You don't have any kind of sense of being foolish when you are acting. When you're younger you don't want to look a fool, so you don't do things that might make you vulnerable.

He made only the occasional film including a brief appearance in 1995’s Sense and Sensibility and a villain in The Ghost and the Darkness (1996). Bush during the 2000 U. He also received a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors' Guild Award nomination for his role in John Adams.

In 2009 he won Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Film for playing Benjamin Franklin in John Adams. He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award for his roles in In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton.