Profile photo of David Thewlis

David Thewlis

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.

Filmography

2025
Avatar: Fire and Ash

as Peylak

Movie
2025
The Thing with Feathers

as Crow (voice)

Movie
2022
Enola Holmes 2

as Grail

Movie
2021
Zack Snyder's Justice League

as Ares

Movie
2020
Eternal Beauty

as Mike

Movie
2017
Justice League

as Ares

Movie
2017
Wonder Woman

as Sir Patrick / Ares

Movie
2015
Legend

as Leslie Payne

Movie
2014
The Theory of Everything

as Dennis Sciama

Movie
2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

as Remus Lupin

Movie
2010
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

as Remus Lupin

Movie
2009
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

as Remus Lupin

Movie
2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

as Remus Lupin

Movie
2006
Basic Instinct 2

as Roy Washburn

Movie
2005
Kingdom of Heaven

as Hospitaler

Movie
2004
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

as Remus Lupin

Movie
1998
The Big Lebowski

as Knox Harrington

Movie
1997
Seven Years in Tibet

as Peter Aufschnaiter

Movie
1996
DragonHeart

as King Einon

Movie
1996
James and the Giant Peach

as Earthworm (voice)

Movie