Supporting actors who stole the spotlight from the lead

Sometimes, we remember a movie thanks to the supporting actor rather than the big star of the poster. In the case of Ana de Armas in the film 'Yesterday' (2019), the fear that this would happen was reportedly so great, that she was edited out of the film!

In the trailer of 'Yesterday,' the Cuban actress appears as a possible love interest of the protagonist, Himesh Patel. But when the film eventually came out, she had disappeared. What happened? According to director Danny Boyle in Vanity Fair, she had been cut out to give more attention to another flirt of the protagonist, Lily James, with whom he eventually gets together by the end of the film.

Image: still from 'Yesterday' trailer / YouTube

It's unfair, fans of Ana de Armas say. They say the appearance of the Cuban beauty in the trailer is 'false advertising' and she should be edited in again. Or at least they should get their $3.99 for renting the movie back.

On the other hand, the filmmakers say in Vanity Fair, it was the general audience that indicated after test screenings that it was better to keep Ana de Armas out of the film. The test viewers thought the story would be better if the protagonist was only pursuing one girl (Lily James) at a time.

There are times when, due to the strength of the character or the incredible performance of the actress or actor, a supporting character ends up becoming the star. They may even overshadow the main character of the plot.

In this World War II film by Quentin Tarantino, the hero against the Nazis is Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). But it's the bad guy, the Jew-hunting Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), who dominates the screen. His role does not go unnoticed: Waltz received the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival and Oscar, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Supporting Actor.

Heath Ledger played the Joker in Christian Bale's Batman movie. But how many people remember Bale from that film, as opposed to Ledger?

Ray Liotta and Robert DeNiro manage to be completely eclipsed in this masterpiece of gangster cinema by the small - but great - Joe Pesci in his role as Tommy DeVito. The character goes from being a funny guy to a murderous monster in the blink of an eye. Pesci also won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1990.

You won't believe it but: Jack Sparrow is not (or was not) the lead in 'Pirates of the Caribbean! The reality is that the leading roles were played by Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), but the strength of Jack's character meant that he was the one who carried the story, ending up becoming the true star of the saga.

Although the plot of 'American Pie' features virtually all the young characters in the cast, arguably the most prominent is Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs). However, the tremendous role of Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) as the most outrageous, brainless, hard-partying guy of them all, steals the spotlight.

All fans of the classic 'Star Wars' films know that the star and hero of the galaxy is the young Jedi Luke Skywalker. But it is Darth Vader who manages to outshine both his son and the rest of the characters.

Many wouldn't recognize him in this film if you didn't let on. In 'Dallas Buyers Club', Jared Leto completely transforms himself to play Rayon, a transgender woman with HIV. Such is the actor's performance that he eclipses Matthew McConaughey himself. Leto won all the best supporting actor awards, while McConaughey won the lead actor awards (Oscar, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild, among others).

It's hard to say that Harry Potter can be taken out of the spotlight in the saga that bears his name. However, it's also true that the sinister and diabolical Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), on whom much of the plot revolves, makes him worthy of mention in a list of secondary characters who become true spotlight thieves.

And 'The Lord of the Rings' is similar to 'Harry Potter'. There could be many candidates to progress from a supporting role to a leading one - think Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), for example - but if we had to choose one, it would be Gandalf (Ian McKellen), the guiding light of the ring on the way to Mount Doom (with the permission of good old Frodo).

We can't say whether the character of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), who we all think of as the star of Back to the Future, is more important - or Dr. Emmett Brown. The mad genius creator of the DeLorean could take us to the past and the future. Of course, he is a completely necessary part of the films.

The young Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is the main character in the story of 'Karate Kid'. He is a new kid in town and the Cobras, a group of karate students, take it out on him when he starts dating a girl. That's where Professor Miyagi (Pat Morita) comes in, training LaRusso to fight his enemies and becoming an unexpected star. "Wax on, wax on"... what other phrase can you remember?

The title is clear and so is Arnold Schwarzenegger's role, but in 'Terminator', we are left with the profound feeling that the complete and utter star of James Cameron's film is Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). Or is she actually the star?

It is clear, and the name of the film itself says so, that the lead is Max Rockatansky, Mad Max (Tom Hardy). But in 'Mad Max: Fury Road', the character of Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) appears and leads a group fleeing across the desert which Max was forced to join. A role that goes from secondary to star in front of our eyes without us even realizing it.

