[2] From these jobs, he saved enough money to buy a small sandwich shop at Woolwich Market,[3] for a while, until he began to secure more acting roles.

He made his feature film acting debut as D.C. Challoner in the 1988 Working Title thriller For Queen and Country opposite Academy Award winner Denzel Washington.

That same year Fairbrass was cast opposite Helen Mirren as Detective Inspector Frank Burkin in the Bafta/Emmy Award-winning original Prime Suspect 1 and 2.

[6] Fairbrass returned to the U.S., starring in the Chris Klein comedy, The Long Weekend,[5] and as Henry Caine opposite Nathan Fillion in White Noise 2.

[5] In 2007, he starred in the feature film Rise of the Footsoldier,[5] as real life gangster Pat Tate, and opposite Jason Statham in The Bank Job.

In 2011, Fairbrass took the co-lead in the crime thriller St George's Day, other lead roles included Vikingdom 3D, House of the Rising Sun,[5] opposite Dave Bautista, Hijacked, and Get Lucky and Let me Survive.

[5] In 2012, Fairbrass took his first lead role in a US action thriller The Outsider,[5] which starred Jason Patric, James Caan and Shannon Elizabeth.

[5] In 2015, he played the lead role of Jack Cregan in the revenge thriller London Heist alongside Steven Berkoff, which he also co-wrote.

[5] Fairbrass also voiced a main role in the video game Battlefield V (2018) during the War Stories campaign mission, “Under No Flag” as George Mason.