David Thewlis

David Thewlis

Birth : 1963-03-20, Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK

History

David Wheeler (born 20 March 1963), better known as David Thewlis, is an English actor, director, screenwriter, and author. Thewlis rose to prominence when he starred in the film Naked (1993), for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. His most commercially successful roles have been Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter franchise (2004–2011) and Sir Patrick Morgan / Ares in Wonder Woman (2017). Other film roles include Total Eclipse (1995), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Dragonheart (1996), Seven Years in Tibet (1997), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), War Horse (2011), The Theory of Everything (2014), Anomalisa (2015), and I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020). He will appear in Enola Holmes 2 (2022) and Avatar 3 (2024). Thewlis' most notable television roles are Cyrus Crabb in the miniseries Dinotopia (2002), V. M. Varga in the third series of Fargo (2017), the voice of the Shame Wizard in the animated sitcom Big Mouth (2017–present), and Christopher Edwards in the miniseries Landscapers (2021). His performance in Fargo earned him nominations for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Critics' Choice Award.

Profile

David Thewlis
David Thewlis
David Thewlis
David Thewlis
David Thewlis
David Thewlis
David Thewlis
David Thewlis

Movies

Avatar 3
Peylak
The third entry in the Avatar franchise.
The Amazing Maurice
Boss Man / Rat King (voice)
Maurice is a streetwise ginger cat who comes up with a money-making scam by befriending a group of self-taught talking rats. When Maurice and the rodents meet a bookworm called Malicia, their little con soon goes down the drain.
Val
Self (archive footage)
For over 40 years Val Kilmer, one of Hollywood’s most mercurial and/or misunderstood actors has been documenting his own life and craft through film and video. He has amassed thousands of hours of footage, from 16mm home movies made with his brothers, to time spent in iconic roles for blockbuster movies like Top Gun, The Doors, Tombstone, and Batman Forever. This raw, wildly original and unflinching documentary reveals a life lived to extremes and a heart-filled, sometimes hilarious look at what it means to be an artist and a complex man.
Rare Beasts
Vic
Mandy is a mother, a writer, a nihilist. Mandy is a modern woman in a crisis. Raising a son in the midst of a female revolution, mining the pain of her parents' separation and professionally writing about a love that no longer exists, she falls upon a troubled man, Pete, who’s searching for a sense of worth, belonging and ‘restored’ Male identity.
Zack Snyder's Justice League: Justice is Gray
Ares
Monochromatic blockbusters are all the rage, with Mad Max: Fury Road and Logan receiving black-and-white reissues in recent years. So it was only logical that Zack Snyder would anoint his new cut of Justice League worthy of the upper echelon of action movies with a second release that strips out the remaining color. One week after the release of the “Snyder Cut,” fans have yet another four-hour experience at their hands: Justice League: Justice Is Gray.
Zack Snyder's Justice League
Ares
Determined to ensure Superman's ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne aligns forces with Diana Prince with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Father
Nothing is as it seems when a woman experiencing misgivings about her new boyfriend joins him on a road trip to meet his parents at their remote farm.
Eternal Beauty
Mike
When Jane is rejected by life, she spirals into a chaotic, schizophrenic world where love and normality collide with humorous consequences.
Guest of Honour
Jim
Veronica wants to remain in jail for a sexual assault she knows she's been wrongfully indicted for. She and her father, Jim, find themselves acting out of the bounds of good behavior as the past haunts them.
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Self (archive footage)
Examine the rise and fall of Hollywood media mogul Harvey Weinstein following the scandal in 2017. Learn from exclusive interviews with those who knew him in the industry, and a discussion of the start of the #MeToo movement.
The Mercy
Rodney Hallworth
In 1968, Donald Crowhurst, an amateur sailor, endangers the fate of his family and business, and his own life, blinded by his ambition to compete in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, attempting to become the first person in history to single-handedly circumnavigate the world without making any stopover.
Justice League
Ares
Fuelled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince assemble a team of metahumans consisting of Barry Allen, Arthur Curry and Victor Stone to face the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf and the Parademons who are on the hunt for three Mother Boxes on Earth.
