I really don't make a concerted effort to try to find a type of role. Maybe I've just done enough of them now where people are like, 'Oh, it's the guy that's in a swirling vortex of despair, send it to Kinnear!' I don't really know, but it does seem to be a recurring theme.

In 1995 he won the part of David Larrabee in Sydney Pollack's remake of Billy Wilder's 1954 classic Sabrina. Later he would become the creator co-executive producer and host of Best of the Worst which aired from 1990 to 1991. He has two brothers James and Steven.

Notable TV roles include Friends and his Emmy nominated roles for Talk Soup The Kennedys and Modern Family. He has appeared in other notable films including Sabrina You've Got Mail Nurse Betty We Were Soldiers Little Miss Sunshine Invincible and Green Zone.