Biografia

With his part as the squirrelly "Milton Waddams" in the cult classic Impiegati... male! (1999), Root has developed a fan base; he has said that, from time to time, fans of the movie will either mail him or give him, in person, a red Swingline stapler.

Donated $100,000 to the University of Florida in 2003 to fund an acting studio, which is now called the Stephen Root Acting Studio.

Had filmed scenes for Un poliziotto alle elementari (1990) that were later cut out of the final film.

As of 2019, has appeared in 4 films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Ghost - Fantasma (1990), Non è un paese per vecchi (2007), Selma - La strada per la libertà (2014), and Scappa - Get Out (2017). Non è un paese per vecchi (2007) won in the category.

Has played a blind character twice: In Fratello, dove sei? (2000) and Scappa - Get Out (2017).

I'm actually a Midwest kid. My dad was in construction, so we moved around every couple of years. I've lived in Muncie, Indiana, Sioux City, Iowa, Kansas City MO, Glen Rock, Wyoming; all over the Midwest. My Dad moved down to Florida when I was in senior high. It was cheap to go to college in Florida, so I became a Gator for four years. That's where I started doing theater.

[on making Palle al balzo - Dodgeball (2004)] Well, it was a lot of hard work. It was like pitching 100 baseballs every day. We were all iced up by the end of the day. It's hard to throw overhand so many times. 'Vince (Vaughn)' started throwing with his left hand one day, because he was just done. It was a very physical shoot. It was fun, but it wasn't without its aches and pains.

[on coming up with the voice for "Bill", his character on King of the Hill (1997)] I have done a lot of Southern theater; I came out of the University Of Florida. I did do a lot of Southern plays in New York and regional stuff on the East Coast, so I had done "Driving Miss Daisy" and all of these things. So it was kind of an amalgamation of those things. I actually auditioned for "Dale" first. It didn't feel right to me, so I said, "Let me try this guy". That felt a lot more comfortable.

My whole career, I've tried to bounce back and forth between everything, and not get typed out. I've done a pretty good job of not getting typed. So I'll do a lot of comedy, and then I'll not do comedy for a year, do West Wing - Tutti gli uomini del Presidente (1999) and then do something else. You have to remind casting directors out here that you don't just do one thing. There's a lot of people who do just one thing.

(2007) My goal as an actor was to work-to be a working actor, whether it was in theater, and, well, I didn't even consider film and television when I was in New York, but what came along, came along. So, in that sense, I have achieved my goal of being a working actor. And luckily enough, I have recognition to be able to do jobs that I want to do instead of doing jobs for money, which is an enviable position to be in. It's what you work for your whole life anyway, to take jobs that interest you and not jobs that are just crap.