It is clear that the main characters in 'X-Men: First Class' are Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender). Jennifer Lawrence plays the role of Mystique, a character of great strength on screen who changes sides as often as she changes her appearance; and steals the limelight from whoever is put in front of her.

Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is a sports agent who ends up being fired and making a living on his own. This leads him to cross paths with a second-rate player who gets a major role in Cameron Crowe's film. This is Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. "Show me the money."Maguire said... and a new star was born. He even won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

In the second part of 'The Godfather', someone had to play the important role of Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) in his younger version in order to get to know the origins of the great 'boss' of the Sicilian mafia in New York. The role went to a young Robert de Niro and his performance was stellar - he even went so far as to go and live in Sicily to learn the dialect - and, on top of that, he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Hunter Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) and policeman Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) become embroiled in a thrilling plot following the discovery of some murdered men. Following then you see the figure of Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a sinister contract killer with an unusual weapon to finish off his victims that leaves us all glued to the seat. His tremendous performance won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Sociopath Lisa Rowe is a character played by Angelina Jolie in the film 'Girl Interrupted'. Her performance leaves the central character, Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), in the background. Once again the awards proved us right: Angelina won the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.

John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Harvey Keitel, Christopher Walken, Tim Roth... and in the middle of them all Uma Thurman and her character of Mia Wallace. She is by no means the star of 'Pulp Fiction', but her scenes - the dance or the overdose, for example - are among the best in Tarantino's film.

And from film to television. In 'How I Met Your Mother', the story revolves around the character of Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and how he met the woman who would become his wife and mother of his children. But there is one character in particular who gets most of the attention in the end, because of his personality. You know who we're talking about? Of course, you do: Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris).

We have to stop at one of the great series of the nineties 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air', which focused on the figure of Will (Will Smith). But he is surrounded by all the characters of his family and all have roles of great importance - with a special mention for the good Carlton Banks (Alfonso Ribeiro), who we love.

One of the great series of the 21st century is, without a doubt, 'Game of Thrones' and, within the enormous cast of this HBO and George R. R. Martin production, there is a secondary character that no-one would say is the main character. Tyrion Lannister, played by Peter Dinklage. Everyone loves him, despite all the bad things he does.

He was conceived as a secondary character who would barely be seen in two episodes of the series. He went on to become the soul of the story, far above the rest. All thanks to the tremendous work of actor Jaleel White.

The series begins and continues with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) as the unquestionable lead, but he is joined by others. Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) became more and more prominent as the episodes went by, until he became the character we love the most.

Jimmy Morgan McGill, later known as Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), is a criminal lawyer from Albuquerque known for his quirky late-night TV commercials, in which he mentions his motto, "Better Call Saul!". Sound familiar? Yes, the strength of the character is such that he ended up with his own series, the spin-off of 'Breaking Bad'.

Not that Janice (Maggie Wheeler) ever pretended to be the star of 'Friends,' overshadowing Chandler Bing, Phoebe Buffay, Monica Geller, Ross Geller, Rachel Green, and Joey Tribbiani. But every time she appeared on screen with a quirky performance, she got all the attention.

And if we go to the world of animation, we also have a few cases of secondary characters that seem more like stars than anything else. In 2010, the film 'Despicable Me' arrived on our screens, featuring some cute little yellow characters who made us laugh tirelessly: the Minions. Such was their success that in 2015 they already had their own film.

A very similar case to the Minions is that of the forgetful Dory, Nemo's inseparable companion in 'Finding Nemo'. It was 2003 and this endearing character made everyone fall in love with her, to the point that thirteen years later, in 2016, she became the star of the show with her own film, 'Finding Dory'.

Aladdin is Aladdin and no one can argue with his leading role, but if there is one character who gets all the attention in Disney's wonderful animated film, it is the Genie. Funny, amusing, brilliant... The Genie is voiced by the late, great Robin Williams.

Another animated character who won the hearts of all audiences is Puss in Boots, the 'ogre hunter' in 'Shrek 2'. Instead of catching the green giant, he becomes one of his best friends. And like others, he also ended up with his own films in 2011 and 2012.

The Simpsons' universe is endless and there are many secondary characters who deserve to be recognized as stars. That's why, from this list, we're going to put - as number one - the most beloved neighbor of all: Ned Flanders! Without forgetting to make a special mention for other greats such as Moe, Burns, Apu, Milhouse, Nelson, Martin, Krusty, Barney, Seymour Skinner, and Clancy Wiggum, among many others...