1984–1999

After appearing in numerous stage productions in Chicago, Moffett starred opposite John Malkovich in a New York City stage production of Balm In Gilead. He took the stage name of "D. W." to avoid confusion with British actor Donald Moffat. In 1984, he appeared in a Broadway production of The Real Thing.^[5] He then starred opposite Brad Davis in the original stage production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart in 1985, playing a gay man dying of AIDS,^[6] for which he won critical acclaim. The same year, he played opposite Matt Dillon in a Broadway production of The Boys of Winter.^[1] He also starred opposite Aidan Quinn and Gena Rowlands in the television film An Early Frost, which also dealt with two male lovers during the HIV/AIDS crisis.^[7]

In 1987, Moffett made his feature film debut in Bob Rafelson's thriller Black Widow.^[8] He subsequently starred in the thriller film Lisa (1990), playing a serial killer whom a teenage girl becomes enamored with, unaware he is a dangerous predator.^[9] The same year, he had a supporting part in the psychological horror film Pacific Heights.^[10] He also starred in NBC's made-for-television film adaptation of Danielle Steel's novel Fine Things (also 1990), alongside Tracy Pollan.

Moffett subsequently starred opposite Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, and Rachel Weisz in Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty (1996),^[11] and in 1999, had a supporting role in the drama film Molly, starring Elisabeth Shue.^[12] Beginning in 1998, Moffett was a main cast member on the NBC (and later, WB) sitcom For Your Love, which aired until 2002.

2000–present

In 2000, Moffett appeared in an ensemble cast in Steven Soderbergh's crime thriller Traffic (2000), which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.^[13] He later had a small role in the drama Thirteen (2003), playing the absent father of a troubled teenage girl (played by Evan Rachel Wood),^[14] and subsequently co-starred in the thriller Twisted (2004), portraying the attorney of a serial killer.^[15]

In 2005, Moffett performed at the Old Vic theater in London, playing opposite Kevin Spacey in The Philadelphia Story.^[14]

He played Bob Hardy in the series Hidden Palms for the CW Network and starred in the 2007 CW series Life Is Wild as Dr. Danny Clarke. Between 2008 and 2010, he co-starred in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights. From 2011 to 2012, Moffett starred in the comedy series Happily Divorced as Elliot, an on/off love interest of the main character played by Fran Drescher. He also starred as John Kennish: Bay's and Toby's father and Daphne's biological father, in the ABC Family series Switched at Birth, which ran from 2011 until 2017.

In 2017, Moffett was named chair of the film and television program at the Savannah College of Art and Design.^[15][16]

Television

Theatre