For his role as American president John F. Kennedy in Thirteen Days (2000), he won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.

He has appeared in other supporting roles in such films as Double Jeopardy (1999), I, Robot (2004), Capote (2005), Déjà Vu (2006), I'm Not There (2007), National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), Meek's Cutoff (2010), Flight (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), The Post (2017), and Doctor Sleep (2019).

Elsewhere (Dr. Seth Griffin, 1986–1988) and Knots Landing (Pierce Lawton, 1991–92), and starred in the UPN series Nowhere Man (Thomas Veil, 1995–96).

[7] He also guest-starred in one episode of the popular Canadian show Road to Avonlea, for which he won a Gemini Award for "Best Guest Performance in a Series by an Actor".

[14] He was the lead for the Steven Spielberg–produced 2012 ABC series The River,[15] and reprised his role as Admiral Christopher Pike for J. J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness.

[16] In 2015, he had a recurring role in the last season of Mad Men as Richard Burghoff, a romantic interest for Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks).