His first film role was as Adam in a 2002 addition to 1979's Jesus which, according to The New York Times, ..."is likely the most-watched motion picture of all time".
Shaw's first job after graduating from LAMDA was in Deborah Warner's production of Julius Caesar at the Barbican Theatre with a cast which included Ralph Fiennes, Fiona Shaw and Simon Russell Beale. His first feature film role was as Fisher, James Bond's first kill, in the opening of 2006's Casino Royale that introduced Daniel Craig as the new 007, and was directed by Martin Campbell.
He worked for Pixar in spring 2010 on the film John Carter, with an ensemble cast that included Mark Strong, Willem Dafoe, Taylor Kitsch and Dominic West, and directed by Oscar winner Andrew Stanton. The following year, he appeared in the opening scene of Prometheus directed by Ridley Scott as one of the Elder Engineers.
In other media, Shaw has appeared in the IMAX production, Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs with william Hope and Nassar Memazia and in two television movies, Messiah: The Rapture with Marc Warren and Saddam's Tribe with Stanley Townsend and Daniel Mays. Other television appearances include Call the Midwife as Zakir, Trigger Point with Josh Dallas, Endeavour (TV series) as Prince Nabil and as Augustino in the second series of *The Borgias (2011 TV series) for Showtime (TV channel) with Sean Harris. He made is debut for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2011 playing Will Scarlet in the premiere of the critically acclaimed The Heart of Robin Hood directed by Gisli Ӧrn Gardarsson of Vesturport, an Icelandic theatre company known for their use of ariel acrobatic skills, in this case corde lisse.
Shaw appeared as Saint Peter in the television mini-series, The Bible, produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, which is based on the Bible. It aired on The History Channel in 2013.