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic
Himself
A thrilling journey through legends, belief and folklore, this film goes behind the scenes with the British Library as they search to tell that story through objects in their collection, in an ambitious new exhibition: Harry Potter: A History Of Magic. J.K. Rowling, who is lending unseen manuscripts, drawings and drafts from her private archives (which will sit alongside treasures from the British Library, as well as original drafts and drawings from Jim Kay) talks about some of the personal items she has lent to the exhibition and gives new insight into her writing, looking at some of the objects from the exhibition that have fired her imagination.
Wonder Woman
Sir Patrick / Ares
An Amazon princess comes to the world of Man in the grips of the First World War to confront the forces of evil and bring an end to human conflict.
None of Them Are You: Crafting Anomalisa
Self
A behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson's 2015 stop-motion animated drama Anomalisa.
Anomalisa
Michael Stone (voice)
An inspirational speaker becomes reinvigorated after meeting a lively woman who shakes up his mundane existence.
Regression
Professor Kenneth Raines
Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner investigates the case of young Angela, who accuses her father, John Gray, of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.
An Inspector Calls
Inspector Goole - The Inspector
Northern England, 1912. The dinner of a wealthy family is interrupted by Inspector Goole, who only announces that a young woman has committed suicide. Then, he simply asks everyone present, one by one, if they knew her.
Legend
Leslie Payne
Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.
Macbeth
Duncan
Feature film adaptation of Shakespeare's Scottish play about General Macbeth whose ambitious wife urges him to use wicked means in order to gain power of the throne over the sitting king, Duncan.
Queen & Country
Sargeant Major Bradley
An Englishman who grew up in London during World War II joins the military to fight in the Korean War.
The Theory of Everything
Dennis Sciama
The Theory of Everything is the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde.
Stonehearst Asylum
Mickey Finn
A Harvard Medical School graduate takes a position at a mental institution and soon becomes obsessed with a female mental patient, but he has no idea of a recent and horrifying staffing change.
Separate We Come, Separate We Go
Norman
Separate We Come, Separate We Go is the story of a 10-year-old girl, Thea who escapes her bleak domestic life to find sanctuary in the surreal desert landscape of Dungeness. Roaming around the barren skeletons of boats and abandoned fishing huts, she is increasingly aware of her loneliness and vulnerability. Seemingly out of nowhere a man (David Thewlis) appears; she is so intrigued by him she defies all lessons taught about strangers and approaches him. As they walk and talk she discovers he is a widower and has lost his son; she realises she is not alone in experiencing loss. He notices her sadness and unusual maturity and decides to help lift her out of her melancholy. Through the metaphor of the freedom of flying birds, he shows her that life does have exciting possibilities. This redemptive story shows that in life you should not allow fear to limit your horizons.
The Fifth Estate
Nick Davies
A look at the relationship between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his early supporter and eventual colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg, and how the website's growth and influence led to an irreparable rift between the two friends.
The Zero Theorem
Joby
A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
RED 2
The Frog
Retired C.I.A. agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device.
War Horse
Lyons
On the brink of the First World War, Albert's beloved horse Joey is sold to the Cavalry by his father. Against the backdrop of the Great War, Joey begins an odyssey full of danger, joy, and sorrow, and he transforms everyone he meets along the way. Meanwhile, Albert, unable to forget his equine friend, searches the battlefields of France to find Joey and bring him home.
The Lady
Michael Aris
The story of Aung San Suu Kyi as she becomes the core of Burma's democracy movement, and her relationship with her husband, writer Michael Aris.
Anonymous
William Cecil
Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her, the story advances the theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford who penned Shakespeare's plays.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Remus Lupin
Harry, Ron and Hermione continue their quest to vanquish the evil Voldemort once and for all. Just as things begin to look hopeless for the young wizards, Harry discovers a trio of magical objects that endow him with powers to rival Voldemort's formidable skills.
Creating the World of Harry Potter, Part 6: Magical Effects
Self / Remus Lupin
One from a series of documentaries on the making of the Harry Potter cinematic universe.
The Organ Grinder's Monkey
Pablo (voice)
A cockroach with artistic aspirations follows an angst-ridden and talentless artist from pub to studio in pursuit of his dream, and comes to a sticky end.
