Grew up in Blackpool, England

Played lead guitar with a punk band based in Manchester

First professional performing job, in a Kellogg's Branflakes commercial shot in Miami (Thewlis's first trip to the USA)

Acted in Mike Leigh's comic short film, "The Short and Curlies"

Played a bit part as the "second soldier" on the PBS musical mystery miniseries, "The Singing Detective"

Feature acting debut in "Vroom"

Had first leading role in "Resurrected"

Made first feature with Leigh, "Life Is Sweet"

First leading TV role which aired on US television, "Filipina Dreamgirls" (a presentation on the Arts & Entertainment network)

Offered a bravura performance in "Naked", directed by Mike Leigh

Wrote and directed short film "Hello Hello Hello?"

Cast as French poet Paul Verlaine to Leonardo DiCaprio's Arthur Rimbaud in "Total Eclipse"

Voiced the Earthworm in the stop-motion animated film "James and the Giant Peach"

Acted alongside Marlon Brando in the remake of "The Island of Dr. Moreau"

Portrayed expedition leader Peter Aufschnaiter in "Seven Years in Tibet"

Had featured role in the Coen brothers' "The Big Lebowski"

Starred opposite Thandie Newton as a quirky pianist-composer in the love story "Besieged", a chamber drama directed by Bernardo Bertolucci

Provided the voice of Judas Iscariot in the British animated biblical drama "The Miracle Maker"; aired on ABC in the USA

Co-starred in the violent crime thriller "Gangster No. 1"

Appeared in TV production of Samuel Beckett's "Endgame"; screened at film festivals before airing on Irish and British TV in 2001

Was featured in the ABC miniseries "Dinotopia"

Helmed the film "Cheeky"

Starred in the Sci fi adventure "Timeline," based on the novel by Michael Crichton

Cast as Professor Lupin in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" directed by Alfonso Cuarón

Starred in Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" about the 12th-century Crusades

Cast in the Terrence Malick-scripted drama "The New World," about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers

Reprised the role originally played by David Warner in the remake of "The Omen"

Reprised the role of Professor Lupin in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"; directed by David Yates

Played the SS officer Ralf in "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas"

Reprised the role of Professor Lupin in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth film in the series