David Thewlis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Thewlis
Thewlis in 2008
Born	David Wheeler (1963-03-20) 20 March 1963 (age 62) Blackpool, Lancashire, England
Education	Guildhall School of Music and Drama (BA)
Occupation	Actor, filmmaker
Years active	1985–present
Spouse(s)	Sara Sugarman ​ ​ (m. 1992; div. 1994)​ Hermine Poitou ​ (m. 2016)​
Partner(s)	Anna Friel (2000–2010)
Children	1

David Wheeler (born March 20, 1963), known as David Thewlis, is an English actor and filmmaker. He has acted in many different types of movies and TV shows. He won an award for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. He has also been nominated for other big awards like the BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Emmy Award.

Thewlis first appeared in a movie called Little Dorrit in 1987. He became well-known for his main roles in films by Mike Leigh, like Life Is Sweet (1990) and Naked (1993). For Naked, he won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.

He has been in many popular movies such as Black Beauty (1994), James and the Giant Peach (1996), and Dragonheart (1996). A very famous role for him was playing Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter movies (2004–2011). Other films include The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), War Horse (2011), Wonder Woman (2017), and Enola Holmes 2 (2022).

On TV, Thewlis is known for playing V. M. Varga in the show Fargo (2017). He also voices the Shame Wizard in the animated shows Big Mouth (2017–present) and Human Resources (2022–2023). He played Christopher Edwards in Landscapers (2021) and John Dee in The Sandman (2022). In 2023, he played Fagin in The Artful Dodger. His acting in Fargo earned him nominations for several top TV awards.

Early Life and Education

David Thewlis was born David Wheeler in Blackpool, England, on March 20, 1963. His parents, Maureen and Alec Raymond Wheeler, owned a toy and wallpaper shop. He has an older and a younger brother or sister.

When he was a teenager, David played guitar in rock bands. He was in a band called QED and a punk rock band called Door 66. He went to Highfield High School in Blackpool. After high school, he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He graduated from there in 1984.

Acting Career Highlights

David Wheeler changed his last name to Thewlis, which was his mother's maiden name. He did this because another actor was already using the name David Wheeler. His first acting job after changing his name was in a play called Buddy Holly at the Regal. He also appeared in a TV commercial for Kellogg's Bran Flakes.

He started getting small parts in popular TV shows. These included Only Fools and Horses in 1985 and The Singing Detective in 1986. In 1987, he got a bigger role in the TV show Road. That same year, he made his first movie appearance in Little Dorrit.

His first main role in a movie was in Vroom (1988). He also starred in Resurrected (1989), playing a soldier who was thought to be dead. He worked with director Mike Leigh on Life Is Sweet in 1990.

Breakthrough Role in Naked

Thewlis's big breakthrough came in the 1993 film Naked. He played the main character, Johnny. His performance in this movie was highly praised. He won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. He also won Best Actor awards from several other film critics' groups. In the same year, he appeared in the TV show Prime Suspect 3 with Helen Mirren.

Fantasy and Period Films

During the 1990s, Thewlis acted in many fantasy and historical films. These included Restoration (1995), Black Beauty (1994), and Total Eclipse (1995) with Leonardo DiCaprio. He also appeared in The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), Dragonheart (1996), and Seven Years in Tibet (1997) with Brad Pitt.

He was nominated for an award for his role in Divorcing Jack (1998). Other notable films from this time include Besieged (1998) and Gangster No. 1 (2000).

Joining the Wizarding World

Thewlis tried out for the role of Quirinus Quirrell in the first Harry Potter movie. However, the part went to another actor. Even though he missed out on the first film, he was later chosen for a different role.

In 2004, he was cast as Professor Remus Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He didn't even have to audition for this role! The director, Alfonso Cuarón, wanted him specifically. Thewlis played Remus Lupin in four more Harry Potter films.

Later Film and TV Roles

Thewlis played a difficult role as the father in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008). He also appeared in Kingdom of Heaven (2005) and The Omen (2006).

In 2011, he played Michael Aris, the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, in the movie The Lady. In 2015, he played Inspector Goole in the TV movie An Inspector Calls. He also played King Duncan in the film Macbeth that year.

Thewlis played Ares in the superhero movie Wonder Woman. He also had a brief appearance as Ares in Justice League (2017). In the same year, he played V. M. Varga, the main villain in the third season of Fargo. His acting in Fargo was highly praised and earned him several award nominations.

Since 2017, he has voiced the Shame Wizard in the animated comedy Big Mouth and its spin-off Human Resources. He also starred in the Netflix film I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) and the TV series The Sandman (2022). In 2023, he took on the role of Fagin in The Artful Dodger.

Filmmaking and Writing

David Thewlis has also worked behind the camera. He directed a short film called Hello, Hello, Hello in 1995. This film was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film. He also wrote, directed, and starred in a movie called Cheeky in 2003.

Besides acting and directing, Thewlis is also a writer. He wrote a funny novel about the art world called The Late Hector Kipling, which was published in 2007. His second book, Shooting Martha, came out in 2021.

Upcoming Projects

David Thewlis is set to appear in a film called Littlemouth. He will also play the famous detective Sherlock Holmes in a new TV series called Sherlock & Daughter.

