Raised in the New York City neighborhood of Woodhaven, Queens

At age six, made amateur acting debut as a dwarf in a summer camp production of "Snow White"

Appeared in photographs taken by his mother, famed photographer Sylvia Plachy

Professional acting debut in the Off-Broadway play "Family Pride in the '50s"

TV acting debut in the PBS production "Home at Last"

Cast as Mary Tyler Moore's stepson in the short-lived CBS sitcom "Annie McGuire"

Feature film debut in the Francis Ford Coppola-helmed "Life Without Zoe" segment of the omnibus feature "New York Stories"

Won critical praise as a teenage con artist in "King of the Hill"

Featured in the William Friedkin-directed "Jailbreakers" segment of Showtime's "Rebel Highway"

Garnered rave notices for his star-making role as a gambler in Eric Bross' "Nothing to Lose" (released theatrically in 1998)

Appeared as a gay Beat poet, loosely based on Alan Ginsburg in the film "The Last Time I Committed Suicide"

Co-starred in the drama "Six Ways to Sunday" (released 1999)

Starred in Bross' second feature "Restaurant"; released theatrically in 2000

Played Corporal Fife in Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" (in the final cut, the part had been reduced to little more than a cameo)

Co-starred in Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam"

Appeared in Barry Levinson's "Liberty Heights"

Starred in Kenneth Loach's gripping labor drama "Bread and Roses"; screened at Cannes

Featured in the Yugoslavia-set war film "Harrison's Flowers"

Portrayed Wladyslaw Szpilman, the brilliant pianist in Roman Polanski's "The Pianist"; received leading role nominations for Golden Globe, BAFTA and a SAG Awards

Played the urban hipster con man, Brody in "Love The Hard Way"

Co-starred with Joaquin Phoenix and William Hurt in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village"

Portrays an institutionalized Gulf War veteran opposite Keira Knightley in "The Jacket"

Played Jack Driscoll, opposite Jack Black and Naomi Watts, in Peter Jackson's remake of "King Kong"

Cast as private detective Louis Simo in "Hollywoodland," who investigates the death of actor George Reeves (Ben Affleck)

Co-starred with Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson in director Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited"

Portrayed record-company executive Leonard Chess in the musical biopic "Cadillac Records"

Co-starred with Mark Ruffalo, as brothers who make a living off of swindling millionaires, in the comedy "The Brothers Bloom"