Perhaps by virtue of his role in 24 of the nosy “parole officer” Stephen Root has been mentioned several times lately in various threads here. There’s even one I saw just now about the red stapler he made famous in Office Space (1999) as the unforgettable Milton Waddams.
If he’s had a starring role I have yet to see it, and would appreciate the mention of that show or film. But his presence in a movie is about as sure to hit the spot as any done by Strother Martin, Jack Elam, or pre-fame Billy Bob Thornton.
This thread is for the praise of others in Stephen’s category of superb character actors and their pivotal roles.
Old, new, dead, alive, movie, TV, or whatever, if he or she was the unsung hero in more than a few such jobs, or made a standout appearance in just one or two, here’s a place to brag on them.
Bill Dauterive and Milton are of course my favorite of his characters, but he was great as a pathetic closeted married gay guy who became a pathetic reclusive openly gay vampire in True Blood. I won’t spoil the series but in one dream sequence Jason (the character played by the b-e-a-U-tiful Ryan Kwanten) wakes up naked in bed next to a naked Stephen Root (you don’t actually see Stephen’s root or anything), and later in the season he’s asked to dance by an entranced William “Larry/E.B. Farnum” Sanderson who’s wearing boxers, which caused a debate twixt me and my friends “If you had to do one or the other- dance with William Sanderson in his underwear or wake up with a naked Stephen Root- which would it be?” (We ultimately decided Root because at least his Jimmy James character was kind of sexy; nothing’s sexy about Sanderson.)
Speaking of, he was hysterical as Jimmy James. My favorite News Radio scenes were between him and Dave Foley. “See these sprinkler heads… yep… they’re not connected to anything, I hired a college kid to gorilla glue 'em in place to help with the codes and insurance”, or the exchange:
Dave: I have an idea on our budget problems sir.
Jimmy: Yeah, I have an idea about them too…
Dave: Well okay, let’s hear your’s first.
Jimmy: Yeah let’s, since that’s the one we’re gonna be using…
And of course the blind record producer in Oh Brother Where Art Thou: “That was some mighty fine pickin’ and a singin’…”
Root’s also very generous. He’s given a lot of money to the theater department at Florida State (his alma mater) and to non-profit theater groups in L.A…
185,130 No Country for Old Men (2007)
153,759 Finding Nemo (2003)
90,727 O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
77,376 Office Space (1999)
62,757 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
48,796 Ghost (1990)
20,125 Dave (1993)
15,924 ‘Crocodile’ Dundee II (1988)
15,518 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
15,255 Black Rain (1989/I)
13,235 White Oleander (2002)
12,665 RoboCop 3 (1993)
11,921 The Soloist (2009)
of his top rated things, and I’m not sure I even remember him from some of them. He’s your basic chameleon, like Billy Bob before BB got rocketed to the big time. M. Emmet Walshis as close as I can come to anybody with the same qualities Stephen has.
Stephen Root is the rare character actor who creates entirely new characters for each role, unlike many who are hired for their particular personality. I think I first noticed him as Chris Kraft in From The Earth To The Moon, then as Milton in Office Space. But when I saw him as the radio station owner in O Brother, Where Art Thou? that I specifically began to look for him in movies. From the campaign manager in The West Wing to the insane judge in Idiocracy, this is an actor with range!
While was adding links, other folks sniped my movies. I’ll see you all in Hell!
I love Stephen Root in basically everything, but I think my favorite of his characters are a toss-up between his role in True Blood and Mr. Strickland. “I’m addicted to the good times, Hank!”
If you really like Stephen Root - and you must, you started this thread! - you have to start watching Newsradio. It’s got a great ensemble cast, but Root’s character, the station owner, stands out. If you haven’t seen Newsradio you’re missing an awful lot of quality Stephen Root.
Rather than just using my memory for the SEC states producing quality character actors, I sought help from Wikipedia and selected these folks from the various “Actors by US State” articles. I avoided “stars” and personalities better known for other genres than “character actor” but some of these might ring a bell for further investigation:
Category:Actors from Alabama
R. G. Armstrong
Pat Buttram
Wayne Rogers
Category:Actors from Arkansas
Trevor Bardette
Jay C. Flippen
Category:Actors from Florida
William H. Macy
Andrew Prine
Category:Actors from Georgia
Claude Akins
Luke Askew
Stephen Dorff
Ray McKinnon
Robert Patrick
Category:Actors from Kentucky
Ned Beatty
James Best
Jennifer Carpenter
Billy Ray Cyrus
Charles Napier
Warren Oates
Harry Dean Stanton
Category:Actors from Louisiana
Patricia Clarkson
Sean Patrick Flanery
John Goodman
Jared Leto
Tim McGraw
Pruitt Taylor Vince
Carl Weathers
Category:Actors from Mississippi
James Earl Jones
Stella Stevens
Sela Ward
Category:Actors from South Carolina
Will Patton
Leon Rippy
Category:Actors from Tennessee
Kathy Bates
David Keith
Johnny Knoxville
Sondra Locke
William Sanderson
Frank Sutton
Fred Thompson
James Westerfield
I think I liked him most in No Country For Old Men, because he was so decidedly NOT a fun character in that. He was so icy. It was a nice change from his generally sillier roles.
