Stevens' somewhat less than classic good looks have tended to land him roles playing weaselly or nerdy characters in films and TV. He had a charming bit part as a subway card trickster in John Sayles' "The Brother From Another Planet" and a substantial supporting role as a friend of cabana boy Matt Dillon in "Flamingo Kid" (both 1984). Stevens had his most widespread exposure playing East Indian scientist Ben Jahrvi, inventor of the lovable Number Five robot, in "Short Circuit" (1986) and "Short Circuit 2" (1988). His subsequent film credits included "Reversal of Fortune" (1990), playing a sleazy drug dealer, "Mystery Date" (1991), as an angry florist, and "Only You" (1994), as the nerdy roofer husband of Bonnie Hunt.
Stevens tried his hand at a TV series with the short-lived "Key West" (Fox, 1993), a quirky comedy/drama series in which he played a down on his luck lottery winner forced to work as a reporter for a Florida newspaper. In 1996, he returned to series TV in the supporting role of the slightly unscrupulous friend of a man who mysteriously receives the next day's newspaper.