2. David Thewlis
Why He's Awesome... Just to get it out of the way, it is true that David Thewlis played a fantastic Remus Lupin. He can be given a slightly frazzled academic appearance while still being rugged enough to keep up with Sirius Black's shenanigans. His ability to dress up and drab down has served him well throughout his career. He's made appearances in recent films, such as the sour land lord in
War Horse, as an unflattering rendition of William Cecil in the questionable film
Anonymous, and he's been playing these sorts of excellent supporting characters for a number of years. He's done kindly and quirky advisers to spiteful antagonists, and several degrees in between, as any actor worth his salt should be able to do. He brings a developed feel to even the seemingly insignificant background characters he adopts.
Yet Isn't Given Credit For... This man is a jack of all trades too often stuck playing second fiddle. In addition to his light or mild roles, he can adopt a vindictive personality that makes him a brilliant villain. He plays a venomous gangster in
Gangster No. 1, and the aloof and negligent, as well as villainous, Father in
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Both his good and bad character personalities translate well to main character roles, such as the cheeky, contrary, and pernicious character Johnny in the film
Naked from 1993. Despite acting on par with colleagues like Gary Oldman and Malcolm McDowell, and proving himself to be both a main character actor in addition to diverse secondary roles, David Thewlis remains quietly in the background as his peers are (not undeservedly) raised to great heights and praise.