I was first appreciated in Richard Linklater's coming of age comedy, Dazed And Confused. I did a number of roles in films, including Boys On The Side and Lone Star, and then got the lead role in A Time To Kill with Kevin Spacey, Samuel L Jackson, Sandra Bullock and Donald Sutherland.

Steven Spielberg cast me in Amistad with Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman. Then I did Robert Zemeckis's Contact (Jodie Foster), Ron Howard's Edtv (Woody Harrelson, Jenna Elfman and Ellen DeGeneres) and Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez.

The romantic comedy How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days with Kate Hudson is my most successful film to date.

Tell us about Dirk Pitt, your character in Sahara.

We have gone historical digs all the time but each one is different, like this one. The whole story is making magic to reality.