David Thewlis Quotes

Powerful David Thewlis for Daily Growth

About David Thewlis

David Thewlis, born on March 20, 1963, in North Shields, England, is a versatile and accomplished British actor who has made significant contributions to the film industry over the past three decades. His journey into acting began at an early age when he joined the youth theatre group 'North Tyneside Youth Theatre' at 15 years old. Thewlis's professional acting career kicked off in 1986 with a role in Alan Bleasdale's television series 'G.B.H.' followed by roles in films like 'Hope and Glory' (1987) and 'The Believers' (1987). However, his breakthrough performance came as the title character in Mike Leigh's 1993 film 'Naked,' a role that earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Actor. Throughout his career, Thewlis has demonstrated a remarkable ability to embody various roles, from the iconic remorseful vampire, Remus Lupin in the 'Harry Potter' series (2001-2011), to a complex and layered performance as the enigmatic Narciso in Guillermo del Toro's 'Pan's Labyrinth' (2006). He has also worked with acclaimed directors such as Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and Terrence Malick. Thewlis's personal life is equally fascinating. He is married to actress Anna Friel and is the father of two children. In addition to his acting career, he is also a painter and has held exhibitions in London and New York. His art, like his acting, often explores themes of identity, existence, and human connection. David Thewlis continues to captivate audiences with his raw, intense performances, making him one of the most compelling actors of our time. His body of work is a testament to his talent, versatility, and dedication to his craft.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We're all just passing through this life."

This quote by David Thewlis implies a perspective that human life is temporary, fleeting, and part of a larger journey. It encourages us to recognize that everyone, regardless of status or circumstance, shares the common experience of living and moving through existence. It's a reminder to prioritize our time wisely, connect deeply with others, and live intentionally, knowing we are all on this shared path called life.

"Life is a mystery, and it begins with you."

This quote by David Thewlis implies that each individual is at the center of their own life journey, and that understanding one's self is essential to navigating and making sense of the complexities of life. It suggests that while life presents many unknowns and mysteries, personal introspection and self-awareness are vital keys in unlocking these enigmas, thereby giving meaning and purpose to our lives. The quote also encourages each person to embrace their unique experiences and perspectives, understanding that they hold the power to shape their own destiny and unravel life's mysteries for themselves.

"You have to follow your instincts, even if they lead you off a cliff."

This quote by David Thewlis suggests that one should trust their gut feelings or intuition, even when it leads to uncertain or potentially risky situations. It encourages individuals to take bold steps, venture into uncharted territories, and follow their passions, despite the potential challenges they may face along the way. The "cliff" symbolizes the unknown, but the implication is that such leaps of faith can lead to personal growth, self-discovery, and potentially great rewards.

"The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he didn't exist." (This quote is actually attributed to Charles Parker in the film "The Usual Suspects," but it is often mistakenly associated with Thewlis due to his role in the movie.)

This quote signifies that the most effective deception is one that makes people doubt or ignore the existence of something dangerous or harmful, thereby allowing it to thrive unchallenged. It suggests a warning about underestimating or ignoring potential threats, as they can have significant and potentially disastrous consequences. In essence, the devil (or any malevolent force) doesn't need to be overtly obvious; its power lies in convincing people it is not real, allowing it to manipulate and control without detection.

"You know, you can do anything if you have enthusiasm."

This quote by David Thewlis emphasizes the importance of enthusiasm in achieving one's goals or accomplishments. Enthusiasm is a powerful force that drives individuals to take action, persist through challenges, and maintain optimism even in the face of obstacles. When we are enthusiastic about something, we are more likely to find creative solutions, work diligently, and stay motivated until we reach our desired outcome. In other words, enthusiasm is a key ingredient for success in any endeavor.

'Naked' kind of kicked me off into the film world. It just so happens that all of the things that I have been offered have been films, and I've enjoyed the travel that goes along with that.

- David Thewlis

Kind, Been, Films, Kicked

I see people around me with very unhappy love lives, who may have held out for that perfect somebody. And the failure to achieve that brings along a lot of bitterness which is very unattractive; therefore they're probably less likely to achieve it.

