Berenger worked in regional theatre and in 1972, he worked as a
flight attendant with
Eastern Airlines, based in
San Juan, Puerto Rico. He transferred to New York in 1973. He worked in
soap operas and had a starring role as lawyer
Tim Siegel on
One Life to Live. His feature film debut was the lead in
Rush It, an independent film that was shot in 1976 but unreleased until 1978. In 1977, he had a supporting role as the killer of the lead character (played by
Diane Keaton) in
Looking for Mr. Goodbar, based on the
murder of schoolteacher Roseann Quinn. In 1978, he had a starring role in the Canadian film
In Praise of Older Women. In 1979, he played
Butch Cassidy in
Butch and Sundance: The Early Days, a role he got in part because of his resemblance to
Paul Newman, who played the character in
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Berenger starred in several significant films in the 1980s, including
The Big Chill (1983),
Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), ''
Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985), Platoon (1986), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Shoot to Kill (1988), and Major League (1989). In 1986, he received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Barnes in Platoon
(this performance won him a Golden Globe Award for "Best Supporting Actor"). A role for which he has become well known for is Thomas Beckett, the main character in the mid-1990s film Sniper (which would later be followed by six sequels, featuring Berenger in the starring role for four). Other notable films from that period in which he was featured include Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Shattered (1991), Sliver (1993), and Chasers (1994). When asked in a 1999 interview to name his favorite film out of those in which he had acted, Berenger said it was too difficult to choose but that the one he had watched most frequently was his 1993 film Gettysburg'', where he played the role of Confederate General
James Longstreet. He established the Tom Berenger Acting Scholarship Fund in 1988 to award theatre students for excellence in performance. In more recent years, Berenger has continued to have an active acting career in film and television, although often at a supporting level. One of his most notable television appearances was on
Cheers in its last season as Rebecca Howe's blue collar-plumber love interest, for which he was nominated for an
Emmy Award for "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series". He also began a career as a producer in the 1990s. Berenger co-produced the 1997 miniseries
Rough Riders, also starring as
Theodore Roosevelt. Berenger was also seen on the box art and promotional content for
Novalogic's
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, as his roles in
Sniper 2 and
Sniper 3 were very similar to what was chosen for the game's artwork. He starred in the mini-series version of
Stephen King's
Nightmares & Dreamscapes, as a celebrated author who realizes the warped painting he recently purchased is alive with illustrations of impending doom for him in "
The Road Virus Heads North". Berenger stars opposite
Armand Assante and
Busta Rhymes in the dramatic thriller
Breaking Point, which had a limited release starting in December 2009. Berenger appeared in the 2010 science fiction thriller
Inception with
Leonardo DiCaprio and
Cillian Murphy, where he played a business executive who served as a mentor to and was an associate of the father of Murphy's character. It was his first major film role since
Training Day in 2001. In 2012, he appeared in the television miniseries
Hatfields & McCoys as Jim Vance, uncle of protagonist
Devil Anse Hatfield (
Kevin Costner). On September 23, 2012, Berenger won a
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for the role. In 2022, it was announced that Berenger would star in the comedy film
Plan B, alongside
Jon Heder and
Shannon Elizabeth. ==Personal life==