plummer was in "" (1991). he was also in spike lee's drama biographical movie "malcolm x" (1992), mike nichols' horror drama "wolf" (1994), taylor hackford's psychological drama "dolores claiborne" (1995), and terry gilliam's science fiction drama "12 monkeys" (1995). one of plummer's most well known roles was as journalist mike wallace in michael mann's "the insider" (1999). plummer later played dr. rosen in ron howard's academy award-winning movie "a beautiful mind" (2001). he played uncle ralph in the 2002 movie version of charles dickens novel "nicholas nickleby". he also played the philosopher aristotle in "alexander" (2004). plummer was wanted for the role of gandalf for "the lord of the rings" movie series. he did not want the role.