Stephen Root
Stephen Root
Stephen Edward Rootis an American actor and voice actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, as Milton Waddams in the film Office Space and as the voices of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland in the animated series King of the Hill. His other roles have included Captain K'Vada in the Star Trek: The Next Generation feature-length episode "Unification", and Gordon Pibb in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth17 November 1951
CitySarasota, FL
CountryUnited States of America
You have to remind casting directors out here that you don't just do one thing. There's a lot of people who do just one thing.
The more you work, the more people see your work and would like to work with you, and vice versa.
My whole career, I've tried to bounce back and forth between everything, and not get typed out. I've done a pretty good job of not getting typed.
Movies are an editor's medium.
It's good for you to go somewhere that you wouldn't normally go.
In order for comedy to be funny you have to play the truth of the moment. But if you're not being completely truthful to the basis of the character, its not going to be funny.
It's so hard to make a living as an actor, with 95% of the SAG members unemployed at one time. That includes all the different unions, too, that unless you HAVE to do it, that it's in your soul and you MUST do it you feel, don't do it.
When I worked with Robin Williams, now there is improv! He is just as funny as you think he is. We did at least five or six takes of every scene, improvising every scene differently. He was a riot.
It's fun to do voiceover work, although you still have to act. But it doesn't involve memorizing lines, and you don't have to dress up.
I don't aspire to direct like many actors. I would aspire most likely to do some writing, but I haven't had a chance to do that.
Well, I think probably when I first got in the business, I wasn't thinking of being strictly a character actor. But I knew I wanted to be a working actor, and as the years have gone on, I just naturally evolved into that. Because, y'know, I'm not a leading guy. Never was.
I'm thrilled to get hired every once in a while.