He acted in school plays and appeared in several Yorkshire Television productions, among them Emmerdale Farm and Eighteen Desperate Hours, sometimes as an extra and sometimes with a few lines of dialogue.

He finished his training in the summer of 1989 and subsequently joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), first at Stratford, and then at the Barbican and on tour in Newcastle.

He was cast in his first film, Edward II, in the title role, after being recommended to director Derek Jarman by fellow actor Nigel Terry, with whom he had worked previously in a production of Pericles at the RSC.

He later appeared in the ITV drama Vital Signs along with Tamzin Outhwaite, and starred as King Richard in the Series 2 finale of Robin Hood.

In 2008 he played the role of Arnold of Torroja in the film and mini-series Arn - The Knight Templar and McCullen in Agent Hamilton: But Not If It Concerns Your Daughter in 2012.