How to Get a Head in Sculpture
Self
From the heads of Roman Emperors to the 'blood head' of contemporary British artist Marc Quinn, the greatest figures in world sculpture have continually turned to the head to re-evaluate what it means to be human and to reformulate how closely sculpture can capture it. Witty, eclectic and insightful, this film is a journey through the most enduring subject for world sculpture, one that carves a path through politics and religion, the ancient and the modern. Actor David Thewlis has his head sculpted by three different sculptors, while the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, artist Maggi Hambling and art critic Rachel Johnston discuss art's most enduring preoccupation, ourselves.
London Boulevard
Jordan
A parolee falls for a reclusive movie star while trying to evade a ruthless gangster.
Mr. Nice
Jim McCann
Biopic about 1970s Welsh marijuana trafficker Howard Marks, whose inventive smuggling schemes made him a huge success in the drug trade, as well as leading to dealings with both the IRA and British Intelligence. Based on Marks' biography with the same title.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Remus Lupin
Harry, Ron and Hermione walk away from their last year at Hogwarts to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, putting an end to Voldemort's bid for immortality. But with Harry's beloved Dumbledore dead and Voldemort's unscrupulous Death Eaters on the loose, the world is more dangerous than ever.
Athena
Chuck
Chuck, a loner who had better days, runs a Halliday store in the middle of Californian desert. Customers are rare and he has only one regular, old Bill, who never fails to appear each and every morning and invariably buys a cup of coffee and a pack of cigarettes. But at a time his routine is broken when two living creatures get into his life. One is a - chicken which takes to him and that he will call "Athena". The other one is a charming hiker by the name of Patricia who chooses to stop at his place for some time. Both will help him to get his feet back on the ground.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Remus Lupin
As Lord Voldemort tightens his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds, Hogwarts is no longer a safe haven. Harry suspects perils may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemorts defenses and to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Even as the decisive showdown looms, romance blossoms for Harry, Ron, Hermione and their classmates. Love is in the air, but danger lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.
Veronika Decides to Die
Dr. Blake
After a frantic suicide attempt, Veronika awakens inside a mysterious mental asylum. Under the supervision of an unorthodox psychiatrist who specializes in controversial treatment, Veronika learns that she has only weeks to live.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Ralf Hoess
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.
The Inner Life of Martin Frost
Martin Frost
A writer awakens one day to find a strange but beautiful woman in bed with him. He quickly falls in love with her, thinking he has found his muse, but as time passes she becomes more and more unattainable.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Remus Lupin
Returning for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts, Harry is stunned to find that his warnings about the return of Lord Voldemort have been ignored. Left with no choice, Harry takes matters into his own hands, training a small group of students to defend themselves against the dark arts.
The Omen
Keith Jennings
A diplomatic couple adopts the son of the devil without knowing it. A remake of the classic horror film of the same name from 1976.
Basic Instinct 2
Roy Washburn
Novelist Catherine Tramell is once again in trouble with the law, and Scotland Yard appoints psychiatrist Dr. Michael Glass to evaluate her. Though, like Detective Nick Curran before him, Glass is entranced by Tramell and lured into a seductive game.
The New World
Wingfield
A drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.
All the Invisible Children
Jonathan
Seven short films - each one focused on the plight of a different child protagonist.
Kingdom of Heaven
Hospitaler
After his wife dies, a blacksmith named Balian is thrust into royalty, political intrigue and bloody holy wars during the Crusades.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Remus Lupin
Year three at Hogwarts means new fun and challenges as Harry learns the delicate art of approaching a Hippogriff, transforming shape-shifting Boggarts into hilarity and even turning back time. But the term also brings danger: soul-sucking Dementors hover over the school, an ally of the accursed He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named lurks within the castle walls, and fearsome wizard Sirius Black escapes Azkaban. And Harry will confront them all.
Timeline
Robert Doniger
A group of archaeological students become trapped in the past when they go there to retrieve their professor. The group must survive in 14th century France long enough to be rescued.
Cheeky
Writer
Consumed with sadness after the death of his wife and subsequent rejection from his son, a widower, at the urging of his friends, opts to appear on a vulgar, wildly popular game show (for which his wife signed him up) and watches his life start to change for the better.
