Raised in Brisbane, Australia after his parents' divorce

Joined Queensland Theatre Company in Brisbane; made stage debut in "Wrong Side of the Moon"

Scored a hit as Snoopy in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"

Moved to France to study

Returned to Australia

Made stage directing debut with Queensland Theatre Company, "Clowneroonies"; also acted in production

Appeared alongside Mel Gibson in "Waiting for Godot"; during the production, the actors shared an apartment for four months

Became ensemble performer with Jim Sharman's Lighthouse troupe in the early 1980s

Feature film debut as Detective 1 in "Hoodwink"

Portrayed Floor Manager in Gillian Armstrong's "Starstruck"

Had first major film role as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Neil Armfield's "Twelfth Night"

Won praise for stage role in Nikolai Gogol's "The Diary of a Madman", directed by Armfield

Co-translated Gogol's "The Government Inspector" and gave acclaimed performance in title role on the Sydney stage

Appeared in Australian documentary, "The Burning Bed", directed by Sharman

Adapted (with John Clarke) and directed Australian stage production of Aristophanes' "The Frogs"; did not act in production

Had a breakdown attributed to a taxing performance schedule; was unable to work for two months (date approximate)

Acted with Cate Blanchett in Sydney stage production of David Mamet's "Oleanna"

Played Horatio in Australian stage production of "Hamlet", starring Richard Roxburgh

First leading role in features, "Dan and Dave - On Our Selection"

Cast as a crusty newspaper editor in the Australian TV production "Mercury"

Appeared in Peter Duncan's "Children of the Revolution" (released in the USA in 1997)

Won international acclaim (and a Best Actor Oscar) for his performance as the adult pianist David Helfgott in Scott Hicks' "Shine"

Co-starred in the historical Australian miniseries "Frontier"

Dogged Liam Neeson as Inspector Javert in dramatic adaptation of "Les Miserables"

Portrayed the mysterious Sir Francis Walsingham, the Master of Spies and royal court enforcer of "Elizabeth", starring Blanchett

Played the Bard's "scabby little theatrical producer" in "Shakespeare in Love"; garnered second Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor

Reteamed with Duncan for "A Little Bit of Soul" (released theatrically in 1999)

Appeared as the villainous Cassanova Frankenstein in "Mystery Men"

Returned to the Sydney stage in "Small Poppies"

Cast as the Marquis de Sade in the feature adaptation of "Quills", co-starring Kate Winslet; receieved Best Actor Academy Award nomination

Provided a character voice for the Australian animated film "The Magic Pudding"

Had title role in the John Boorman-directed adaptation of the spy novel "The Tailor of Panama", playing a man who isn't quite what he seems

appeared in the critically hailed Austrian indie "Lantana"

co-starred as Goldie Hawn's nebbishy love interest Harry in "The Banger Sisters"

Portrayed Leon Trotsky in "Frida"

Cast as Captain Barbossa in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" a film based on the popular Disney theme ride

Starred with Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts and Rachel Griffiths in the Australian gangster biopic "Ned Kelly"

Starred in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," which premiered at at the Cannes film festival

Portrayed Harold Fingleton, the overbearing, alcoholic father of champion swimmer Tony Fingleton in the true story "Swimming Upstream"

Cast in Steven Spielberg's "Munich," which centers on the aftermath of the tragic massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics

Reprised role as the ghostly Captain Barbossa in Gore Verbinski's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"

Reprised role of Captain Barbossa in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

Reprised the role of Sir Francis Walsingham in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," a sequel to the award winning feature "Elizabeth"