2010–2011: Early career Prior to graduating from Queensland University of Technology in
Brisbane, Thwaites made his film debut in
Charge Over You, a 2010 independent film. After he graduated, Thwaites appeared in an episode of
Sea Patrol and in the short film
Headsmen. In November 2010, Thwaites was cast in a new
Fox8 Australian
teen drama series,
Slide. The show follows five Brisbane teenagers making their way to adulthood. Thwaites believes his character,
Luke Gallagher, "stands back a bit. He watches. He's struggling with family issues. He's drawn in as it was a chance to find better friends and an opportunity to be part of a group. He's a cool, accepted kid. Some friends he can love and help him mature."
2012–2016: Film roles and continued success Following Thwaites' relocation to the United States, he signed on to play the male lead in the 2012 television film
Blue Lagoon: The Awakening opposite
Indiana Evans. The film received generally mixed reviews, with
Zap2it praising both Thwaites and Evans' "(mostly) believable" acting and
The New York Times saying their performances were superior to those of the leads in
the first film of the series. In 2013, Thwaites starred in the psychological/supernatural horror film
Oculus as the male lead Tim Russell. Production on the film began in October 2012 in Alabama, and was completed a few weeks later. The film was first released on 5 September 2013, at the
2013 Toronto International Film Festival, and received a worldwide theatrical release on 11 April 2014. His performance as Russell was well received by
Indiewire, which claimed that Thwaites maintained a "credibly frightened demeanor" throughout the film. In 2014, Thwaites briefly returned to Australia for the filming of crime thriller
Son of a Gun. Primarily shot in Perth, Kalgoorlie and Melbourne, Thwaites had to audition for the part of JR "up to 10 times before landing the role." Regarding his character, Thwaites said, "I jumped at the opportunity to audition when this came up and I found the character was a very vulnerable kid amongst strange men that are in some way an inspiration. I just thought that was interesting as a young man myself." Thwaites received critical acclaim for his portrayal of JR, with
Variety contending that he "makes a suitably keen-eyed, clean-scrubbed lead, retaining a kind of porous naivete even as the character gets his blood up" and
The Sydney Morning Herald praising his role as the embattled hero of the plot. The film premiered in Australia on 16 October 2014. In 2014, Thwaites appeared in
Maleficent as
Prince Phillip. A
Maleficent sequel was released in 2019, but
Harris Dickinson was recast in Thwaites' role as he was unable to return due to scheduling conflicts. Additionally, he starred in
The Signal as the male lead, Nic Eastman. The film opened at the
Sundance Film Festival in January, seven months after shooting on location in the desert of New Mexico. Thwaites received praise in a review by
The Plain Dealer that noted his performance in
The Signal was "as a compelling presence in the driver's seat as things get freakier and freakier around him." Later in the year, Thwaites also had the lead role in
The Giver, playing Jonas. Primarily filmed in South Africa, However, his portrayal was well received by the
Huffington Post, who commended Thwaites' acting and by
The Plain Dealer, which noted that the "fast-rising Thwaites...does a nice job with the lead role." He was awarded the
Australians in Film "Breakthrough Award" for his role in
The Giver. Thwaites starred in
Gods of Egypt. He played Bek, a human thief.
Principal photography on the film began on 20 March 2014 at the
Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, and the film was released worldwide on 26 February 2016.
2017–present: Pirates of the Caribbean and Titans Thwaites starred in the fantasy-adventure sequel
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which was released on 26 May 2017. Thwaites portrays
Henry Turner, the son of franchise characters
Will Turner and
Elizabeth Swann. Shooting of the film commenced in February 2015, on the
Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia. Following
Pirates, Thwaites had a leading role in the 2017
Christian film,
An Interview with God, portraying a young journalist, Paul Asher. Thwaites was then cast as
Dick Grayson / Robin in the
DC Universe series
Titans which began airing in 2018. ==Personal life==