He received critical acclaim for playing the title role in the USA Network television series Mr.

For his role as Mulgarath in fantasy series The Spiderwick Chronicles (2024-present), Slater received a nomination for the Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performer.

[1] In the 1990s, Slater starred in a number of big-budget films, including Young Guns II (1990), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Broken Arrow (1996), and Hard Rain (1998) as well as cult films like Gleaming the Cube (1989), Pump Up the Volume (1990) and True Romance (1993).

In addition to his live-action roles, Slater has had an extensive voice-acting career, with roles including Pips in FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Slater in Archer (2014–2023), Ushari in The Lion Guard (2016–2019), Rand Ridley in Inside Job (2021–2022), and Floyd Lawton / Deadshot in the DC Animated Movie Universe.

[6] Following a run on Ryan's Hope, he made his Broadway debut as the lisping Winthrop Paroo opposite Dick Van Dyke in the 1980 revival of The Music Man.

[2] Additional Broadway credits include Copperfield, Merlin, Macbeth, Side Man, and The Glass Menagerie.

Slater was chosen for the part over many other actors, including Brad Pitt, and his performance drew a comparison with a young Jack Nicholson.

After Heathers, Slater had offers to play other troubled youths, including a rebellious teen in Pump Up the Volume (1990) and a wild gunman in Young Guns II (1990).

In 1991, Slater was cast as Will Scarlett in the Hollywood big budget production of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves alongside Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman and Alan Rickman.

[8] With Slater being a big Star Trek fan (in addition to his mother, Mary Jo Slater, serving as the casting director for the film), he accepted a cameo role in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, shortly after playing Charlie Luciano in the crime drama Mobsters.

Slater co-starred with Ving Rhames in the film Soldiers of Fortune (2012), and in the Sylvester Stallone action thriller Bullet to the Head (2013), directed by Walter Hill.

Robot," who recruits Rami Malek's character, Elliot, into Slater's band of hackers called fsociety.

[14] For his performance, he earned the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2016, with additional nominations in 2017 and 2018.

Robot, Slater announced in 2013 that he was developing and making a film based on Will Viharo's 1993 neo-noir novel Love Stories Are Too Violent for Me,[16] the first of three works to feature Vic Valentine.

He also made a short film for HP called The Wolf, which shows how easily malware can spread on unprotected printers and computers.

[7] In 2003, Haddon was arrested for assaulting Slater during an argument at a Hard Rock Cafe while on vacation in Las Vegas.

Haddon was charged with domestic battery, booked at Las Vegas' Clark County Detention Center, and freed after posting bond.

[26] Slater practices Kempo Karate[27] and divides his time between Coconut Grove in Miami, Florida[28] and Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan.

[33][34] In 1997, Slater was convicted of punching his girlfriend, Michelle Jonas, and assaulting a police officer while under the influence of heroin, cocaine, and alcohol.

[7][30] He was treated for more than 100 days in a rehabilitation facility while on bail, and then was sentenced to a three-month term in jail, followed by three months in a residential rehab center.

[40] In early May 2009, Slater visited wounded and recovering soldiers of Walter Reed Army Medical Center for the USO.

[2] On December 10, 2009, Slater visited Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he contributed work for the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.