Hauer made his screen debut in Paul Verhoeven's erotic drama "Turkish Delight" (1973). He gained international stardom with his superb portrayal of an aristocrat turned resistance fighter in Verhoeven's "Soldier of Orange" (1979). Hauer also worked with Verhoeven on the biopic "Keetje Tippel" (1975) and "Spetters" (1980) as a champion racecar driver idolized by a group of Dutch teens. He arrived in Hollywood playing an international terrorist opposite lawman Sylvester Stallone in "Nighthawks" (1981). Though now largely typecast as a second rank action star, Hauer has worked with some interesting filmmakers including Sam Peckinpah ("The Osterman Weekend" 1983), Nicholas Roeg ("Eureka" 1983), Ermano Olmi ("The Legend of the Holy Drinker" 1988), and Lina Wertmuller ("On a Moonlit Night" 1989).
By far his most notable American film work was a majestically ambiguous portrayal of a powerful "replicant", a synthetic intelligent being, in the now classic sci-fi noir "Blade Runner". Though cooly murderous, Hauer brought nobility and an ineffable humanity to his character. More recently he was a campy vampire in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992); a hunter of humans in "Surviving the Game" (1994). Hauer has continued to appear in TV-movies in the USA and abroad, often gracing B-, C- and even D-grade material with his unique presence. He returned to high-profile Hollywood fare when he was tapped by first-time director George Clooney to appear in "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (2002) as a menacing but weary hitman who bonds with game show producer-turned-assassin Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell). with his Teutonic good looks now aged and weathered, Hauer's distinctive mystique took on a new tone, and he turned in one of his most intriguing performances in many years. His next major outing was in a supporting role as the corrupt Catholic Cardinal Roarke in director Robert Rodriguez and writer-artist Frank Miller's visually arresting adaptation of Miller's crime noir comic book series "Sin City" (2005).