‘Praise Petey’ Star Stephen Root Has A Frightening Prediction For What Happens To Fuches In A Post-‘Barry’ World

Stephen Root is the sort of character actor that other character actors aspire be, having hit a point in his career where he’s rarely without work, able to flip between on-camera gigs and voice work, and – perhaps best of all – he’s had enough series-regular or recurring-character roles that he’s evolved beyond being a “that guy” to actually being known by his name. It started with playing Jimmy James on NewsRadio, continued with the role of Milton – he of red-stapler fame – in Office Space, but most recently he’s been earning acclaim for his work as Fuches (aka The Raven) on HBO’s Barry. At the moment, however, it’s that aforementioned voice work that’s keeping him gainfully employed: he’s about to be heard playing a deceased cult leader in the new Freeform animated series Praise Petey, and whenever work eventually resumes on Hulu’s revival of King of the Hill, he’ll be voicing Bill Dauterive again.

With his schedule limited, Decider was only able to secure a few minutes with Root, sadly, but we were able to get the details on Praise Petey, a little bit of insight into what we can expect when King of the Hill returns, how he felt about the final fate of Funches, the project he was most surprised to be invited to join, and how he enjoyed working with his wife on a dearly-departed sci-fi series.

(Editor’s Note: This interview with Stephen Root that you’re about to read was conducted on July 6, 2023, before the SAG-AFTRA strike went into effect.)

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DECIDER: First of all, do you feel like your entire life and career was always leading up to you playing a cult leader?

STEPHEN ROOT: Of course! [Laughs.] Yes! I’m a cult of one. No, but…what a fantastic show, with great actors and great voice actors mixed together to have a beautiful milieu of ways to do this tremendous script. I think the writing is all, and this script is fantastic.

I know Mike Judge is one of the executive producers of the series. Is that how you found your way into it?

Yeah, I got contacted by Mike saying, “I’m doing something really crazy, so of course I thought of you.” [Laughs.] And I’m glad that, when he floated it to the other people, they were receptive to it, because it’s a great character…even though I’m dead.

Well, that certainly describes a key part about your character, but in addition to being a cult leader, he’s also a father figure.

Father figure to Petey, yeah. I have passed on, as they say, but I leave a tape for my daughter saying, “Look, you need to come to this town, there’s something very special for you here.” What turns out to be special is a cult! [Laughs.] I’m the leader of a cult, and I’ve designated her to be the new leader of the town. Fortunately, I’ve left scads of videotapes to tell her how to do this…and, fortunately, she doesn’t follow any of them and makes her own decisions. And hopefully at some point in the show where it’s no longer a cult and she’s helping people free themselves from the cult. So that’s the long form of the show. 

This is your first time working with Anna Drezen, correct?

Yeah! And it’s amazing that anybody can look at a blank piece of paper and come up with this. [Laughs.] It’s astonishing. Writers astonish me anyway, that they can do something from nothing, and we’re all just kind of standing there with our mouths hanging open and otherwise.

As far as the voice of the character, was that something they steered you towards, or did you just come in with your own idea for it after reading who the character was?

Yeah, I think we spent a lot of time finding the right timbre and the right age, because although he is… I mean, you can see the grey in his temples, but he’s not super old. So we spent some time really finding the right voice for him, and I think we did, not being too old or too young, and having a sense of how crazy he is. [Laughs.] And he is crazy. He has seven wives, and they take care of him. But, yeah, we spent some time on that. 

I mentioned Mike Judge having a connection to this, so I have to at least ask if you’ve actually started work on the new King of the Hill episodes yet. 

We started work on the new King of the Hill, and then, of course, the writers strike happened, so we stopped work on King of the Hill, and it’ll be depending on the SAG strike whether or not we start up again anytime soon. But it is hanging and ready to go when we can go back.

Did you have any trouble in rediscovering your inner Bill Dauterive, or was it like riding a bike?

He is… [Starts to laugh.] Bill Dauterive is my alternate personality. It’s almost frighteningly too easy to go into Bill. [Proceeds to prove just how easy it is.] “William Fontaine de la Tour Dauterive!” By the time we finish this show, I’ll have been doing him for 13 years, so…he’s always in the back of my head. He will always live, and I feel very fortunate to be the receptacle!

Since you’re still in production, I’m sure you really can’t say a whole lot about the show, as far as where Bill is today.

Well, I can tell you that everybody has gone through COVID, and that’s a big starting point in the show, because the show has — unlike most animation — taken the 10 years. So it’s 10 years later, Bobby is now 20, he has his own restaurant and things that he’s concerned with. The other characters are 10 years older. I don’t think 10 years smarter. [Laughs.] They had two years of COVID to go, “I don’t know what’s going on!” So that’s about as much as I can tell you about it. But it’s a show that will address the new way things are these days, in societal terms and sexual terms and every other way that the world has changed in 10 years. 

That’s a very solid tease. I appreciate that.

Yeah, you’re welcome!

I need to ask briefly about Barry. As far as the series finale goes, did you see Fuches’ ultimate fate coming?

Bill [Hader] had talked to all of us individually about where the show was going after season two, and especially after Season 3. Because it had to get darker. “This guy has PTSD, he’s not getting help, and it’s gonna go…this way.” [Laughs.] Because that’s what would happen in real life. So I was happy with the way it eventually turned out. I think my character, having gotten a huge amount of confidence in prison, is gonna go back to do the same thing, just with a lot more confidence now! I think he’ll pick up another guy and do the same thing, but he’ll probably be more successful at it, which is frightening.

When you look at your career, you’re obviously now in a position where people come to you for things more than you have to audition. Is there a project in particular that surprised you when you were asked to be a part of it?

Um… Yeah, I’ve got to say, I was surprised to be asked to be a part of this little indie movie called To Leslie, starring Andrea Riseborough. We’re socially friends with the director, Michael Morris, and when Michael said, “I’m thinking of you for this character,” I said, “What?” He said, “Old Biker.” I said, “Oh, really? That’s…not what I thought probably that I’d be doing.” [Laughs.] And I’m amazed that that movie came off as brilliantly as it did, and it was very fun playing an old biker with Allison Janney. Not where I thought I’d go.

And lastly, since I know we’re on a time crunch, I wondered if you could reflect on having the opportunity to work with your wife [Romy Rosemont] on Fringe.

I was thrilled to work with her, because the more people see of her, the more you’ll understand how brilliant she is, especially at drama. I mean, she can do comedy as well as the day is long, but as a dramatic actress, she’s phenomenal. And to be able to work with her on a drama, even if was sci-fi, was a real pleasure. We’re hoping to get to work together again. But I’m a big sci-fi fan, comics fan, that kind of thing, so being able to be in that bubble with her was great. 

Excellent. Well, I know we have to wrap up, but it’s good to talk to you again. It’s literally been more than a decade since our last conversation. Best of luck with Petey.

Oh, wow. Cool, man! Good to talk to you again. And, thanks, I appreciate it, pal!

Praise Petey premieres on Freeform on Friday, July 21, 2023, and will be available to stream on Hulu the next day.

Will Harris (@NonStopPop) has a longstanding history of doing long-form interviews with random pop culture figures for the A.V. Club, Vulture, and a variety of other outlets, including Variety. He’s currently working on a book with David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. (And don’t call him Shirley.)