Csokas made his acting debut in 1990 on the New Zealand drama series
Shark in the Park, as Terry Mercer in the episode "Technical K.O.". He also portrayed
Leonard Rossi-Dodds in the long-running soap opera
Shortland Street from 1993 until 1995. In 1996, he starred in the romantic drama film
Broken English; and from 1997 to 2001, he had a recurring role on
Xena: Warrior Princess, portraying the character
Borias. Csokas also portrayed
Lord Celeborn in
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Yorgi in
XXX (2002), Mr. Smith in
Kangaroo Jack (2003), Jarda in
The Bourne Supremacy (2004),
Trevor Goodchild in
Æon Flux (2005), and
Guy de Lusignan in
Kingdom of Heaven (2005). Csokas' stage credits include plays by
Tom Stoppard and
William Shakespeare in the 1990s in New Zealand, and ''
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2007) and Peribáñez'' (2006) with
Company B in Australia. '', September 2014 In 2007, he portrayed Hora in the drama film
Romulus, My Father, for which he won an
AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and a
Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2012, he appeared in the drama film
Dead Europe. For his role in
Dead Europe, he was again nominated for an
AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2013, Csokas co-starred in the crime-thriller
Pawn with
Forest Whitaker and
Michael Chiklis, and portrayed Jimmy Laszlo in the
DirecTV police drama
Rogue, starring opposite
Thandiwe Newton. In 2014, he had roles in the films
Noah,
The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and as Nicolai Itchenko in
The Equalizer. Also in 2014, he starred as
the superintendent in the
Discovery Channel's scripted miniseries
Klondike. Csokas then portrayed
General Thomas Gage in
History Channel's three-part miniseries
Sons of Liberty in 2015. In May 2015, Csokas joined the cast of
AMC's martial arts drama
Into the Badlands, playing the role of Quinn, the most powerful baron in the badlands. The show was canceled in 2019 after three seasons. In 2016, he co-starred with
Joel Edgerton and
Ruth Negga in the
Jeff Nichols-directed drama film
Loving, and starred alongside
Vera Farmiga in the comedy-drama
Burn Your Maps. Csokas starred alongside
Emilia Clarke in the supernatural thriller
Voice from the Stone released in April 2017. He also starred in
Mark Felt The Man Who Brought Down the White House with Liam Neeson. In 2021, Csokas appeared in
Juniper with
Charlotte Rampling and in the historical drama film
The Last Duel directed by Ridley Scott. On 27 June, Csokas was named in the ABC drama
Goolagong in the role of Vic Edwards. == Personal life ==