As Monroe Fuches, the uncle and now former “manager” of the (initially reluctant) hitman played by Bill Hader on HBO’s “Barry,” Stephen Root said the show’s third season is now focused on “consequences and revenge. And that applies to all the characters, in terms of how bad Barry’s PTSD is getting.”
One of Fuches’ distinguishing characteristics early on was his matter-of-factness about being a hitman’s handler. “That’s an interesting story, because when we shot the pilot, and he was a very loud, screaming kind of guy,” said Root. “And the question was, where is this going to go if he’s already at 11? So we rethought it and reshot my part to play him as a very soft-spoken bad uncle: Hi, I’m going to help you — I’m going to make you do horrible things — but I’m going to help you. So it started as bad uncle, and now we’re back at 11.”
Root’s career is as varied as they come: Playing a besuited media executive on the sitcom “NewsRadio” on one end of the spectrum, and a nebbish colleague in the comedy “Office Space” on the other. His resume includes everything from “King of the Hill” to “The Man in the High Castle” to “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and he is a frequent collaborator with the Coen brothers.