- David Thewlis

Love, Perfect, Very, Bitterness

What is truth? What is a true story? Who is telling the truth, and what is truth in this world today?

- David Thewlis

Truth, World, Telling, True Story

I keep myself content by doing lots of different stuff and make sure that my next role is completely different to the last. I just enjoy the versatility of it, the challenge of doing lots of different things. It keeps the job interesting.

- David Thewlis

Doing, Next, Sure, Versatility

Publishing a novel was such a proud thing for me. When I was a kid, I used to say to my mum and dad, 'I'm going to write a book. You'll see.' So when I did ,and it was published, and people liked it, it was great.

- David Thewlis

Kid, Mum, Dad, Mum And Dad

I thought 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' was terrible. I'm a big fan of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, so I don't know what went wrong with that.

- David Thewlis

Thought, Big, Factory, None

It's certainly not easy having to spend a lot of time apart, and having a five-year-old child who's got to be at school. So we need to learn how to organize our time really well because for months we will be in two different countries.

- David Thewlis

Two, Got, Our, Five-Year-Old

I think Varga is a manifestation, certainly, and someone who can thrive and profit from the world's failure and has worked out the operation, whatever the operation may be, that he's about, which will remain a mystery.

- David Thewlis

Think, Which, Certainly, Profit

When I'm sat in the pub with my mates, they've got their stories: Richard and Tracy have split up, they went to Arsenal and this fight broke out... My anecdotes are like, 'I was in this bar, and Michelle Pfeiffer rang, and I had wax in my ear, so I couldn't hear what she was saying...'

- David Thewlis

Got, Had, Michelle, Pub

I was a young actor in my 20s, going out in Soho, having a wild time.

- David Thewlis

Young, Actor, Having, Young Actor

No matter what one looks at and finds temporarily pleasing, it can never be as beautiful as just a tree, really.

- David Thewlis

Beautiful, Never, Looks, Temporarily

The thing about 'Harry Potter' is it's great fun because of the people - I was usually with Julie Walters and Mark Williams, Brendan Gleeson, Robbie Coltrane, and the kids. Wonderful, funny, amazing people. If you're going to hang around on a set bored, you might as well do it with Julie Walters.

- David Thewlis

Hang, About, Harry, Great Fun

The making of 'Naked' was an absolutely phenomenal, mind-bending experience. That film was life-changing and put my career onto a whole different level.

- David Thewlis

Career, Making, Level, Phenomenal

I had no idea how one became an actor. I didn't know things such as drama schools existed. It all just sort of happened accidentally.

- David Thewlis

Idea, Had, Became, Accidentally

As soon as I have the script in my hand, I'll be up in my apartment room pacing up and down learning it because it's just such a lovely thing to do.

- David Thewlis

Learning, Lovely, Down, Pacing

The oddest things happen to me. It goes in seasons. Nothing will happen for a long time, and I miss it, and I remember how these strange coincidences used to happen to me and how amazing it was, how it made me want to believe in something. A year will go by, and then a slew of them will come along, like buses, one after another.

- David Thewlis

I Remember, Year, Another, Buses

I could, of course, have written about the film world and the jealousy there and the frequent belief that others don't have talent. But, for some reason, it just struck me to write about art.

- David Thewlis

Art, Reason, Some, Struck

I had such a nice time making it, and I can't wait to make the fifth one. The whole crew were just really, really lovely. All the costume people, the make-up girls, the kids - even my driver.

- David Thewlis

Wait, Make-Up, Had, Costume

After Cannes, my agent told me to get the next flight to LA. He was right. I had a part in 'Prime Suspect 3' by the end of the week.

- David Thewlis

Flight, Next, Prime, La

I don't think Alfonso was a big expert on Potter either. He was feeling his way through it more than I was.

- David Thewlis

Think, Big, Through, Potter

'Harry Potter' is very nice because it's very easy to make children happy. All you have to do is have your photograph taken with them.

- David Thewlis

Happy, Very, Harry, Potter

I don't think they should trust anything that happens in 'Fargo' at all, and I'm sure 'Fargo' fans know not to make the mistake of trusting too much.

