Acting

He changed his surname to Thewlis, his mother's maiden name, after attempting to register with the actors' union and discovering that his birth name was already being used by someone else. His first professional role after doing so was in the play Buddy Holly at the Regal in Greenwich^[5] and in a commercial for Kellogg's Bran Flakes. In theatre, Thewlis has starred in Sam Mendes' The Sea at the Royal National Theatre, Max Stafford-Clark's Ice Cream at the Royal Court Theatre, The Ruffian on the Stairs/The Woolley at Farnham, and The Lady and the Clarinet at the King's Head Theatre.

He went on to play small roles in high-profile series such as BBC's Only Fools and Horses in 1985 and The Singing Detective in 1986, before being offered a more significant part in Alan Clarke's Road and in the ITV sitcom Valentine Park in 1987. That same year Thewlis made his film debut in Little Dorrit.

His first big-screen leading role was opposite Clive Owen in the little-seen Vroom directed by Beeban Kidron in 1988, and he then starred in Paul Greengrass's anti-Falklands drama Resurrected in 1989, playing a presumed-dead soldier who returns to Britain. He also collaborated with Mike Leigh on Life Is Sweet in 1990, in which he played Jane Horrocks' character's lover, licking chocolate sauce off her naked body. He continued playing low-key supporting roles in films such as Damage in 1992, directed by Louis Malle and The Trial in 1993 directed by David Hugh Jones.

Thewlis's breakout role was 1993's Naked, as the main character, Johnny, a homeless, highly intelligent, embittered, rambling street philosopher, for which Thewlis was established as one of the great actors of his generation and 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. That same year, he appeared on television as a sexual predator named James Jackson in Prime Suspect 3, opposite Helen Mirren and Ciarán Hinds.

During the 1990s, Thewlis 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 television film of Samuel Beckett's Endgame (2000). Notable appearances also include Bernardo Bertolucci's Besieged (1998), the Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski (1998), and Paul McGuigan's Gangster No. 1 (2000), opposite Paul Bettany and Malcolm McDowell.

He auditioned for the role of Quirinus Quirrell in the Chris Columbus directed film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but the part went to Ian Hart. Despite missing out on the first film, he was cast in 2004 as Professor Remus Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He did not have to audition as he was director Alfonso Cuarón's first choice for the role.^[6] Thewlis reprised the role in four other films in the series.

He appeared as an SS Commandant of a Nazi death camp and father of the main character in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which was well received. Other credits include Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Terrence Malick's The New World (2005), and The Omen (2006).

Thewlis played 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. In 2012, he received an International Festival of Independent Cinema Off Plus Camera Award. In the same year, he also played in Separate We Come, Separate We Go, directed by Harry Potter co-star Bonnie Wright.

In June 2015, Thewlis was reported to be filming scenes for a Donald Crowhurst biopic, The Mercy, on the beach at Teignmouth, Devon, playing Donald Crowhurst's press agent, Rodney Hallworth, while Colin Firth would play Donald Crowhurst.^[7] He also starred in Regression, a thriller released in autumn 2015. In September 2015, Thewlis starred as Inspector Goole in Helen Edmundson's BBC TV adaptation of J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls. In October 2015, he played King Duncan in the film Macbeth.

Thewlis portrayed Ares in Wonder Woman (2017), the DC Comics film featuring the character of the same name.^[8][9] He briefly reprised his role as Ares in Justice League (2017). That same year, he appeared as V. M. Varga, the main antagonist of the third season of Fargo. His performance was critically acclaimed,^[10][11][12] and earned him nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award, Critics' Choice Television Award and Golden Globe Award as a supporting actor.

He has voiced the Shame Wizard in the Netflix animated sitcom Big Mouth (2017–present) and its spin-off Human Resources (2022–2023).

Thewlis starred in the Netflix film I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020), the HBO miniseries Landscapers (2021), the Netflix drama series The Sandman (2022), the Netflix film Enola Holmes 2 (2022), and the animated film The Amazing Maurice (2022). In 2023, he played Fagin in The Artful Dodger.

Filmmaking

Thewlis directed Hello, Hello, Hello in 1995, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film. He also wrote, directed and starred in the feature Cheeky (2003).^[13]

Writing

Thewlis's black comedy novel set in the art world, The Late Hector Kipling, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2007.^[14] His second book, Shooting Martha, was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2021.^[15]

Upcoming roles

Thewlis will appear in the film Littlemouth,^[16] and has been cast as Peylak in the third, fourth and fifth installments in the Avatar film series.

He will also portray the Greek god Hades in the Netflix series Kaos, and star as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock & Daughter for The CW.^[17]

Film

Television

Video games