Barry star always on lookout for something completely different
Stephen Root has more than 250 acting credits, including smug station owner Jimmy James in NewsRadio, stapler-obsessed Milton in Office Space and characters in four Coen brothers’ movies. But he didn’t earn his first Emmy nomination until he snagged the part of assassin handler Monroe Fuches in Barry, which has returned for its third season at Sundays on HBO.
In a Zoom interview recently, Root, 70, spoke about his most famous roles and what he hopes for next.
Q: You’ve played the smartest guy in the room and the slowest guy in the room. Where does Fuches rank on that scale?
A: Fuches is smart enough to manipulate the people around him. What he can’t seem to do is manipulate Barry. In season three, he’s reached his limit. His revenge becomes a lot crueller than what we’ve seen before.
Q: I first became a fan of yours watching NewsRadio. And then I saw Office Space, which was a complete 180. Do you purposely choose roles that are completely different?
A: It’s very much a conscious thing. I did so much sitcom work in the ’90s that I wasn’t getting offers to do anything else. So I sat around for a while, waiting for dramatic stuff. I did some CSIs and then I got West Wing. That really helped changed the perception.
Q: It’s getting harder to distinguish comedy from dramas on TV. Maybe we should just stop separating them.
A: I think so. Let’s just call it what it is: Good writing. Although that’s not true in terrestrial TV. We had some good network sitcoms in the ’90s. They’re worse now. Think of all the thousands of medical shows and police shows. They’re pretty much all the same. I wish terrestrial TV would take more chances.
Q: You’ve become a familiar face in Coen brothers movies. Why do you think they keep calling on you?
A: One of my strong suits as a character actor is a “bent” approach to the work. That’s kind of a natural mesh with them. I think it’s fun for them to have New York theatre types like me and John Goodman who can adapt quickly.
Q: How is being directed by Bill Hader on Barry different from working with the Coens?
A: It’s different. It was harder for me the first two seasons to get used to doing the improv stuff he throws at you. But I’ve gotten better at it now.
Q: Are you recognized more these days for Barry than your past roles?
A: It’s always Milton, except for a certain generation that has a love for Dodgeball. Office Space was a flop, but it came on home video just as Blockbuster was getting huge and the word of mouth was really good. It’s a movie that keeps being discovered by a new wave of computer geeks every five years. It was The Office before The Office.
Q: Any roles you haven’t tackled that are on your wish list?
A: Like every character actor, I’d love to be a lead in a film. I’d like to have my chance to do that.