- David Thewlis

Trust, Mistake, Think, Fargo

I often do that with characters, going back to my bloody drama-school days, in terms of equating them with creatures. And it's very much there as a theme of all the seasons of 'Fargo' as well: the predator and the prey.

- David Thewlis

Seasons, Prey, Very, Fargo

I wanted to do 'Fargo' rather than do a TV production. I've been offered TV things over the years, but usually, that's about that I don't want to be away from home for that long because it's a long time to be away your home country and my family.

- David Thewlis

Country, Been, TV, Fargo

I often draw from people in my own experience to base a character on, going back to my days with Mike Leigh.

- David Thewlis

My Own, Going, Mike, Base

I got hooked to American news like a great TV season. It plays like fiction. I would come home from work, and I would put it on, and I would stay up until 2 in the morning watching it and get up in the morning and watch it.

- David Thewlis

Fiction, TV, Hooked, Season

And it was only released in London last week, so when I go back to England Monday or whatever, I am expecting heaps of adulation. I'm hoping there is. If that doesn't happen I will be disappointed.

- David Thewlis

London, Week, Back, Adulation

Dad worked in the same shop, behind the same counter, five or six days a week, for 38 years, and hated it.

- David Thewlis

Behind, Six, Shop, Six Days

I've always tended to write comedy, but I'd hate to just write some kind of sitcom or a lighthearted series of jokes and slapstick. I wanted to talk about some deeper things within the comedy.

- David Thewlis

Some, Always, Lighthearted, Jokes

Well I am afraid that I am going to die, because I have just put a down payment on a house.

- David Thewlis

Die, Going, Am, Payment

I've realized over the years I either play very good people or very bad people, and I think I always enjoy the very bad people more.

- David Thewlis

Play, Always, Over, Bad People

'An Inspector Calls' is a British classic, and I am thrilled to be working on this beautiful screen adaptation with Aisling Walsh.

- David Thewlis

Adaptation, British, Screen, Thrilled

'Naked' propelled me into a whole other league. America started calling. I went over to Los Angeles and met all those people, and I started doing a few American films of various levels of quality.

- David Thewlis

Doing, Other, Whole, Levels

That's one of the main things I've learned: honesty is paramount. The biggest thing I try and instil in my daughter. My deepest regrets have been to do with times that I've been dishonest. There's nothing worse than getting caught out in a lie. It's excruciatingly embarrassing.

- David Thewlis

Regrets, Caught, Been, Embarrassing

You always have to look for something beautiful wherever you go.

- David Thewlis

Beautiful, Go, Always, Wherever

I enjoy things that are so far away from me; that's why, when I play things that are a little bit closer to me, I get really bored. When it's something that's the antithesis of what I am, there's much more to lose yourself in.

- David Thewlis

Enjoy, Play, Away, Bored

Playing a character who becomes a Buddhist was a great experience.

- David Thewlis

Character, Playing, Buddhist, Great Experience

I don't worry. I'm more stoical. Of course I have insecurities. I fear getting older. I fear death and illness. I'm not prone to depression, but I get depressed because everybody gets depressed. Suddenly I'm away from my family or doing a job I'm not enjoying.

- David Thewlis

Doing, Away, Everybody, Prone

I'd had a relationship with a French girl, a Japanese girl, an American girl, a Filippina and she was there all the time - a Lancashire girl. I thought: 'It's a Lancashire girl I was looking for. Why didn't I realize it?'

- David Thewlis

Thought, Why, Had, French

What we do is ridiculous! I think that even when what I'm doing is serious, even when I'm not turning into a werewolf. It's a silly thing to do, isn't it? It's what you do in the playground when you're kids - but actors just never stop doing it.

- David Thewlis

Doing, Think, I Think, Never Stop

I used to write out of angst. My writing was quite miserable, quite angry, even when it was funny. It was based on this sadness and tired emotional disdain for the world.

- David Thewlis

Miserable, Emotional, Based, Disdain

I think the most beautiful sound is a child laughing.

