David Thewlis

David Thewlis (nÃ© David Wheeler; born 20 March 1963) is an English actor of stage and screen. His most commercially successful role to date has been that of Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter film series. Other notable performances include his work in the films Naked (1993), Timeline (2003), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), The Omen (2006), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), London Boulevard (2010) and War Horse (2011). He made his name known in 1993 with his performance of Johnny in Naked and with his performance of main antagonist King Einon in the 1996 film Dragonheart. He has also done voice work in the films James and the Giant Peach (1996) and The Miracle Maker (2000).

Early life

David, second of three children, was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, the son of Maureen (nÃ©e Thewlis) and Alec Raymond Wheeler. Both parents worked at his father's shop. As a teenager, he played in a rock band called QED, and played lead guitar with a punk rock band called Door 66. He was educated at Highfield High School, a state secondary school in Marton, Blackpool. Later, he enrolled in the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, graduating in 1984.

Career

He had a minor role in an episode of the 1980s sitcom Up the Elephant and Round the Castle. His first professional role was in the play Buddy Holly at the Regal in Greenwich. His first major film role was as the rambling street philosopher Johnny in Naked (1993; dir. Mike Leigh), for which he was named best actor by the National Society of Film Critics (United States), the London Film Critics Circle, the Evening Standard, the New York Film Critics' Circle and the Cannes Film Festival. The same year, he appeared on television as a sexual predator named James Jackson in Prime Suspect 3, opposite Helen Mirren and CiarÃ¡n Hinds. Prior to this, his first television appearance was alongside Ken Jones in Valentine Park. Through the 1990s, he appeared in a variety of films, mostly fantasy and period, including Restoration (1995), Black Beauty (1994), Total Eclipse (1995) with Leonardo DiCaprio, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), Dragonheart (1996) and Seven Years in Tibet (1997), opposite Brad Pitt. He was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Divorcing Jack (1998), and played Clov in a (2000) television film of Samuel Beckett's Endgame. Notable appearances also include Bernardo Bertolucci's Besieged (1998) and Paul McGuigan's Gangster No. 1 (2000), opposite Paul Bettany and Malcolm McDowell.

He auditioned for the role of Quirrell in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but the part went to Ian Hart. Despite missing out on the first film, in 2004, he was cast as Professor Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He didn't have to audition as he was director Alfonso CuarÃ³n's first choice for the role. He reprised the role in four other films in the series.

He also appears as an SS Commandant of a Nazi death camp, father of the main character in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Recent credits include Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Terrence Malick's The New World (2005) and The Omen (2006). As a director, he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film for Hello, Hello, Hello (1995); he has also written, directed and starred in the feature Cheeky (2003). When researching for his role in Kingdom of Heaven, he went to the Hospitaller museum near his home, and the first thing he saw was a mannequin wearing the same costume that he wore in the film.

He plays the late Dr. Michael Aris, husband of Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, with Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh as Suu Kyi, in the biopic The Lady directed by Luc Besson.

He received a International Festival of Independent Cinema Off Plus Camera Award in 2012.

Personal life

In 1992, David married director Sara Sugarman; they divorced in 1994. He then had a brief relationship with Bill Oddie's daughter Kate Hardie. In 2001, he began a relationship with actress Anna Friel, who he met on a flight to Cannes. They have one child together. Friel and Thewlis ended their relationship in late 2010, after almost a decade.

David owns a converted Victorian ballroom in Clerkenwell. He also is often mistaken for fellow actor Rhys Ifans: "Twice a week, people come up to me and say, 'You were great in Notting Hill'. The public seem to think we are the same person." David's ex-partner Anna Friel has been in a relationship with Rhys Ifans since 2011. David has also written a novel called The Late Hector Kipling, published by Simon & Schuster in 2007.