[1] He started acting in school and Cosmopolitan Club theatre plays, taking the lead in 'Treasure Island', 'Sweeney Todd', and 'The Beggar's Uproar' (sic).

[3] In 1980 he was Juan in Love in a Cold Climate,[2] and in 1981 played the supporting role of Major Gobler in the feature film, Raiders of the Lost Ark,[1] starring Harrison Ford and directed by Steven Spielberg.

[4] Higgins played the role of Stephan in the American film production of Quartet,[1] opposite French actress Isabelle Adjani in 1981.

In the same year the British director Peter Greenaway chose Higgins for the leading role in his breakthrough film The Draughtsman's Contract.

[2] In 1985 Higgins appeared as the cuckolded husband in Nagisa Oshima's Max, Mon Amour with Charlotte Rampling.

Throughout the 1980s Higgins appeared in supporting roles in many television series such as Lace,[1] Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story, with Armand Assante, and Reilly, Ace of Spies,[2] with Sam Neill.