- David Thewlis

Beautiful, Think, Most, Laughing

I can remember, after I started doing films, my mum began going to more arthouse films. She went to see 'Edward Scissorhands' and phoned me up and said: 'What was that all about? He had scissors on his hands.' Good question. I think she should review films on Channel 4.

- David Thewlis

Hands, Doing, I Think, Scissors

I kind of drifted into acting through a series of coincidences.

- David Thewlis

Kind, Through, Series, Drifted

It wasn't a good idea to work on 'Naked' in the first months of a marriage. I was living apart from my wife in a flat overflowing with books I was reading for the part.

- David Thewlis

Living, Months, Overflowing, Apart

I like tourists. I think it's nice to live in a town that people come from all over to visit.

- David Thewlis

Think, Over, I Think, Visit

Restoration I did because I really loved e novel and I like Michael Hoffman, who directed it, but it wasn't a really challenging part for me. I'm not critical of the film: I just don't think I gave a very interesting performance.

- David Thewlis

Critical, Part, Very, Novel

It was so boring, and 'Dragonheart' was so unchallenging - there was no research involved or any rehearsal. So I was in my hotel room every night with no English-language TV except 'Beavis and Butt-head' at 10 o'clock every night.

- David Thewlis

Night, Rehearsal, TV, Every Night

Trying to keep a relationship going on the phone is disastrous.

- David Thewlis

Trying, Phone, Going, Disastrous

You can't actually be just a movie actor in Britain, because we don't make that many movies.

- David Thewlis

Movie, Britain, Many, Movie Actor

The very best thing about doing it is seeing the reaction on kid's faces when you tell them you've done it.

- David Thewlis

Doing, Reaction, Very, Faces

Before Anna, I'd had a few relationships and I'm glad I've been around a bit. I know where it's gone wrong or know who are the wrong people for me and who I might be wrong for.

- David Thewlis

Been, Might, Before, Anna

I'd been a stepparent for about two years with a woman who had a child, and I came to realize I adored children and was good with them. So I was very happy when Anna got pregnant.

- David Thewlis

Woman, Been, Very, Anna

I must have read three-quarters of 'Anna Karenina' on my phone. Which might be a record.

- David Thewlis

Which, Read, Three-Quarters, Anna

You become judged entirely on your ability to bring in the dollars, and the fact that none of the films I did was a huge hit became significant.

- David Thewlis

Fact, Films, Became, Entirely

Most parts I've played since 'Naked,' I can barely remember who they were, let alone repeat any lines.

- David Thewlis

Naked, Played, Any, Lines

I did 'Basic Instinct 2' because I had a baby about to be born, and the director said we could shoot before the due date.

- David Thewlis

Date, Instinct, Before, Shoot

I really like Los Angeles. I like the weather, the openness of it, the beach, the mountains, the desert. I find it inspiring. I get quite a lot of writing done out there.

- David Thewlis

Mountains, Like, Angeles, Los Angeles

It's a bit odd to have a daughter who sounds American.

- David Thewlis

American, Sounds, Bit, Odd

People sometimes say, 'Why do you choose a part?' and sometimes it's not that I chose it but that that was the one that came along.

- David Thewlis

Sometimes, Why, Part, Chose

A lot of the city boys in London, a lot of the hedge-fund, young city workers at the height of the financial boom were a lot of working-class, brilliantly minded young fellows and women.

- David Thewlis

City, London, Working-Class, Height

Everybody knows someone like that: wonderful, attractive people full of passion and ideals. You envy them, but you know there's a dark side, which is brutal and cruel and violent. That dark side informs what's wonderful about them, and the passion and rage inform the darkness; they're inseparable.

- David Thewlis

Envy, Violent, Inseparable, Rage

I like time off. I'm not a workaholic.

- David Thewlis

Time, Like, Off, Workaholic

The whole question of 'What is truth?' seemed to be the theme of Trump's presidency.

- David Thewlis

Truth, Presidency, Trump, Theme

It wasn't the greatest script in the world, but not many people can say they've played a wicked king in a swashbuckling Arthurian special-effects monster movie.

