Now that Widow’s Bay is inching toward its final episodes, we’ve gotten awfully close to its main characters. We thrilled to Mayor Tom’s wild mushroom trip and Patricia’s diabolical cocktail party. But Wyck, played by veteran character actor Stephen Root, has been a tougher nut to crack. He’s well aware that the island is cursed and is greatly frustrated when Tom insists on living in denial; they’ve even come to blows over it. But gradually, a picture of Wyck’s inner life has begun to emerge, and it’s become clear the old sailor does have a heart (and a sense of humor) lurking beneath that salty exterior. In a new interview with Esquire, Root—forever known as “the stapler guy” to Office Space fanatics—talked about getting into character. Becoming Wyck was a process he approached from the ground up, literally. “To me, shoes are really important for a character. That’s how he walks. Wyck walks in boots, but if they were sandals, that’s something else. And we knew this guy—old fisherman with the hat and the vest,” Root said. “I had a beard, but not heavy, and they said, ‘Please don’t shave for the next two months.’ We let it grow from there. So that’s also helpful. But sometimes you have to go outside-in to a character, and this was that. Clothes help the man.”