David Thewlis (né Wheeler) is a British actor, who portrayed Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter films. His first appearance was in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Life and career[]
Thewlis was born David Wheeler on the 20 March 1963, in Blackpool, England. As a teenager, he played in a rock band called QED and played lead guitar with a punk rock band called Door 66.
He moved to London with his band, Door 66, but chose to pursue an acting career along with his friends and entered the Guildhall School of Drama and he was graduated in 1984. His acting career has come along in moderate steps: studies at the Guild Hall School of Music and Drama, theater at the National and the Royal Court, small roles in movies like "The Trial" and "Afraid of the Dark".
His breakout role was in the film, 1993's Naked which won him high acclaim and many awards, including the New York critics award and he was established as one of the great actors of his generation. Thewlis directed "Hello Hello Hello" in 1995, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film.
In 2001, Thewlis starred along future co-star Michael Gambon in a TV-movie adaptation of Samuel Beckett's Endgame, playing Clov, the beleaguered servant of Gambon's Hamm. In 2003 he wrote, directed and starred in feature "Cheeky". In 2007, Thewlis wrote and published his first novel, The Late Hector Kipling.
David is banned from entering China due to his role in Seven Years in Tibet.
Thewlis in the Mike Leigh film Naked
David Thewlis also played a role in Black Beauty. David also played the role of Ralph, Bruno's father, in the film adaption of "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Pajamas)". David played the role of lead antagonist King Einon in the movie Dragonheart, co-starring Jason Isaacs as one of his knights and Julie Christie as his mother. He also appeared in the film Timeline (2003) as a minor role.
Thewlis also had a small role in the Steven Speilberg film, War Horse (2012), and a main role in the film Total Eclipse, where he had to kiss Leonardo DiCaprio.
In 2017, Thewlis appeared in the live-action film adaption of DC Comic's Wonder Woman as Sir Patrick, who during the climax of the film was revealed to be the God of War Ares. Ares "reappeared" in the 2017 film Justice League (featuring Ezra Miller and Ciarán Hinds), although Thewlis did not film any scenes, instead his face was superimposed onto that of stuntman Nick McKinless. In same year he appeared as V. M. Varga, main antagonist of the third season of "Fargo". His performance was critically acclaimed and earned him nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award,Critic's Choice Television Award and Golden Globe for supporting role. He also voiced the Shame Wizard in the Netflix animated sitcom "Big Mouth" (2017-present) and it's spin-off "Human Resources" (2022-present).
He's started as Jake's Dad in Netflix film "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" in 2020 and in 2021 he played Christopher Edwards in SKY HBO miniseries "Landscapers". Also in same year his second book, "Shooting Martha", was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. In 2022 he played John Dee in Netflix drama series The Sandman, Grail in Enola Holmes 2 (featuring Helena Bonham Carter) and voiced the Bossman in The Amazing Maurice.
Personal life[]
He was married to Welsh director and actress Sara Sugarman from 1992 until 1994. He then had a relationship with English actress Kate Hardie for 3 years.
He was in a long-term relationship with English actress Anna Friel from 2001 until late 2010. Their daughter, Gracie, was born on 9 July 2005.
Thewlis has been married to French designer Hermine Poitou since 5 August 2016. They live in Sunningdale, Berkshire.
Behind the scenes[]
- Like Adrian Rawlins, David Thewlis was born almost at the same date as his character, though they only share the same birth month: March.
- Thewlis was originally considered to play Professor Quirrell in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, although the role went to Ian Hart.
- David's childhood dreams was to once play a werewolf. He was glad he was able to make that dream come true in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
- Thewlis was disappointed about his smaller appearances in the films, expressing a desire to be more involved.
- Thewlis' portrayal of Ares makes him the third Potter actor to portray an antagonistic Greek God in a movie after Maggie Smith, who portrayed Thetis, and Ralph Fiennes, who portrayed Hades.
- Incidentally both Smith & Fiennes' portrayals were in the "Clash of the Titans" movies.
- Thewlis starred alongside Callum Turner in the 2014 film Queen and Country.
