David Thewlis initially aspired to be a rock musician and played guitar as a teenager with two punk rock bands. After graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he became interested in acting and registered with the actors’ union. Thewlis began his on-screen career with small roles on the TV shows Only Fools and Horses…, Summer Season, Up the Elephant and Round the Castle, and The Singing Detective. His film debut was in the 1988 film Vroom, and since then he has appeared in over 70 movies and TV series, including Black Beauty, James and the Giant Peach, Dragonheart, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Seven Years in Tibet, The Big Lebowski, The Siege, Dinotopia, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Basic Instinct 2, The Omen, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Anonymous, and War Horse. He turns 50 today.