Rory Carroll in The Guardian (U.K.). The British actor and his
dad both suffered sexual abuse as children, and at the hands of
the same man: Roth’s grandfather. “He was a rapist,” says Roth.
“But nobody had the language. Nobody knew what to do.” His
father, a journalist, “was a damaged soul” with a sardonic sense
of humor, Roth says. “He was abused. And I was abused. I was
abused by his abuser.” Roth fled his bleak childhood by moving
to Los Angeles, where he became a character actor, mostly playing
dark roles, including in several Quentin Tarantino movies.
But even now, Roth is deeply insecure and worries about paying
the bills. For a fat paycheck, he will often take roles that other
respected actors reject. That includes last year’s United Passions,
a movie in which Roth played the part of reviled FIFA head Sepp
Blatter. “The FIFA thing was school fees, all of that. That was:
‘F--- it, man. You know what, I’ve got to do this, got to pay the
rent and got to look after the boys.’” As penance, Roth refused to
accept FIFA’s offer of VIP tickets to the World Cup in Brazil. “It
was just too embarrassing to go.” He laughs. “That’s the price for
playing a guy like that.”