Although Kinnear initially came to prominence in the early '90s as the sarcastic host of the cable series Talk Soup, a versatile actor lay behind his smarmy smirk. After helming his own eponymous late-night talk show, he ventured onto the big screen in a number of supporting roles in mediocre movies. In 1997 his career was given a boost when he tackled an image-changing role as a gay artist in As Good as It Gets. The film went on to win a slew of Oscars, including best picture, but Kinnear had to settle for a mere nomination. Perhaps that disappointment was a sign of things to come, because he was never able to graduate to leading man. Worse, while he occasionally tackled challenging parts — he was creepily fascinating as the sex-addicted Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane in Auto Focus — usually he was confined to smug, self-involved roles (an egotistical superhero in Mystery Men, bad boyfriends in You've Got Mail, Someone Like You and Loser).