Wilkinson starred in the horror comedy "Burke and Hare", which is directed by John Landis. He portrayed a covert CIA agent in Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer". He played another historical character, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., in the 2011 television miniseries "The Kennedys", for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. He and his wife portrayed husband and wife Joe and Rose Kennedy. Earlier that year, he appeared in "The Green Hornet" and "".