Stephen Root has had a vast career, spanning all sorts of genres. He’s played an eclectic catalog of characters, and he’s still adding more to his growing list. Root is capable of hilarious roles like in Office Space and Dodgeball. He’s also a talented voice actor as seen in Adventure Time and King of the Hill. And he’s skilled in drama and suspense, as seen in Barry and The Empty Man. His talent is massive and there’s not a role he’s taken on that he hasn’t excelled with. While waiting for more work from Root to premiere — like the next season of the HBO hit Barry — here are six of his best performances thus far.
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6 The Empty Man (2020)
20th Century Studios
This 2020 supernatural horror is about a former cop who is investigating a missing girl and discovers a secret cult. Root plays Arthur Parsons, an eerily cryptic cult leader. Though his role here isn’t huge, he gives an excellent performance. It’s more dramatic and creepy than some of his other performances, but he delivers his lines with such mystery that you find yourself hanging onto every word he says. The Empty Man feels a little slow-moving and isn’t really groundbreaking in the real world of supernatural horrors, but Root’s performance is definitely the standout.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
5 Get Out (2017)
Universal Pictures
Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out, put him on the map as a director to look out for. The movie is expertly crafted and layered and is a twist-filled roller coaster ride from start to finish. In Get Out, Stephen Root plays Jim Hudson; he’s a blind art dealer who is also a member of the wealthy, cult-like organization at the heart of the film. Jim Hudson is pretty evil, and Root perfectly captures his sinister nature and paints Jim as an untrustworthy character. It’s another one of those roles that highlights how versatile Root’s acting chops are.
4 King of the Hill (1997-2010)
20th Television
King of the Hill is another animated Mike Judge creation that ran from 1997 to 2009. It’s a slice-of-life sitcom that centers on the Hill family and follows the happenings in their Texas town with their friends, neighbors, work lives and other aspects of their day-to-day. Root showcases his voice acting skills in King of the Hill as both Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland, two primary characters. Root brings both these characters to life and delivers the roles with such personality, some of their one-liners are still memorable today.
3 Dodgeball (2004)
The 2004 comedy Dodgeball is about a group of misfits who enter a dodgeball tournament in an effort to save their local gym from being taken over by a corporate fitness chain. In the movie, Root plays Gordon Pibb, a geeky gym-goer who finds that his secret to being good at dodgeball is getting angry and psyched up. He ends up saving his team that way, fiercely taking on an entire opposing team solo. Root is hilarious and a perfect fit as Gordon and offers a lot of comedic relief in a movie that’s already pretty funny.
2 Office Space
Office Space is a comedy written and directed by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-Head). Office Space hilariously satirizes the work lives at a typical software company in the 1990s. Office Space is funny from start to finish and stands out as one of the best comedies from the ’90s. Root plays Milton Waddams, a timid worker with an affinity for office supplies, namely staplers. Milton is by far the funniest and most interesting character in the movie and truly no one but Stephen Root could have brought his character to life in such a memorable way.
1 Barry (2018-Present)
HBO
Root plays Monroe Fuches in the HBO hit show Barry. It’s about a hitman (Bill Hader) who travels to LA for a job, only to realize that he wants to trade in his hitman career to become an actor. Fuches (Root) is essentially Barry’s agent as far as his hitman career goes, organizing the jobs and pay for Barry. Fuches is manipulative and unpredictable and adds a decent amount of suspense and drama to the show. Root totally embodies the role, and while Fuches is basically a bad guy, his screen time is always great to watch.
