In 1993, Patterson was slated to play the lead in Castle Rock's Little Big League opposite Sela Ward.

He also appeared in the independent films Highway 395 and Rhapsody in Bloom with Penelope Ann Miller and Ron Silver, Boys of Abu Ghraib with Sean Astin, and Other People's Children with Diane Marshall-Green.

On television, he has landed romantic roles; his most notable role, which he played for seven years on the television show Gilmore Girls, is Luke Danes, the backwards baseball cap-wearing on-again, off-again love interest of the show's protagonist, Lorelai Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham.

[citation needed] On Seinfeld, Patterson's character was deemed "spongeworthy" by Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).

Among Patterson's recent projects are a co-starring role on Aliens in America and voicing the character of King Faraday in the 2004 animated series Justice League Unlimited, from Warner Bros.

[13] He has also starred as Agent Strahm in two iterations of the Saw franchise, Saw IV and Saw V. Patterson appeared in some episodes of the second season of 90210 as Liam Court's ex-con father who has recently been released from prison and wants to reconnect with his son.

[14][15] In 2016, Patterson reprised his role as Luke Danes for the revival miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, which streamed on Netflix on November 25, 2016, and consisted of four 90-minute episodes featuring most of the original cast.