Why Agent Flanagan From Queenpins Looks So Familiar
"Queenpins," the new movie which tells the story of two housewives who become fed-up with suburban life and orchestrate a multimillion-dollar coupon scam, has finally debuted. Directed by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, the film has an absolutely stacked cast. Familiar comedic actors Vince Vaughn, Kristen Bell, and Joel McHale are joined by Kirby Howell-Baptiste ("The Good Place") and Paul Walter Hauser ("Cruella"). While each of these actors has made themselves instantly recognizable through their onscreen work, there may be one "Queenpins" cast member who seems familiar, but you can't quite place: the actor who plays Agent Flanagan.
Agent Flanagan is familiar because he's played by legendary character actor Stephen Root. It's clear from Root's IMDb profile, which boasts more than 250 credits to date and stretches back to his onscreen debut in 1988's "Crocodile Dundee 2," that many audience members have likely seen him or heard his voice in some capacity throughout his career. Be it comedy or drama, animated or live-action, supporting role or leading man, there's no part Root hasn't tackled with aplomb in his decades-long career. With that in mind, let's take a look at some of his biggest and best big (and small) screen roles from the last few decades.
Stephen Root loved his stapler in Office Space
One of Stephen Root's earliest movie roles also, arguably, remains his most iconic to this very day. The actor became an instant pop culture meme in 1999 with his performance as Milton in Mike Judge's "Office Space." In the film, Milton seems to be a simple man obsessed with his stapler. Milton cracks when he is terminated by Initech, leading him to burn down the office and (unintentionally) save Peter (Ron Livingston) and his friends from having their "Superman 3"-inspired cyber crimes discovered by the authorities.
Milton remains one of Judge's most enduring creations, with a lot of the credit going to Root for his portrayal of the character. "Office Space" is also loosely based on the "Milton" short series produced by Judge (via YouTube). The 1999 movie may be about the mundanity of work and the anonymity of the average cubicle drone, but Root's performance has cemented the feature as a top-notch dark comedy to this day.
Stephen Root got angry in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
One of the defining elements of Rawson Marshall Thurber's 2004 comedy "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" is the sheer number of ridiculous characters who fill out the cast. One of the most colorful of the bunch is Gordon (Stephen Root), a member of Average Joe's Gym who pitches the idea of entering the titular dodgeball tournament to save the scrappy fitness center from the evil Globo Gym. Though initially introduced as a timid man in an unfulfilling marriage, Gordon eventually learns to tap into his anger and use it to help propel Average Joe's Gym to victory.
Root's performance as Gordon utilizes many of the traits that established his reputation as a reliable comedic character actor. Like Milton from "Office Space," Gordon is played as bashful and weak at first but slowly showcases a darker side as dodgeball coach Patches O'Houlihan (Rip Torn) unlocks his anger. What results is a shockingly funny and layered performance from an actor who knows how to turn even the smallest part into a memorable one.
He tried to go after Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men
If there's one thing that audiences likely remember about the Coen Brothers' 2007 thriller "No Country For Old Men," it's the fact that very few people who go up against Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) manage to get the best of the ruthless assassin. One such character is the man (Stephen Root) who hires Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson) to take down Chigurh. The effort ultimately proves unsuccessful in the film as Chigurh manages to get the drop on both Wells and his desk-bound benefactor and blows both of them away with his silenced shotgun.
Like many of the actors in "No Country For Old Men," Root makes a big impression with relatively minimal screen time. Though the film primarily revolves around the cat-and-mouse game between Chigurh, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), and Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), the Coens put their usual spin on the formula by giving cast members, including Root, room to play. As a result, audiences get to see Root, an actor who primarily worked in comedies up to this point, work in a much darker tone.
He played a body-snatching villain in Get Out
Jordan Peele redefined the horror genre with "Get Out," unleashing a film chock full of bizarre and terrifying performances. One such performance is Stephen Root's role as Jim Hudson, a blind art dealer hoping to inhabit the body of Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a young Black photographer, with the help of the Order of the Coagula's ghoulish medical procedure. Unlike many of the film's other villains, Hudson wants Chris less for his body and more for his eyesight and keen artistic skills. Fortunately, Chris escapes in the film's climax and puts an end to Hudson and the Armitage family before making his escape.
Though the film only recently entered the horror lexicon, "Get Out" has already thoroughly changed the landscape of the genre since its 2017 debut. Once thought of as a purely comedic force in entertainment, Peele now has a horror reputation arguably on par with filmmakers like John Carpenter and Alfred Hitchcock, which has only been boosted by subsequent directing and producing efforts like "Us" and "Candyman." Much of that success is thanks to the inherent weirdness of "Get Out" and its menacing performances, including Root's.
Stephen Root is the handler for a hitman on HBO's Barry
The last role on this list is essential because it's the only one that Stephen Root is still actively playing. That role is Fuches on HBO's "Barry." Fuches is the person who knows Barry (Bill Hader) best after years of working together as a handler and a hitman, respectively. Root's shady character is the man who dispatches Barry to Los Angeles in Season 1 and continuously pushes him back to a life of crime every time he tries to get out and pursue acting. In the Season 2 finale, Barry goes on a murderous rampage to hunt down Fuches, only to come up empty-handed as the handler escapes into the night.
Only time will tell where Fuches ends up when "Barry" finally returns to HBO for Season 3. The Emmy-winning series experienced a production delay with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 but resumed production in August 2021 (via GameSpot). Per Deadline, a fourth season is reportedly already happening, too, which could mean more Fuches. In the world of this HBO show, Barry hasn't bested Fuches yet, so the hitman's former handler may (and likely will) return to wreak havoc on his life yet again.