The son of famed acting instructor and vocal coach Kristin Linklater, character actor Hamish Linklater cut his professional chops on the stage before moving into filmed work. Hamish commenced his professional training with Shakespearean roles before the age of ten, and after his secondary school education enrolled at Amherst College in Boston. Key theatrical assignments following graduation included a part in a production of Cyclone at Studio Dante and a role opposite Jill Clayburgh in The Busy World Is Hushed at Playwrights Horizons. Meanwhile, Linklater stepped in front of the cameras for a multi-episode turn on American Dreams (2004) and a regular role, as Dr. Bruce Cherry, a physician in a Boston teaching hospital, on Gideon's Crossing (2000). The actor also signed for parts in Hollywood features including the telemovie Live from Baghdad (2002) and the theatrical release Fantastic Four (2005), as well as a regular role in the cast of the Julia Louis-Dreyfus CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, playing Matthew, the brother of the recently divorced title character (Louis-Dreyfus). When Christine came to an close, Linklater starred in a pair of well-respected indie films, The Future and Lola Versus, before appearing in the would-be mega-blockbuster Battleship.