There are plenty of movies out there that have a well-defined lead actor and yet somehow, someway, the supporting actor can sometimes steal the movie away without any real effort at all since their character is just that charismatic, the charming, or that terrifying. In this case, it’s somehow hard to remember just who the main character really is and why they’re important to the movie any longer, but in others, it’s easier since the supporting actor might steal the show, but they’ll also hand it back when it’s time in order to keep everything rolling along as it should. In this manner a movie can actually become even better since it becomes a game of catch between the lead and the supporting actor in a way, a game that the audience gets to watch as the two actors, or more, continue to share the spotlight as the movie continues to unfold and the story pushes forward in a way that’s even better since the lead and the supporting actor aren’t fighting against each other but are at times trying to keep up with each other in order to keep the natural flow and rhythm going. When that kind of balance is struck it’s absolutely great, but it’s obvious which supporting actors have had the most pull throughout the years.
Here are a few supporting actors that managed to steal the show from the leads now and again.
5. Anthony Hopkins – Silence of the Lambs
How many people even remember Buffalo Bill first when thinking of this movie, or Clarice Starling? Granted, fans still remember them of course, but Hannibal Lecter easily became the biggest character in the entire story since he’s just that creepy and that hypnotic that the character has been deemed as one of the scariest horror villains of all time. The manner in which he speaks, calm and reserved and well-educated, and how he acts, confident and absolutely in control of himself at all times, is downright eerie since he’s the kind of guy that can attack a nurse while he’s in cuffs and never raise his own heart rate.
4. Joe Pesci – Goodfellas
Seriously, this movie felt like it belonged more to Joe Pesci than it did to Henry Hill at times since his character was the type that didn’t take a back seat to anyone unless it was Robert De Niro’s character. This is just how Pesci has played his mob characters though, larger than life and meaner than hell since he doesn’t take anything from anyone and he’s bound to shoot a person just for getting their drink order wrong. Plus, in the movie, it’s easy to see that very few people can really handle him since even the bosses don’t know what to do with him half the time. In the end though it was killing a made man that went over the line.
3. Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
The same kind of issue happened with Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton that happened here, and it’s fair to say that the character of the Joker kind of demands that he stand out and be as psychotic as he can be while Batman has to lay back and be the voice of reason. But Heath Ledger took it to a new level since apparently he asked Christian Bale to hit him full-on during the interrogation scene and Bale was against it from the start. This role, as Ledger’s last, was one that might have caused him to enter therapy not long after the movie finished since he went deep and he went dark.
2. Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men
Chigurh is that guy you see walking down the street that you don’t know, but you don’t want to mess with since there’s just something wrong about him, something that feels off, and it’s best not to mess with a person who can deadpan this well. But his antics throughout the movie make it even clearer that he’s not the guy, not now, not then, and not ever, when it comes with someone to mess with. From the dogged pursuit of his prey to the manner in which he actually takes people out, Chigurh is a very scary individual simply because he doesn’t care, he’s out to do a job and that’s that.
1. Val Kilmer – Tombstone
It feels as though there couldn’t have been anyone better for this role than Val Kilmer since back in his day he was lighting up the screen and making a lot of people happy, especially with this role since his take on the infamous Doc Holliday was one that a lot of people have been quoting ever since the movie was released decades ago. The line “I’m your huckleberry” is one that has been heard over and over as a challenge and a joke and it’s been one of the most iconic lines in all of cinema.
When the supporting actors are on it’s hard to stop them from rolling.
Follow Us
