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
Wonder Woman
(2017)
Sir Patrick / Ares
Justice League
(2017)
Ares
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
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
(2011)
Remus Lupin
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
(2010)
Remus Lupin
Zack Snyder's Justice League
(2021)
Ares
RED 2
(2013)
The Frog
Avatar 3
(2025)
Peylak
The Omen
(2006)
Keith Jennings
Kingdom of Heaven
(2005)
Hospitaler
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
(2008)
Ralf Hoess
Legend
(2015)
Leslie Payne
The Big Lebowski
(1998)
Knox Harrington
Stonehearst Asylum
(2014)
Mickey Finn
Full Filmography
Acting
Road
(1987)
Joey
The Short & Curlies
(1987)
Clive
Little Dorrit
(1987)
George Braddle
Vroom
(1988)
Ringe
Deep Red Instant Love
(1988)
Resurrected
(1989)
Kevin Deakin
Life Is Sweet
(1990)
Nicola's Lover
Afraid of the Dark
(1991)
Locksmith / Tom Miller
Filipina Dreamgirls
(1991)
Tim Shanks
Journey to Knock
(1991)
Terry
Skulduggery
(1991)
Tony
Damage
(1992)
Detective
Black and Blue
(1992)
Crematorium Attendant
Swords at Teatime
(1992)
Mike
Naked
(1993)
Johnny
The Trial
(1993)
Franz
Black Beauty
(1994)
Jerry Barker
Restoration
(1995)
John Pearce
Total Eclipse
(1995)
Paul Verlaine
James and the Giant Peach
(1996)
Earthworm (voice)
DragonHeart
(1996)
King Einon
The Island of Dr. Moreau
(1996)
Douglas
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
Love Story
(1999)
Dealer
Gangster No. 1
(2000)
Freddie Mays
The Miracle Maker
(2000)
Judas Iscariot (voice)
Endgame
(2000)
Clov
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
(2000)
Nesbit
Goodbye Charlie Bright
(2001)
Charlie's Dad
D.I.Y. Hard
(2002)
Man
Hamilton Mattress
(2002)
Hamilton Mattress (voice)
Timeline
(2003)
Robert Doniger
Cheeky
(2003)
Harry Sankey
Little Wolf's Book of Badness
(2003)
Mr. Twister (voice)
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
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
(2007)
Remus Lupin
The Inner Life of Martin Frost
(2007)
Martin Frost
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
(2008)
Ralf Hoess
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(2009)
Remus Lupin
Veronika Decides to Die
(2009)
Dr. Blake
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
(2010)
Remus Lupin
Mr. Nice
(2010)
Jim McCann
London Boulevard
(2010)
Jordan
Athena
(2010)
Chuck
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
(2011)
Remus Lupin
Anonymous
(2011)
William Cecil
War Horse
(2011)
Lyons
The Lady
(2011)
Michael Aris
The Organ Grinder's Monkey
(2011)
Pablo (voice)
How to Get a Head in Sculpture
(2011)
Self
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(2012)
(archive footage)
RED 2
(2013)
The Frog
The Zero Theorem
(2013)
Joby
The Fifth Estate
(2013)
Nick Davies
Separate We Come, Separate We Go
(2013)
Norman
Stonehearst Asylum
(2014)
Mickey Finn
The Theory of Everything
(2014)
Dennis Sciama
Sunday Roast
(2014)
Dick Puck
Macbeth
(2015)
Duncan
Legend
(2015)
Leslie Payne
Regression
(2015)
Professor Kenneth Raines
An Inspector Calls
(2015)
Inspector Goole - The Inspector
Queen & Country
(2015)
Sargeant Major Bradley
Anomalisa
(2015)
Michael Stone (voice)
None of Them Are You: Crafting Anomalisa
(2016)
Self
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic
(2017)
Himself
Justice League
(2017)
Ares
Wonder Woman
(2017)
Sir Patrick / Ares
The Mercy
(2018)
Rodney Hallworth
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
(2018)
Self (archive footage)
Eternal Beauty
(2020)
Mike
Guest of Honour
(2020)
Jim
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
(2020)
Father
Rare Beasts
(2021)
Vic
Zack Snyder's Justice League
(2021)
Ares
Val
(2021)
Self (archive footage)
The Amazing Maurice
(2022)
Boss Man / Rat King (voice)
Enola Holmes 2
(2022)
Grail
Avatar 3
(2025)
Peylak
Directing
Writing
Data provided by TMDB