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 mime

Returned to Australia

Made stage directing debut with Queensland Theatre Company's production of "Clowneroonies"; also acted

Appeared alongside Mel Gibson in "Waiting for Godot"

Performed with Jim Sharman's Lighthouse troupe in the early 1980s

Made debut in the Australian film, "Hoodwink"

Portrayed a 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 his role in Nikolai Gogol's play, "The Diary of a Madman"; re-teamed with Armfield who directed

Played the title role in Gogol's "The Government Inspector" for the Sydney stage

Re-teamed with director Sharman for the Australian documentary, "The Burning Bed"

Directed the Australian stage production of "The Frogs"; also co-adapted (with John Clarke) but did not act in the production

Co-starred with Cate Blanchett in Sydney stage production of David Mamet's "Oleanna"

First lead role in a feature, "Dad and Dave: On Our Selection"

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

Won international acclaim for his performance as the adult pianist David Helfgott in "Shine"

Co-starred in the historical Australian miniseries, "Frontier"

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

Portrayed the mysterious Sir Francis Walsingham, the Master of Spies and royal court enforcer of "Elizabeth"; starred Blanchett in the title role

Played Philip Henslowe, the acting company manager in "Shakespeare in Love"; garnered Supporting Actor Golden Globe and Oscar nominations

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"; received a Best Actor Oscar nomination

Played the title role in John Boorman's adaptation of the spy novel, "The Tailor of Panama"

Appeared in the critically hailed Austrian film, "Lantana"

Cast as Goldie Hawn's nebbishy love interest in "The Banger Sisters"

Portrayed Leon Trotsky in "Frida"

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

Joined an ensemble cast in the Australian gangster biopic, "Ned Kelly"

Played the title role in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers"; premiered at at the Cannes film festival and aired on HBO

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

Cast as Ephraim, a cold Mossad officer, in Steven Spielberg's "Munich"

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

Once again played 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"

Starred as King Berenger in a Melbourne production of Eugene Ionesco's "Exit the King"

Reprised role of King Berenger for the Broadway production of "Exit the King"