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.
Known For
Enola Holmes 2
Grail
2022
Regression
Professor Kenneth Raines
2015
Macbeth
Duncan
2015
Legend
Leslie Payne
2015
The Theory of Everything
Dennis Sciama
2014
Stonehearst Asylum
Mickey Finn
2014
Queen & Country
Sargeant Major Bradley
2014
The Fifth Estate
Nick Davies
2013
The Zero Theorem
Joby
2013
RED 2
The Frog
2013
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(archive footage)
2012
War Horse
Lyons
2011
The Lady
Michael Aris
2011
Anonymous
William Cecil
2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Remus Lupin
2011
The Organ Grinder's Monkey
Pablo (voice)
2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Remus Lupin
2010
London Boulevard
Jordan
2010
Mr. Nice
Jim McCann
2010
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Remus Lupin
2009
Veronika Decides to Die
Dr. Blake
2009
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Father
2008
The Inner Life of Martin Frost
Martin Frost
2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Remus Lupin
2007
The Omen
Keith Jennings
2006
Basic Instinct 2
Roy Washburn
2006
The New World
Wingfield
2005
All the Invisible Children
Jonathan (segment "Jonathan")
2005
Kingdom of Heaven
Hospitaler
2005
The Magic Touch of Harry Potter
Self
2004
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Remus Lupin
2004
Timeline
Robert Doniger
2003
Cheeky
Harry Sankey
2003
D.I.Y. Hard
Man
2002
Goodbye Charlie Bright
Charlie's Dad
2001
Endgame
Clov
2000
Gangster No. 1
Freddie Mays
2000
The Miracle Maker
Judas Iscariot (voice)
2000
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
Nesbit
2000
Divorcing Jack
Dan Starkey
1998
Besieged
Jason Kinsky
1998
Seven Years in Tibet
Peter Aufschnaiter
1997
The Making of 'DragonHeart'
Self
1997
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Douglas
1996
DragonHeart
King Einon
1996
James and the Giant Peach
Earthworm (voice)
1996
Restoration
John Pearce
1995
Total Eclipse
Paul Verlaine
1995
Black Beauty
Jerry Barker
1994
Naked
Johnny
1993
The Trial
Franz
1993
Damage
Detective
1992
Afraid of the Dark
Locksmith / Tom Miller
1991
Filipina Dreamgirls
Tim Shanks
1991
Life Is Sweet
Nicola's Lover
1990
Resurrected
Kevin Deakin
1989
Littlemouth
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Peylak
2025
The Thing with Feathers
Crow (voice)
2025
Sherlock & Daughter
Sherlock Holmes · (8 episodes)
2025
KAOS
Hades · (6 episodes)
2024
The Artful Dodger
Norbert Fagin · (8 episodes)
2023
The Amazing Maurice
Boss Man / Rat King (voice)
2022
The Sandman
John Dee · (4 episodes)
2022
Human Resources
Memory Bank Manager (voice) · (1 episode)
2022
Human Resources
Lionel St. Swithens (voice) · (20 episodes)
2022
Landscapers
Christopher Edwards · (4 episodes)
2021
Val
Self (archive footage)
2021
Rare Beasts
Vic
2021
Zack Snyder's Justice League
Ares
2021
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Father
2020
Eternal Beauty
Mike
2020
Guest of Honour
Jim
2020
Barkskins
Claude Trepagny · (8 episodes)
2020
The Feed
Lawrence Hatfield · (10 episodes)
2019
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Self (archive footage)
2018
The Mercy
Rodney Hallworth
2018
Justice League
Ares
2017
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic
Himself
2017
Big Mouth
Shame Wizard (voice) · (8 episodes)
2017
Big Mouth
(5 episodes)
2017
Wonder Woman
Sir Patrick / Ares
2017
None of Them Are You: Crafting Anomalisa
Self
2016
Anomalisa
Michael Stone (voice)
2015
An Inspector Calls
Inspector Goole - The Inspector
2015
Fargo
V.M. Vargas · (10 episodes)
2014
Sunday Roast
Dick Puck
2014
Separate We Come, Separate We Go
Norman
2013
How to Get a Head in Sculpture
Self
2011
Athena
Chuck
2010
Creating the World of Harry Potter
Self - 'Remus Lupin' · (8 episodes)
2009
The Street
Joe Jennerson / Harry Jennerson · (6 episodes)
2006
Little Wolf's Book of Badness
Mr. Twister (voice)
2003
Dinotopia
Cyrus Crabb · (3 episodes)
2002
Discovering Dinotopia
Cyrus
2002
Dinotopia
Cyrus Crabb
2002
Hamilton Mattress
Hamilton Mattress (voice)
2002
Love Story
Dealer
1999
The Big Lebowski
Knox Harrington
1998
American Perfekt
Santini
1997
Dandelion Dead
Oswald Martin · (4 episodes)
1994
Dreamtown: A Brief Anatomy of Blackpool
Self
1994
Frank Stubbs Promotes
Mike Bence · (1 episode)
1993
Black and Blue
Crematorium Attendant
1992
Swords at Teatime
Mike
1992
Journey to Knock
Terry
1991
Skulduggery
Tony
1991
Prime Suspect
James Jackson · (2 episodes)
1991
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Doctor · (3 episodes)
1990
A Bit of a Do
(13 episodes)
1989
Vroom
Ringe
1988
Deep Red Instant Love
1988
Little Dorrit
George Braddle
1987
The Short & Curlies
Clive
1987
Road
Joey
1987
Valentine Park
Max · (12 episodes)
1987
The Singing Detective
Second Soldier · (6 episodes)
1986
Only Fools and Horses
(1 episode)
1981