Cheeky
Harry Sankey
Consumed with sadness after the death of his wife and subsequent rejection from his son, a widower, at the urging of his friends, opts to appear on a vulgar, wildly popular game show (for which his wife signed him up) and watches his life start to change for the better.
Cheeky
Director
Consumed with sadness after the death of his wife and subsequent rejection from his son, a widower, at the urging of his friends, opts to appear on a vulgar, wildly popular game show (for which his wife signed him up) and watches his life start to change for the better.
D.I.Y. Hard
Man
A hostage situation takes an unusual turn.
Hamilton Mattress
Hamilton Mattress (voice)
Sludger the aardvark tries to make it big as a drummer in the big city.
Goodbye Charlie Bright
Charlie's Dad
Following Charlie Bright and his friends over one hot summer on the South London housing estate where they live. With Tommy about to join the army and Francis having fallen in love, friendships and loyalties are tested as the friends drift in their own directions.
Endgame
Clov
Hamm is blind and unable to stand; Clov, his servant, is unable to sit; Nagg and Nell are his father and mother, who are legless and live in dustbins. Together they live in a room with two windows, but there may be nothing at all outside.
Gangster No. 1
Freddie Mays
An old gangster is advised that Freddie Mays would leave jail after thirty years in prison. His mood changes and he recalls when he was a young punk and who joined Freddie's gang—a man he both envied and ultimately betrayed.
The Miracle Maker
Judas Iscariot
A mother and father in search of help for their sick daughter cross paths with an extraordinary carpenter named Jesus, who has devoted his life to spreading God's word. An amazing miracle brings to light the true meaning of Christ, and the sacrifices he endured for the deliverance of mankind. A compelling story of faith, trust, and devotion.
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
Nesbit
It's 1976, and Vinny is a confused teenager who can't decide whether he is a disco king or a proto punk rocker.
Divorcing Jack
Dan Starkey
He's Irish, he's ageing, he drinks, is a touch cynical and when he has time writes a newspaper column. On the eve of the country's first election as an independent state, Dan Starkey's life is about to change after he finds the young woman he has just made love to dead and his only ally is a nun
The Big Lebowski
Knox Harrington
Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged into a strange series of events involving nihilists, adult film producers, ferrets, errant toes, and large sums of money.
Besieged
Jason Kinsky
When an African dictator jails her husband, Shandurai goes into exile in Italy, studying medicine and keeping house for Mr. Kinsky, an eccentric English pianist and composer. She lives in one room of his Roman palazzo. He besieges her with flowers, gifts, and music, declaring passionately that he loves her, would go to Africa with her, would do anything for her. "What do you know of Africa?," she asks, then, in anguish, shouts, "Get my husband out of jail!" The rest of the film plays out the implications of this scene and leaves Shandurai with a choice.
Seven Years in Tibet
Peter Aufschnaiter
Austrian mountaineer, Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Llaso, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.
American Perfekt
Santini
Criminal psychiatrist, Jake Nyman is taking a much needed vacation from responsibility. An experimental road trip during which ever decision will be made on a flip of a coin. Meanwhile, Sandra Thomas, disenchanted professional, is en route to pick up her flunked out sister, Alice, at a cheap motel before continuing on to visit their ailing mother. After being forced off the road by a mysterious assailant, however, Sandra is picked up by Jake, who's coin flipping amoral attitude quickly excites her own desire to break a few rules. Or worse. Jake and Sandra's romance is soon driven by chance acts of crime and kindness, all governed by the flip of a coin - at least until Sandra mysteriously disappears and Jake unwittingly picks up her suspicious sister, Alice ...
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Edward Douglas
A shipwrecked sailor stumbles upon a mysterious island and is shocked to discover that a brilliant scientist and his lab assistant have found a way to combine human and animal DNA—with horrific results.
DragonHeart
King Einon
In an ancient time when majestic fire-breathers soared through the skies, a knight named Bowen comes face to face and heart to heart with the last dragon on Earth, Draco. Taking up arms to suppress a tyrant king, Bowen soon realizes his task will be harder than he'd imagined: If he kills the king, Draco will die as well.
James and the Giant Peach
Earthworm (voice)
When the young orphan boy James spills a magic bag of crocodile tongues, he finds himself in possession of a giant peach that flies him away to strange lands.
