Top 40 Side Characters/Supporting Actors

Jamie Bell is nearlt always a side character. He is a great actor and steals the show many times in the movies that he costars in. A few of the titles in which he works his magic are King Kong (Jimmy), The Eagle (Esca), Nicholas Nickleby (Smike), Jumper (Griffin), and, most recently, Man on a Ledge (Joey).

James McAvoy has worked his way up to being a leading man, but when he is not being a leading man, he makes for a fascinating supporting character. Some his excellent side roles are Atonement as Robbie (though I don't care for the movie myself), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Mr. Tumnus), and Wimbledon (Carl).

Dan Duryea is a classic actor. He is one of the greats, though never fully recognized as one. He does a supurb job in Winchester '73 as Waco, Lady on a Train as Arnold, and especially as Whitey Kincaid in Ride Clear of Diablo. Audie Murphy did an excellent job in Diablo as well, but Duryea stole the show by a landslide.

Harvey Lembeck takes over in Stalag 17 as Harry Shapiro alongside Robert Strauss, who plays Animal. There are so many great actors in Stalag 17, but Lembeck sticks out with his partner. Harvey does such a good job at his role of Shapiro that it is hard not to call him Harry or Shapiro when addressing him instead of his real name.

Robert Strauss, with Harvey Lembeck, wins the hearts of Stalag 17 movie watchers. He plays the hilarious Animal in this POW movie. He is such a goof that the audience can't help but love him and his friend. He takes the scene in a good way by giving the audience some comic relief in the tense POW film.

Holden is rarely a side anything, but when he is, he's sensational. He shines, in a playboy sort of way, as David in the famous Sabrina. He also was awesome, though less of a side charcter, in The Horse Soldiers as Maj. Henry Kendall.

Liev Schreiber killed in Kate & Leopold as Stuart! His emotion and his passion in the movie captivates the audience. He plays the part with such conviction that one would have trouble not believing it and him.

Breckin Meyer was memorable and remarkable in Kate & Leopold, as Charlie, Herbie Fully Loaded (Ray Peyton Jr.), and Ghost of a Girlfriends Past as Paul.

Lemmon is a favorite of many people, but generally as the lead man. He was astonishing in Mister Roberts, as Ens. Frank Thurlowe Pulver. He is the part. He is full of life, young, and also full of fear of the Captain, James Cagney.

William Powell is most known for his title rolein The Thin Man. He is also known for is very small, yet very big part, in Mister Roberts ('Doc'). It is easy to remember his portrayal of J. D. Hanley in How to Marry a Millionaire, as well.

Augustus Prew is an unforgettable character in his own right in Charlie St. Cloud (Alistair) and The Secret of Moonacre (Robin).

Don Knotts is stunning as the Denver Kid in Hot Lead and Cold Feet. He also shone in his well-loved role of Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show and as Coach Venner in the disney movie Gus.

Darren McGavin has never been extremely well known, though he has played in many parts. He did played an excellent and believable shyster in his role as Mayor Ragsdale in the hilarious Hot Lead and Cold Feet starring Jim Dale. he also did an grand job as Mike Damon in The Delicate Delinquent.

Casey Affleck is remembered for better, more established roles, but he did a profound job in Drowing Mona as Bobby. In fact, he was the only thing worth watching in the whole film.

Anthony Perkins was positively stunning as Josh in Friendly Persuasion. Perkins played an the son of Gary Cooper, a quaker that was trying to have a life and home and keep safe during the civil war, while keeping as far away from the war as possible, though they were in the heart of it.

Adrian Zmed was a hit in Grease 2 as the new and, I believe improved, Johnny Nogerelli. The movie was given a poor rating and is a bit silly, but it has good points and a half-good soundtrack. The highlight of the movie, other than Maxwell Caulfield as the lead character, was definitely Adrian Zmed's portrayal of Johnny. he was goofy, fun, and had a good set of pipes.

Max Theriot was memorable in The Pacifier (Seth) and in Jumper (Young David). He is amazing in both roles and very believable. His portrayal of Seth in The Pacifier is extremely well done.

Keira Knightley earns her place in The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as Elizabeth Swan and in Atonement as Cecilia. She always performs with excellence and passion, but sheshines in these two as side characters, where she is normally a lead.

Elizabeth Taylor was perfect as Amy in Little Women. She played the character as though she was her and made Amy's oddities realistic and humorous.

Roddy McDowall is a supurb and diverse actor, but he is absolutely perfect in That Darn Cat (Gregory Benson). He was the perfect snoot and never fell out of character. Maybe he had his nose in the air most of the time, but he was marvelous. He was hilarious and stole the audience, along with costar Tom Lowell who also did a supurb job as Canoe.

