Stephen Root went from being "that one guy" to earning his first Emmy nomination for Barry

The New York Times

Before Barry, Root was best known for playing Milton in Office Space and eccentric billionaire in the 1990s NBC sitcom NewsRadio -- plus numerous guest appearances on TV shows like The West Wing, Justified, 24, Boardwalk Empire, Fargo and True Blood. Root is "one of Hollywood's most prolific and versatile character actors, known for playing strange and memorable characters," Austin Considine writes in a New York Times Q&A with the actor, who is nominated for the Emmy for best supporting comedy actor for Barry. The HBO comedy is Root's first regular TV role since NewsRadio. "You know Stephen Root," says Considine. "He’s that one guy. That actor who plays that weird dude in that one thing. Or, rather, more than 200 things. He’s the slob with the red stapler, the eccentric billionaire, the blind Mississippi D.J. He is a walking paradox: You know his face, but that’s largely because he has so effectively transformed himself over and over." Root says before Barry, he wasn't really interested in a regular TV series role. "After NewsRadio I decided to make a concerted effort to do hourlong dramas and to not be hooked up to a regular show, but to do recurring roles on them," he says. "So I ended up doing West Wing and Justified and Boardwalk Empire — all recurring roles — but they’re maybe half of the year out of a real schedule. Contractually, then you’re able to do other things: independent films, whatever comes up and fits your schedule. And that was more attractive to me than being hooked up to an hourlong drama." ALSO: Go behind the scenes of the stunts for Barry's "ronny/lily" episode.