Restoration
John Pearce
An aspiring young physician, Robert Merivel found himself in the service of King Charles II and saves the life of someone close to the King. Merivel joins the King's court and lives the high life provided to someone of his position. Merivel is ordered to marry his King's mistress in order to divert the queens suspicions. He is given one order by the king and that is not to fall in love. The situation worsens when Merivel finds himself in love with his new wife. Eventually, the King finds out and relieves Merivel of his position and wealth. His fall from grace leaves Merivel where he first started. And through his travels and reunions with an old friend, he rediscovers his love for true medicine and what it really means to be a physician.
Total Eclipse
Paul Verlaine
Young, wild poet Arthur Rimbaud and his mentor Paul Verlaine engage in a fierce, forbidden romance while feeling the effects of a hellish artistic lifestyle.
Hello, Hello, Hello
Writer
Hello, Hello, Hello
Director
Black Beauty
Jerry Barker
The fates of horses, and the people who own and command them, are revealed as Black Beauty narrates the circle of his life.
Prime Suspect 3
James Jackson
Assigned to a Vice squad, Detective Jane Tennison investigates a child murder and discovers a sinister link to the police.
Naked
Johnny
An unemployed Brit vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.
The Trial
Franz
Joseph K. awakes one morning, to find two strange men in his room, telling him he has been arrested. Joseph is not told what he is charged with, and despite being "arrested," is allowed to remain free and go to work. But despite the strange nature of his arrest, Joseph soon learns that his trial, however odd, is very real, and tries desperately to spare himself from the court's judgement.
Damage
Detective
The life of a respected British politician at the height of his career crumbles when he becomes obsessed with his son's lover.
Black and Blue
Crematorium Attendant
When a local black politician is murdered an undercover police officer unveils a web of police corruption which puts lives at risk and threatens the whole community.
Afraid of the Dark
Locksmith / Tom Miller
A little boy, obsessed with blindness and violence, slowly gets trapped in his own delusions.
Journey to Knock
Terry
Journey to Knock humourously follows three disabled men on their pilgrimage from the North of England to Knock shrine in Co. Mayo.
Filipina Dreamgirls
Tim Shanks
Several men from Wales travel to the Philippines on an arranged tour to meet Filipina women for romance and possible marriage. None of the women are the ideal Asiatic beauties the men imagined, but by the end of the tour, most of the Englishmen return with a new bride.
Skulduggery
Tony
Four lads decide to meet up and do a robbery planned by Sweeny, an angry, agressive but small young man who is like a time bomb waiting to go off. The robbery never happens because the boys soon realise Sweeny hasn't put enough thought into the job. His closest friend Tel has a more gentle side to him and falls for a girl at a party called Kak. Gombo is released from a young offenders, and along with Tony finds Sweeny to give him a kicking which actually ends up with Sweeny giving Gombo a kicking! In the end they find an empty house where the owners are away on holiday so they decide to break in. This doesn't quite go to plan either.
Life Is Sweet
Nicola's Lover
Just north of London live Wendy, Andy, and their twenty-something twins, Natalie and Nicola. Wendy clerks in a shop, Andy is a cook who forever puts off home remodeling projects, Natalie is a plumber and Nicola is jobless. This film is about how they interact and play out family, conflict and love.
Resurrected
Kevin Deakin
A Falklands War soldier missing, believed dead, turns up claiming amnesia.
Vroom
Ringe
Two young men and a sultry divorcee flee their drab hometown existence, taking to the road in a bubblegum pink chevrolet.
The Short & Curlies
Clive
A short comedy by Mike Leigh about the romance between a young woman and a man who communicates only through jokes and humor...
Deep Red Instant Love
Budding romance and political subversion create a headache for the manager of Superstore in Rik Lander’s colourful satire on capitalism.
Little Dorrit
George Braddle
A drama based on the novel by Charles Dickens which tells the story of Arthur Clennam who is thrown into a debtor's prison. There he meets a young seamstress whose father has been imprisoned for twenty-five years. A film in originally released in two parts.
Road
Joey
A view of the inhabitants of a derelict road in Manchester, unsatisfied with their lives and routines. A young man locks himself away from the world. An older woman flirts with a soldier on leave. Two men invite two girls into an empty house.