He has also had a career in film, as a soundtrack composer as well as an actor. He appeared as "Dr. Stringz" in a 2007 episode of Jack's Big Music Show. In 2010, he appeared on a TED Talk performing his music. He wrote and performed "The Whistling Caruso" for "The Muppets" movie in 2011, and composed the score for the television series "Baskets", released in 2016. In 2019, Andrew Bird was cast for the fourth installment of "Fargo", playing, "a character, written specifically for him, named 'Thurman Smutney.'" In 2020 he released a "Meditative Story" about the musical turning point in his life that led up to making Weather Systems, scored with original music.