Personal Life

David Thewlis was married to director and actress Sara Sugarman from 1992 to 1994. He was in a relationship with English actress Anna Friel from 2001 to 2010. They have a daughter, who was born in 2005. Thewlis married French designer and artist Hermine Poitou on August 5, 2016. They live in Sunningdale, Berkshire, England.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	The Short and Curlies	Clive	Short film
	Little Dorrit	George Braddle
1988	Vroom	Ringe
1989	Resurrected	Kevin Deakin
1991	Life Is Sweet	Nicola's Lover
	Afraid of the Dark	Locksmith / Tom Miller
1992	Swords at Teatime	Michael	Short
	Damage	Detective
1993	Trial, TheThe Trial	Franz
	Naked	Johnny
1994	Black Beauty	Jerry Barker
1995	Total Eclipse	Paul Verlaine
	Restoration	Pearce
	Hello, Hello, Hello	-	Short film Writer, director
1996	James and the Giant Peach	Earthworm	Voice role
	Dragonheart	Einon
	Island of Dr. Moreau, TheThe Island of Dr. Moreau	Douglas
1997	American Perfekt	Santini
	Seven Years in Tibet	Peter Aufschnaiter
1998	Big Lebowski, TheThe Big Lebowski	Knox Harrington
	Divorcing Jack	Dan Starkey
	Besieged	Jason Kinsky
1999	Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?	Nesbit
	Love Story	Dealer	Voice role, short
2000	Miracle Maker, TheThe Miracle Maker	Judas Iscariot	Voice role
	Gangster No. 1	Freddie Mays
2001	Goodbye Charlie Bright	Dad
2002	D.I.Y. Hard	Man	Short
2003	Cheeky	Harry Sankey	Writer, director
	Little Wolf's Book of Badness	Mr. Twister	Voice role, short
	Timeline	Robert Doniger
2004	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Remus Lupin
2005	Kingdom of Heaven	Hospitaler
	All the Invisible Children	Jonathan	Segment: "Jonathan"
	New World, TheThe New World	Wingfield
2006	Basic Instinct 2	Roy Washburn
	Omen, TheThe Omen	Keith Jennings
2007	Inner Life of Martin Frost, TheThe Inner Life of Martin Frost	Martin Frost
	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Remus Lupin
2008	Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, TheThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas	Father
2009	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Remus Lupin
	Veronika Decides to Die	Dr. Blake
2010	Mr. Nice	Jim McCann
	London Boulevard	Jordan
	Athena	Chuck	Short
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1	Remus Lupin
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
	Lady, TheThe Lady	Michael Aris
	Anonymous	William Cecil
	War Horse	Lyons
	The Organ Grinder's Monkey	Pablo	Short
2012	Separate We Come, Separate We Go	Norman	Short film
2013	RED 2	The Frog
	The Fifth Estate	Nick Davies
	The Zero Theorem	Joby
2014	The Theory of Everything	Dennis Sciama
	Stonehearst Asylum	Mickey Finn
	Queen and Country	Sargeant Major Bradley
	Sunday Roast	Dick Puck	Short film Writer
2015	Regression	Kenneth Raines
	Legend	Leslie Payne
	Macbeth	Duncan
	Anomalisa	Michael Stone	Voice role
2017	Wonder Woman	Sir Patrick Morgan / Ares
	Justice League	Ares	Cameo
2018	The Mercy	Rodney Hallworth
2019	Rare Beasts	Vic
	Guest of Honour	Jim
	Eternal Beauty	Mike
2020	I'm Thinking of Ending Things	Father
2022	Enola Holmes 2	Grail
	The Amazing Maurice	Boss Man	Voice role
2025	Littlemouth		Post-production
	Avatar: Fire and Ash	Peylak	Post-production
2029	Avatar 4		Filming

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Up the Elephant and Round the Castle	The Mugger	Episode: "A Taxing Problem" (non-speaking)
	Summer Season	Jim Dench	Episode: "Radio Pictures"
	Only Fools and Horses	Stew	Episode: "It's Only Rock and Roll"
1986	Singing Detective, TheThe Singing Detective	Second Soldier	Miniseries
1987–1988	Valentine Park	Max	12 episodes
1987–1991	ScreenPlay	Joey / Terry	2 episodes
1989	Bit of a Do, AA Bit of a Do	Paul Simcock	6 episodes
	Skulduggery	Tony	Television film
1990	Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit	Doctor	Miniseries
1991	Shrinks	Terry Slater	Episode #1.5
1991–1992	Screen One	Crematorium Attendant / Tim Shanks	2 episodes
1993	Frank Stubbs Promotes	Mike Bence	Episode: "Striker"
	Prime Suspect 3	James Jackson	Episode: "Keeper of Souls: Parts 1 and 2"
1994	Dandelion Dead	Oswald Martin	Miniseries
2001	Endgame	Clov	Television film
	Hammilton Mattress	Hammilton Mattress	Voice role, television film
2002	Dinotopia	Cyrus Crabb	Miniseries
2007	Street, TheThe Street	Harry Jennerson / Joe Jennerson	Episode: "Twins"
2014	Family Guy	British Father	Voice role, Episode: "Chap Stewie"
2015	An Inspector Calls	The Inspector	Television film
2017	Fargo	V. M. Varga / Robot	10 episodes
2018–present	Big Mouth	Shame Wizard	Voice role, 13 episodes
2019	The Feed	Lawrence Hatfield	6 episodes
2020	Barkskins	Monsieur Claude Trepagny	8 episodes
2021	Landscapers	Christopher Edwards	Miniseries
2022–2023	Human Resources	Lionel St. Swithens / Shame Wizard	Voice role, 14 episodes
2022	The Sandman	John Dee	Co-starring; 4 episodes
2023–present	The Artful Dodger	Fagin	Main role
2024	Kaos	Hades	Regular role
2025	Sherlock & Daughter	Sherlock Holmes	Lead role, filming

Video games

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: David Thewlis para niños