In the early 1990s, he lived with fellow actor Jerome Flynn and earned money by signing fan mail for the successful star of "Soldier Soldier". In his debut feature film, "Hear My Song" (Peter Chelsom, 1991), Nesbitt played Fintan O'Donnell, a struggling theatrical agent and friend of Mickey O'Neill (Adrian Dunbar). A "New York Times" critic wrote, "the jaunty, bemused Mr. Nesbitt, manages to combine soulfulness with sly humor". The praise he received made him self-assured and complacent; in 2001, he recalled, "When I did "Hear My Song", I disappeared so far up my own arse afterwards. I thought, 'Oh, that's it, I've cracked it.' And I'm glad that happened, because you then find out how expendable actors are." His attitude left him out of work for six months after the film was released. Until 1994, he mixed his stage roles with supporting roles on television in episodes of "Boon", "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles", "Covington Cross", "Lovejoy", and "Between the Lines". In 1993, he appeared in "Love Lies Bleeding", an instalment of the BBC anthology series "Screenplay" and his first appearance in a production directed by Michael Winterbottom; he later appeared in "Go Now" (1995), "Jude" (1996) and "Welcome to Sarajevo" (1997). A "Guardian" journalist wrote that "he showed himself to be a generous supporting actor" in "Jude" and "Sarajevo".