[1] Pownall wrote and performed a one-man play, Do Not Go Gentle, about Dylan Thomas.
Geraint Wyn Davies later performed this work off-Broadway in 2005 and at the Stratford Festival in 2010.
[2][3] His film credits include Dead Poets Society (1989), in which he shared the screen with Robin Williams, as well as the title role in Handel's Last Chance (1996) and a supporting role in the Golden Globe-winning Dirty Pictures (2000).
Pownall was nominated for a Gemini Award for the role of Dr. Ewan Cameron in the 1998 Canadian television mini-series The Sleep Room.
He also appeared in television series such as The Beachcombers, Street Legal, Wiseguy, and Slings & Arrows.