David Thewlis

English actor and filmmaker celebrated for his chameleonic range across film and television, from Cannes-winning drama to beloved franchise roles.

David Thewlis - Personal Information

  • Name: David Thewlis
  • Date of Birth: March 20, 1963
  • Place of Birth: Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK
  • Gender: Male
  • Job Title: Actor
  • Crew Jobs: Writer, Director

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.

Selected Filmography

A selection of David Thewlis's most recent screen appearances across film and television.

  • Dirty Business (TV - 2026) as Ash Smith
  • Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) as Peylak
  • The Thing with Feathers (2025) as Crow (voice)
  • Sherlock & Daughter (TV - 2025) as Sherlock Holmes
  • KAOS (TV - 2024) as Hades
  • The Artful Dodger (TV - 2023) as Norbert Fagin
  • The Amazing Maurice (2022) as Boss Man / Rat King (voice)
  • Enola Holmes 2 (2022) as Grail
  • The Sandman (TV - 2022) as John Dee
  • Human Resources (TV - 2022) as Memory Bank Manager (voice)

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