Richard Roma

Richard Roma is a fictional character from David Mamet's 1982 play Glengarry Glen Ross and its 1992 film adaptation. Roma has been portrayed by a range of actors, including Joe Mantegna, Al Pacino and Liev Schreiber, although the role was originated by Jack Shepherd.

Actors portraying Roma have seen multiple stage award wins and nominations—both Mantegna and Schreiber received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for their depictions, while Shepherd earned a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal. In film, Pacino received nominations for both the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.

Conceptual history

When I walked on that stage, my feeling was: I am that matador. And I’m gonna kill every bull that comes into the arena.

Roma, along with the rest of the salesmen in Glengarry Glen Ross, was written based on playwright David Mamet's previous experiences selling "worthless" Arizona real estate from an office in Chicago. Mamet described the colorful dialogue used by the character—which has also been described as "following in the steps of" Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman—as having been influenced by overheard conversations and street slang.