West made his debut in 1991 in a short called 3 Joes. His other screen appearances include True Blue, Chicago and Mona Lisa Smile. His most notable television role has been Baltimore police detective Jimmy McNulty on the HBO television police drama The Wire. In film, he portrayed the heavy metal guitarist Kirk Cuddy in the 2001 film Rock Star. In 2007, he played the Spartan politician Theron in 300 and a detective in Hannibal Rising and then in 2010 a Roman General in Centurion.