David Thewlis is an English film, television and stage character actor, as well as a writer. David Thewlis is the son of Maureen and Alec Raymond Wheeler. Both of his parents worked at his father`s shop.

As a teenager, David Thewlis played in a rock band, and later he played lead guitar with a punk rock band. As a musician he was doing nicely. Thewlis was educated at Highfield High School, a state secondary school in Marton in the town of Blackpool in Lancashire.

David Thewlis enrolled in the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and graduated in 1984. When David Thewlis went to register with the actors union, he intended to use Wheeler as his stage name, but was already taken. His mother`s maiden name was the first that came to mind.