Baryshnikov performed in his first film role soon after arriving in New York. He portrayed the character Yuri Kopeikine, a famous, womanizing Russian ballet dancer, in the 1977 film "The Turning Point", for which he received an Oscar nomination. He co-starred with Gregory Hines and Isabella Rossellini in the 1985 film "White Nights", choreographed by Twyla Tharp, and was featured in the 1987 film "Dancers." On television, in the last season of "Sex and the City", he played a Russian artist, Aleksandr Petrovsky, who woos Carrie Bradshaw relentlessly and takes her to Paris. He co-starred in "Company Business" (1991) with Gene Hackman.