

(written from a Production point of view Real World article

Stephen Root (born 17 November 1951; age 68) is the actor who played Captain K'Vada in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fifth season episodes "Unification I" and "Unification II". He filmed his scenes on Monday 16 September 1991 and Tuesday 24 September 1991 on Paramount Stage 5 and Paramount Stage 9.

He has appeared in many movies, including Ghost (with Whoopi Goldberg, and Vincent Schiavelli), The Ladykillers (with Tzi Ma) , Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Dave (1993, with Frank Langella, Parley Baer, Stefan Gierasch, Charles Hallahan, Dawn Arnemann, Dendrie Taylor, Paul Collins, Peter White, Robin Gammell, Dan Butler, Tory Christopher, and Pam Pruitt-McGeary), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (with William Shatner), Jersey Girl, (with Mike Starr), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (with Musetta Vander) and Office Space (with Richard Riehle, Diedrich Bader and Paul Willson).

He starred in the successful television series NewsRadio with Andy Dick and Ladies Man with Sharon Lawrence. He also had a recurring role in the final two seasons of The West Wing, appearing with Brett Cullen, Ron Canada, J. Patrick McCormack, Michael Bofshever, David Clennon, Bonita Friedericy, and Van Epperson.

He has made guest appearances on Cybill (with Jonathan Frakes), NYPD Blue (with Gordon Clapp, Sharon Lawrence and Edward Wiley), Quantum Leap (with Scott Bakula, Dean Stockwell, and guest Liz Vassey), Frasier (with Kelsey Grammer), Ed (with Mike Starr), Seinfeld (with Jason Alexander, although they did not share screen time), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (with Tom Towles), and Boston Legal (with William Shatner and John Larroquette).

He was one of several Star Trek actors to appear in the mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, playing Flight Director Chris Kraft. Others who appeared in the mini series are Sam Anderson, David Andrews, Dan Butler, David Clennon, Ronny Cox, Brett Cullen, J. Downing, Ann Cusack, David Drew Gallagher, Jerry Hardin, Clint Howard, Daniel Hugh Kelly, John Carroll Lynch, Dakin Matthews, Kieran Mulroney, Conor O'Farrell, Holmes R. Osborne, Harve Presnell, Mark Rolston, Alan Ruck, and Winona Ryder.

He has done voice work, starring in such productions as King of the Hill (with Pamela Segall), American Dad! (with Seth MacFarlane and Patrick Stewart) Ice Age, Finding Nemo (with Eric Bana), and the lead role in Tripping the Rift.

From 2014 to 2015, he had a recurring role on the television series Turn: Washington's Spies. The series also featured Aldis Hodge and John Billingsley.