Raised in Cupertino, California

As a teenager lived with family in England

Dropped out of high school and moved to Sydney, Australia

Met future collaborator Neil LaBute while attending Brigham Young University

After college, moved to NYC

Appeared as an extra in an episode of "Beverly Hills, 90210" (FOX)

Early TV acting credit, appearing in an episode of the ABC series "Crossroads"

TV-movie debut in Showtime's "Double Jeopardy"

Portrayed Samson in the CBS special "Ancient Secrets of the Bible, Part II"

Appeared in two episodes of the ABC sitcom "Aliens in the Family"

Feature film debut, "In the Company of Men"; first collaboration with director Neil LaBute

Re-teamed with LaBute for "Your Friends and Neighbors"; gained 45 pounds to play an unhappily married man

Had small part of an assistant coach in Oliver Stone's "Any Given Sunday"

Delivered a memorable turn as the biker who falls in love with the title character (Julia Roberts) in "Erin Brockovich"

Cast opposite Renée Zellweger in "Nurse Betty"; third collaboration with director Neil LaBute

Teamed with Jack Nicholson in the Sean Penn directed "The Pledge"

Co-starred with Gwyneth Paltrow in "Possession" directed by Neil LaBute

Along with Hilary Swank, co-starred in science fiction thriller "The Core"

Co-starred with Uma Thurman and Ben Affleck in the John Woo directed "Paycheck"

Starred as FBI agent Thomas Mackelway in the thriller "Suspect Zero"

Portrayed the chief spokesman for the tobacco lobby in Jason Reitman's satirical comedy "Thank You for Smoking"; earned Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best Actor

Portrayed detective, Lee Blanchard in "The Black Dahlia," Brian De Palma's adaptation of James Ellroy's classic noir novel

Cast opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in "No Reservations," the American remake of the 2001 German feature "Mostly Martha"

Portrayed a guy whose life isn't going according to plan in "Meet Bill"

Landed a major role in the Batman film series, playing District Attorney Harvey Dent in "The Dark Knight"

Played a widowed self-help author, alongside Jennifer Aniston, in the romantic drama "Love Happens"