Basaraba played Heywood Broun, one of the greatest American journalists of the 20th century, in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle in 1994. He played Sheriff Grady Kilgore in Fried Green Tomatoes. He also played Saint Andrew in The Last Temptation of Christ, and had a role in Sweet Dreams.
In 2001 he had the lead role in Recipe for Murder.
Basaraba has also made three appearances in the Law & Order franchise, as a bartender in the original series episode titled "Point of View", as a corrections officer in the Law & Order episode "The Brotherhood" in 2004, and in the SVU episode entitled "Parasites", as the husband of a woman who has gone missing.
Basaraba portrayed the father, Jack Grainger, in One Magic Christmas, opposite Mary Steenburgen, and played Homer Zuckerman in the remake of Charlotte's Web. Since 2007, he has appeared in the Canadian television series Mixed Blessings.
In 2010 he played the role of Jimmy Burke in "After Hours" the 10th episode of the 1st season of the CBS police procedural drama Blue Bloods.
Basaraba was the voice of Hefty Smurf in the live-action/CG family film The Smurfs. In 2016, he played the role of Don in The Accountant.
