Ferrer began his acting career in the early 1980s making guest appearances on episodic television. He played the younger version of his father's character on "Magnum, P.I." in 1981. In 1983, he was given a small part as a waiter in "The Man Who Wasn't There". He also had a minor role in "" (1984) as the "U.S.S. Excelsior" helm officer. In 1984, he directed the Mark Medoff play “When Ya Coming Back, Red Ryder?” at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida. He had a major role in the 1987 action movie "RoboCop" as the cocaine-snorting aspiring corporate executive Bob Morton. Ferrer's notable later roles include a sinister biker in "Valentino Returns," an overzealous engineer in "DeepStar Six" (1989), a resourceful vigilante in "Revenge" (1990), Commander Arvid Harbinger in the comedy "Hot Shots! Part Deux" (1993), Lloyd Henreid in the Stephen King miniseries "The Stand" (1994), and a drug informant in "Traffic" (2000). He occasionally took on lead parts as well, such as "The Harvest" and "The Night Flier."