Tom Lowell does a great job in everything that he does, but he is perfect as Canoe in That Darn Cat, which was filled with a great cast of supporting actors. He made Canoe the perfect image of the typical sloppy, young, teenage surfer with a ping jealousy and protectiveness toward his girlfriend.

Dorothy Provine was funny, witty, and a great match for an older sister like she played in That Darn Cat (Ingrid) as Hayley Mills older sister.

William Demarest is a memorable kind of guy to begin with, but he is especially so in That Darn Cat (Mr. MacDougall), Escape From Fort Bravo (Campbell), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Carl), Sullivan's Travels (Mr. Jones), and Pardon My Sarong (Det. Kendall).

Frank Gorshin was unbelievably great as Iggy in That Darn Cat. He was a little rough around the edges, unintelligent, yet clever, a little sinister and psychotic, and totally believably.

The greatly loved Mel Cooley from The Dick Van Dyke Show. Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, Richard Deacon, the amazing supporting actor. He always seemed to be a supporting actor, I guess he didn't have the face for a lead part. He always did his best though, at least that's what i assume it was since I don't think anyone could have played Mel better than Deacon. He was Mel and he was also the drive in manager in That Darn Cat. There was no doubt that he was the manager for the audience.

Marjorie Main always took charge with her strong attitude and thick country accent. She was most of her characters. Two wonderful performances she did were in Meet Me in St. Louis (Katie-Maid) and Johnny Come Lately ('Gashouse' Mary).

Peter McEnery won the audience and earned his place in The Moonspinners as Mark Camford. He was a strong and dependable character who was easy to love.

Janet Leigh was a well-known actress, but she did play some parts that were smaller, less significant parts. She did an excellent job in Psycho (Marion), though she was pretty important, she was far from being the main character. She also did well in The Black Shield of Falworth (Lady Anne), Houdini (Bess), My Sister Eileen, as the title character, though not the lead, and Little Women (Meg).

Elsa Lanchester was a great actress who costarred in Mary Poppins (Katie Nanna) and That Darn Cat (Mrs. MacDougall), which were both memorable parts for her, among others.

Basil Rathbone was an extremely talented actor in every right and he nearly always played a side role because he was nearly always the 'bad guy'. He was in more films than I care to put down as the supporting actor that stole the show, or, shall we say, would have stolen it had he not died before he could each time. He did not always die, but it did seem to be a trademark he had. To name a few of his memorable supporting parts, there is, We're No Angels (Andre Trochard, one of his best/the best performances of all time), The Court Jester (Sir Ravenhurst), The Adventures of Robin Hood (Sir Guy of Gisbourne), Casanova's Big Night (Lucio/Narrator), and The Mark of Zorro (Capt. Esteban Pasquale).

Peter Lawford was an amazing actor, lead or not. He was impressive as Laurie in Little Women. No one could have, nor has, captured that character better.

natalie Portman has been in many movies. She has a strong career and is a beautiful and talented actress. She was stunning as Grace in Brothers and as Padme in the Star Wars Episodes 1-3.

Dean Martin is probably best known for his voice and his role alongside Jerry Lewis as the bully of the two. He was also a great character actor, though. He was marvellous as

Horst was never an actor that became very famous, but he was exceptional as Chico in The Magnificent Seven. He made the boy a significant piece of the movie and of the seven.

Robert Vaughn cannot be left out of this list after his performance in The Magninficent Seven as Lee. He was the perfect tough exterior and fearful interior type to play Lee, the gunslinger that had lost his nerve.

It goes without saying that Bronson can be great. He has proven this many times. Some examples of this are in his performances in The Magnificent Seven (Bernardo O'Reilly) and in The Great Escape (Danny 'Tunnel King').

Eli Wallach is always good for a performance that exceeds most of his costars. To name a few of his triumphs, there is The Magnificent Seven (Calvero), The Moon-Spinners (Stratos), The Holiday (Arthur), and How to Steal a Million (Davis).

Coburn was great in The Magnificent Seven (Britt), The Great Escape (Sedgwick 'The Manufacturer') and also in Charade (Tex).

Jason Robards was most memorable as Cheyenne from Once Upon a Time in the West and as Heidi's Grandfather in Heidi.

RDJ is an AMAZING actor. He is in many well-known titles, most recently The Avengers and the Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes series. He does such an excellent job in these performances that he becomes the character. People have trouble distinguishing Tony Stark from RDJ. He is Iron Man/Tony Stark. One other personal favorite I have of his is Heart and Souls , in which, he acts as several different characters and changes his mannerisms to fit each one.

I realized that Johnny Depp was missing from this list. I don't know how I could have forgotten him, so there are now 41 actors in this list of 40 actors. :) Johnny Depp is another actor who creates his role/character and becomes them, like RDJ. He has done this with Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, and many other characters he has played. I have no doubt that if he continues to act, he will do the same with the rest of his characters.