After several early television roles, including "The Henderson Kids" alongside Kylie Minogue, he attracted notice in his breakout film, "The Year My Voice Broke" (1987), and won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Supporting Actor. His next major role was in "The Big Steal" (1990), and "Spotswood" (1992), co-starring with Anthony Hopkins; this was followed in 1994 by "Metal Skin" and in 1996 by "Cosi" and "Idiot Box". In 2000, he was in two contrasting films, the Australian "Mullet" and the Hollywood "Vertical Limit".