He is best known for his portrayals of "Wild Bill" Guarnere in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, Tom Fox in Catch Me If You Can, Tim Woods in 24, and Walden Belfiore in The Sopranos.
His film credits include Michael Bay's Bad Boys, starring Martin Lawrence and Wil Smith.
The Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, Emmy Award-winning HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, where he received worldwide acclaim for his performance as Wild Bill Guarnere.
In 2013, Hughes’ script Pox Americana broke the top ten on the prestigious Black List, resulting in a two-picture deal with Warner Brothers.
His limited series 11 about the events of 9/11 is being produced by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal at Tribeca Films and FilmNation.