David Thewlis | |
---|---|
![]() Thewlis in 2008 | |
Born | David Wheeler 20 March 1963 Blackpool, England |
Education | Guildhall School of Music and Drama (BA) |
Occupation(s) | Actor, filmmaker |
Years active | 1985–present |
Spouses |
|
Partner(s) | Anna Friel (2000–2010) |
Children | 1 |
David Wheeler (born 20 March 1963), better known as David Thewlis (/ˈθjuːlɪs/), 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, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Thewlis made his film debut in Little Dorrit (1987) and had his breakthrough with lead roles 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 appeared in films such as Black Beauty (1994), Restoration (1995), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Dragonheart (1996), Seven Years in Tibet (1997), and Gangster No. 1 (2001). He gained international recognition for his role as Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter franchise (2004–2011). 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), Wonder Woman (2017), I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020), and Enola Holmes 2 (2022).
Thewlis's 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 (2022–2023), Christopher Edwards in the HBO miniseries Landscapers (2021), John Dee in the Netflix drama series The Sandman (2022), and Fagin in the Disney+ TV series The Artful Dodger (2023). His performance in Fargo earned him nominations for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Critics' Choice Award.