Is Stephen Root the greatest character actor of our generation?

I would put in a sympathy vote for Richard Jenkins, but I would give the edge to Stephen Root.

John C. Reilly can do funny and serious and to me the best of the generation was Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

loved him in Boardwalk

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He can do everything from outlandish humor to pure menace.

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He's worked with The Coens and Mike Judge.

He's held his own against the late, great Phil Hartman on a weekly series.

The range of characters and settings is pretty impressive, although he does trend towards comedy.

He's way up there, no question.

The man is a chameleon.

He was the detective who showed Molly Oda Mae Brown's rap sheet in 'Ghost.'

He was the dentist in "Fargo" Season 1.

And of course: "Okeeey, that's the last strawww."

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He was the detective who showed Molly Oda Mae Brown's rap sheet in 'Ghost.'

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He was DEA in Crocodile Dunde II. He was the guy whose junk Mick held his knife to at the urinal

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to me the best of the generation was Phillip Seymour Hoffman

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Agreed! He was outstanding in serious roles, but could also kill it in less serious roles. He was hysterical in Along Came Poly

Root is awesome.

Not many actors can play a futuristic hillbilly wolverine judge and make it work.

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John C. Reilly can do funny and serious and to me the best of the generation was Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

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To be fair to the various dissenting opinions, Root was born in 1951. More fair to compare him to fellow boomer JK Simmons (outstanding, BTW), from a generational standpoint.

John C. Reilly and PSH are Gen-Xers.

(ETA: And these 4 cats, in particularly, have incredible range.)