Acting · Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK · Born March 20, 1963
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.
MovieSignal One
2026
as Perry
TVDirty Business
2026
as Ash Smith
MovieAvatar: Fire and Ash
2025
as Peylak
MovieThe Thing with Feathers
2025
as Crow (voice)
TVSherlock & Daughter
2025
as Sherlock Holmes
TVKAOS
2024
as Hades
TVThe Artful Dodger
2023
as Norbert Fagin
MovieThe Amazing Maurice
2022
as Boss Man / Rat King (voice)
MovieEnola Holmes 2
2022
as Grail
TVThe Sandman
2022
as John Dee
TVHuman Resources
2022
as Memory Bank Manager (voice)
TVLandscapers
2021
as Christopher Edwards
MovieRare Beasts
2021
as Vic
MovieZack Snyder's Justice League
2021
as Ares
MovieI'm Thinking of Ending Things
2020
as Father
MovieEternal Beauty
2020
as Mike
MovieGuest of Honour
2020
as Jim
TVBarkskins
2020
as Claude Trepagny
TVThe Feed
2019
as Lawrence Hatfield
MovieBeyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
2018
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Mercy
2018
as Rodney Hallworth
MovieJustice League
2017
as Ares
MovieHarry Potter: A History Of Magic
2017
as Himself
TVBig Mouth
2017
as Shame Wizard (voice)
MovieWonder Woman
2017
as Sir Patrick / Ares
MovieNone of Them Are You: Crafting Anomalisa
2016
as Self
MovieAnomalisa
2015
as Michael Stone (voice)
MovieRegression
2015
as Professor Kenneth Raines
MovieMacbeth
2015
as Duncan
MovieAn Inspector Calls
2015
as Inspector Goole - The Inspector
MovieLegend
2015
as Leslie Payne
MovieQueen & Country
2015
as Sargeant Major Bradley
MovieThe Theory of Everything
2014
as Dennis Sciama
MovieStonehearst Asylum
2014
as Mickey Finn
TVFargo
2014
as V.M. Vargas
Sunday Roast
2014
as Dick Puck
MovieSeparate We Come, Separate We Go
2013
as Norman
MovieThe Fifth Estate
2013
as Nick Davies
MovieThe Zero Theorem
2013
as Joby
MovieRED 2
2013
as The Frog
MovieFinal Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
2012
as (archive footage)
MovieWar Horse
2011
as Lyons
MovieThe Lady
2011
as Michael Aris
MovieAnonymous
2011
as William Cecil
MovieHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2011
as Remus Lupin
MovieThe Organ Grinder's Monkey
2011
as Pablo (voice)
MovieHow to Get a Head in Sculpture
2011
as Self
MovieHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010
as Remus Lupin
MovieLondon Boulevard
2010
as Jordan
MovieMr. Nice
2010
as Jim McCann
MovieAthena
2010
as Chuck
MovieHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2009
as Remus Lupin
MovieVeronika Decides to Die
2009
as Dr. Blake
MovieThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
2008
as Father
MovieThe Inner Life of Martin Frost
2007
as Martin Frost
MovieHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007
as Remus Lupin
MovieThe Omen
2006
as Keith Jennings
TVThe Street
2006
as Joe Jennerson / Harry Jennerson
MovieBasic Instinct 2
2006
as Roy Washburn
MovieAll the Invisible Children
2006
as Jonathan (segment "Jonathan")
MovieThe New World
2005
as Wingfield
MovieKingdom of Heaven
2005
as Hospitaler
MovieThe Magic Touch of Harry Potter
2004
as Self
MovieHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2004
as Remus Lupin
MovieLittle Wolf's Book of Badness
2003
as Mr. Twister (voice)
MovieTimeline
2003
as Robert Doniger
MovieCheeky
2003
as Harry Sankey
MovieCheck the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film
2003
as Self - Clov (archive footage)
MovieD.I.Y. Hard
2002
as Man
TVDinotopia
2002
as Cyrus Crabb
MovieDiscovering Dinotopia
2002
as Cyrus
MovieDinotopia
2002
as Cyrus Crabb
MovieHamilton Mattress
2002
as Hamilton Mattress (voice)
MovieGoodbye Charlie Bright
2001
as Charlie's Dad
MovieEndgame
2000
as Clov
MovieGangster No. 1
2000
as Freddie Mays
MovieThe Miracle Maker
2000
as Judas Iscariot (voice)
MovieWhatever Happened to Harold Smith?
2000
as Nesbit
MovieLove Story
1999
as Dealer
MovieDivorcing Jack
1998
as Dan Starkey
MovieThe Big Lebowski
1998
as Knox Harrington
MovieBesieged
1998
as Jason Kinsky
MovieSeven Years in Tibet
1997
as Peter Aufschnaiter
MovieAmerican Perfekt
1997
as Santini
MovieThe Making of 'DragonHeart'
1997
as Self
MovieThe Island of Dr. Moreau
1996
as Douglas
MovieDragonHeart
1996
as King Einon
MovieJames and the Giant Peach
1996
as Earthworm (voice)
MovieRestoration
1995
as John Pearce
MovieTotal Eclipse
1995
as Paul Verlaine
TVDandelion Dead
1994
as Oswald Martin
MovieDreamtown: A Brief Anatomy of Blackpool
1994
as Self
MovieBlack Beauty
1994
as Jerry Barker
MovieNaked
1993
as Johnny
TVFrank Stubbs Promotes
1993
as Mike Bence
MovieThe Trial
1993
as Franz
MovieDamage
1992
as Detective
Black and Blue
1992
as Crematorium Attendant
MovieSwords at Teatime
1992
as Mike
MovieAfraid of the Dark
1991
as Locksmith / Tom Miller
Journey to Knock
1991
as Terry
MovieFilipina Dreamgirls
1991
as Tim Shanks
Skulduggery
1991
as Tony
TVPrime Suspect
1991
as James Jackson
MovieLife Is Sweet
1991
as Nicola's Lover
TVShrinks
1991
as Terry Slater
TVOranges Are Not the Only Fruit
1990
as Doctor
TVScreen One
1989
as Tim Shanks
MovieResurrected
1989
as Kevin Deakin
TVA Bit of a Do
1989
MovieVroom
1988
as Ringe
MovieDeep Red Instant Love
1988
MovieLittle Dorrit
1987
as George Braddle
MovieThe Short & Curlies
1987
as Clive
MovieRoad
1987
as Joey
TVValentine Park
1987
as Max
TVThe Singing Detective
1986
as Soldier
TVScreenPlay
1986
as Joey
MovieRadio Pictures
1985
as JIM 'Grams'
Summer Season
1985
as Keith
TVScreen Two
1985
as Franz
TVOnly Fools and Horses
1981
as Stew
