Minghella's other 2005 role was the political thriller Syriana, which was also released in November, and in which he played the son of George Clooney's CIA agent character. In 2006, he starred in the Daniel Clowes adaptation Art School Confidential, a comedy directed by Terry Zwigoff. He got the part after meeting Zwigoff when he visited the set of Bee Season. His film Elvis and Anabelle, a dark romantic drama in which he plays an undertaker's son, premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in 2007. He described it as "a really sweet film". He was to play Art Bechstein in the film version of Writer Michael Chabon's novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, but dropped out of the project due to his university schedule.