- David Thewlis

King, Say, Movie, Wicked

I met the Coens here a few years ago and they said they liked my work.

- David Thewlis

Work, Here, Years Ago, Met

The world is enormously dangerous and scary. I worry very much for my daughter. I'm not sure we're in control any more, and I think the Internet is partly responsible for that.

- David Thewlis

Worry, Think, Very, Partly

It's not the easiest thing to have two actors in a family.

- David Thewlis

Family, Easiest, Thing, Easiest Thing

I've never been that bothered about doing stage or television. I just love doing films. With theatre, it goes on night after night.

- David Thewlis

Love, Been, Films, Bothered

I'm often cast as religious figures, good and bad, such as 'Kingdom Of Heaven.'

- David Thewlis

Bad, Religious, Cast, Heaven

I was still listening to the Beatles until I came here, you know.

- David Thewlis

Listening, Here, Still, I Came

Yeah, well that's the best thing about it, I think, is knowing kids and kids getting mental when they know you're in it. Any kid you meet and anyone I know tells the kid you're in it and they get short of breath.

- David Thewlis

Think, Kid, I Think, Breath

I had grown up in a toy shop in Blackpool and then moved to London to do an acting course.

- David Thewlis

London, Shop, Moved, Toy

We didn't need the Internet for Nazi Germany to happen. But I feel like there's this lack of humanity because of it.

- David Thewlis

Need, Happen, Like, Humanity

I started doing the big Hollywood stuff, and I realised, 'Oh, there's no rehearsal at all; you just turn up on the set, and sometimes you haven't even met the other actor, or the woman who's playing your wife, and you're suddenly in bed with them.'

- David Thewlis

Doing, Big, Bed, Suddenly

It's not my ambition to direct lots of films. I think if I direct one film in my whole life, why rush it?

- David Thewlis

Think, I Think, Films, Rush

One can only improvise what one knows.

- David Thewlis

Only, Knows, Improvise

I would consider myself one of the least misogynistic men in the country - if anything, just the opposite.

- David Thewlis

Myself, Country, Least, Consider

I paint a bit myself. My house in Clerkenwell has a room that is done up like a big installation.

- David Thewlis

Myself, Big, Like, Paint

For years, I've been mistaken for Rhys Ifans. All the time. People come up and say, 'Notting Hill?' I nearly got beaten up once for not being Rhys.

- David Thewlis

Been, Nearly, Beaten, Mistaken

In the prepping for 'Azkaban,' I read 'Azkaban' and 'Goblet of Fire.'

- David Thewlis

Read, Fire

I've been offered TV things over the years, but usually, that's about that I don't want to be away from home for that long, because it's a long time to be away your home country and my family.

- David Thewlis

Country, Been, TV, Offered

I adore children. If I weren't an actor, I would be a teacher or work with small children in some way. I feel happy in their company.

- David Thewlis

Work, Small, Some, Adore

I usually do watch what I've done because I think it's important. I think you can learn from it and see what you thought you were doing and what ends up on the screen.

- David Thewlis

Doing, Think, I Think, Screen

I don't think its good for the soul to invest too much of yourself in technology.

- David Thewlis

Soul, Think, Too, Invest

I'd only read a bit of the first book. And I just knew about all the media furor over it. But I'd not read books 2 or 3. I'd just read a bit of it. And I'd seen the films.

- David Thewlis

Over, Films, Read, Over It

I'm much more Buddhist. I mean, I'm not a Buddhist. I should be so lucky to be a Buddhist, a real Buddhist, but of all the things I investigated, that seems to make the most sense to me.

- David Thewlis

Lucky, More, Sense, Buddhist

In 'Seven Years In Tibet,' I played a Buddhist. But I'm not religious at all, really.

- David Thewlis

Seven, Religious, Played, Buddhist

I was interested in the idea of celebrity... some very untalented people getting very successful and making a lot of money for not a lot of work, sometimes.

- David Thewlis

Some, Making, Very, Celebrity

I am the sort of guy who does go to modern art shows.

- David Thewlis

Art, I Am, Shows, Modern Art

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