Stephen Root: Four Decades of Finding Humanity in the Outsider

Rolling Stone profiles Stephen Root, tracing how four decades of playing overlooked, melancholic everymen—from Milton in Office Space to Bill Dauterive on King of the Hill and Monroe Fuches in Barry—culminate in his latest role as Wyck on Apple TV+' Widow’s Bay, where his humanity-driven approach anchors the show’s darkly comic horror. Root discusses his “internal nerd” sensibility, his fearlessness in playing flawed characters, and his collaborative work with Hiro Murai, all of which keeps him anonymous in the crowd even as his performances linger.