Netflix Sandman star’s forgotten tiny Only Fools and Horses role before he became huge Hollywood star
Do you remember this moment?
Anyone who has been enjoying Netflix’s latest hit The Sandman will be familiar with the face of David Thewlis by now. The actor plays supervillian John Dee in the epic fantasy series, adapted from the iconic comic series by Neil Gaiman. But you might have already recognised Thewlis from his roles in a couple of other hit TV shows.
Although he doesn’t seem to have aged much, before his starring role in The Sandman, Thewlis played a key character in another fantasy epic. Harry Potter fans will recognise the 59-year-old actor as the friendly face of Remus Lupin, who first appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when he was introduced as the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher.
Lupin, who was later revealed to be a werewolf, became a close friend and ally of Harry, Ron, and Hermione throughout the Harry Potter films, and Thewlis played the much loved role spectacularly right through to the final battle of Hogwarts. But TV and film fans whose memories stretch even further back will remember the actor from a hit show even before his wizarding days.
Only Fools and Horses fans with good memories will remember Thewlis for his appearance in the It’s Only Rock and Roll episode of t he BBC sitcom, as a member of Rodney Trotter’s band ‘A Bunch of Wallies’. His role was pretty minor, but the now-famous Thewlis must have been pretty star struck at the time when he got to play the group’s guitarist.
The role became just one of many that Thewlis went on to have under his belt. In more recent years the actor has played Ares in Justice League (2017), Sir Patrick in Wonder Woman (2017), Leslie Payne in Legend (2015), Father in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), Keith Jennings in The Omen (2006), and many more.
As well as films, Thewlis has appeared in a number of TV shows as well as Only Fools, including Dandelion Dead (1994), Dinotopia (2002), Fargo (2017), Barkskins (2020), and Big Mouth (2018-2020). He’s also set to play Peylak in Avatar 2, due for release next year. We’re excited to see what the actor has in store for us when we return to Pandora.
