David Thewlis
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.
Acted in
Avatar: Fire and Ash
2025
as Peylak
KAOS
2024
as Hades
The Artful Dodger
2023
as Norbert Fagin
The Amazing Maurice
2022
as Boss Man / Rat King (voice)
Enola Holmes 2
2022
as Grail
The Sandman
2022
as John Dee
Human Resources
2022
as Memory Bank Manager (voice)
Human Resources
2022
as Lionel St. Swithens (voice)
Landscapers
2021
as Christopher Edwards
Val
2021
as Self (archive footage)
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
Barkskins
2020
as Claude Trepagny
The Feed
2019
as Lawrence Hatfield
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
Big Mouth
2017
as Shame Wizard (voice)
Wonder Woman
2017
as Sir Patrick / Ares
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
Fargo
2014
as V.M. Vargas
Sunday Roast
2014
as Dick Puck
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
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
The Street
2006
as Joe Jennerson / Harry Jennerson
Basic Instinct 2
2006
as Roy Washburn
The New World
2005
as Wingfield
All the Invisible Children
2005
as Jonathan (segment "Jonathan")
Kingdom of Heaven
2005
as Hospitaler
The Magic Touch of Harry Potter
2004
as Self
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
D.I.Y. Hard
2002
as Man
Dinotopia
2002
as Cyrus Crabb
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
Dandelion Dead
1994
as Oswald Martin
Black Beauty
1994
as Jerry Barker
Naked
1993
as Johnny
Frank Stubbs Promotes
1993
as Mike Bence
The Trial
1993
as Franz
Damage
1992
as Detective
Black and Blue
1992
as Crematorium Attendant
Swords at Teatime
1992
as Mike
Afraid of the Dark
1991
as Locksmith / Tom Miller
Journey to Knock
1991
as Terry
Filipina Dreamgirls
1991
as Tim Shanks
Skulduggery
1991
as Tony
Prime Suspect
1991
as James Jackson
Life Is Sweet
1990
as Nicola's Lover
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
1990
as Doctor
Resurrected
1989
as Kevin Deakin
A Bit of a Do
1989
Vroom
1988
as Ringe
Deep Red Instant Love
1988
Little Dorrit
1987
as George Braddle
The Short & Curlies
1987
as Clive
Road
1987
as Joey
Valentine Park
1987
as Max
The Singing Detective
1986
as Second Soldier
Only Fools and Horses
1981
Littlemouth
Sherlock & Daughter
as Sherlock Holmes