty
(2020)
Mike
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
(2020)
Father
Rare Beasts
(2021)
Vic
Val
(2021)
Self (archive footage)
Zack Snyder's Justice League
(2021)
Ares
The Amazing Maurice
(2022)
Boss Man / Rat King (voice)
Enola Holmes 2
(2022)
Grail
Avatar 3
(2025)
Peylak
Directing
Writing
Data provided by TMDB