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
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.
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.
I would have to say News Radio is the highlight of my career. I love the character so much.
The more you work, the more people see your work and would like to work with you, and vice versa.
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.
In TV, when you're doing guest roles, you're gliding into a zone where people are already very comfortable. They go in and go to work every day. You're coming in, and it's a brand-new environment, so you have to get it... and then you're gone again.
I was a big comic book fan from 13 on.
My influences are people like Burgess Meredith, Jackie Gleason, Art Carney. Really good character actors than stars because they do more interesting things. Some of your favorite movies are ones you visit again are due to the great character actors in them.