By his early 30s, Rubinek made the transition to feature work, debuting in the uneven romantic comedy "Nothing Personal" (1980). Over the course of the next twenty-plus years, the actor essayed a number of shady lawyers ("Against All Odds" 1984; "Wall Street" 1987; "Bonfire of the Vanities" 1990), misguided or sleazy filmmakers ("Sweet Liberty" 1986; "True Romance" 1993) and outright criminals ("Getting Even With Dad" 1994). Rubinek has fared well in independent films, notably as a rabbi who renews a feud with a Holocaust survivor in the Canadian produced "The Quarrel" (1991) while finding the occasional meaty big screen role like his "biographer" in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning Western "Unforgiven" (1992) or portraying former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Andrew Fleming's Watergate satire "Dick" (1999). Long harboring a desire to make a documentary based on the experiences of his parents, Rubinek did move behind the camera making his directorial debut with "Jerry & Tom" (1998), about two Chicago car salesmen who moonlight as Mob hit men.
On the small screen, Rubinek has proven equally prolific. He co-starred in the first made-for-cable TV-movie "The Terry Fox Story" (HBO, 1983) and had a recurring role on the CBS drama "The Equalizer" in the 1985-86 season. While his two stabs at regular series stardom, the 1989 NBC drama "Men" and the 1996 CBS sitcom "Ink", both met an early demise, Rubinek has proven an effective guest performer, perhaps most notably as the divorce lawyer who romances Jane Leeves' Daphne Moon on the NBC sitcom "Frasier" in 1999.