I just finished watching The School of Rock and thought Miranda Cosgrove was superb as Summer Hathaway,the bands manager.
That got me thinking of other movies and shows I find enjoyable mostly because of one of the smaller roles, they are…
Patrick McGoohan as Longshanks in Braveheart (thought he was excellent as the judge in A Time to Kill as well)
Brian Cox as the original Hannibal Lecktor (sic) in Michael Mann’s Manhunter. William Peterson was really good, but Lecktor undoubtedly stole the show – both the way the charcter was written, and the way Cox performed him (he seems more clearly insane and cooly sadistic than Anthony Hopkins in the same role). I’m not surprised Lector (respelled) got a meatier part in silence of the Lambs.
There are several shows that come to mind where minor actors stoled larger roles.
Fronzie on Happy Days was suppose to be minor character and became the biggest character. Urkel on Familly Matters is another.
On Night Court, Dan Fielding became the equal to Harry. This was not in the original conception.
On Family Ties, Meredith Baxter Birney was to be the star with Michael Gross as #2. Michael J. Fox surpassed Meredith and Gross was probably less important than the other kids.
Jim
Beyonce in Austin Powers in Goldmember. For a glorified celebrity cameo, she displayed a lot more personality and screen presence than the professional actor/comedians. The movie seemed to come alive when she was speaking and go back to sleep when she was offscreen.
This is hardly a small part, but Pirates of the Carribean didn’t really star Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley. It starred Johnny Depp. It also had other actors playing their parts in a perfectly fine fashion, but it was absolutely made by Johnny Depp.
Actually, I thought Geoffrey Rush more than held his own in that movie. He owned every scene he was in that Johnny Depp wasn’t, and was Depp’s equal in the scenes they shared.
My vote goes to Brett Kelly] Who played Thurman Merman (the Kid) in Bad Santa. Going toe to to with Billy Bob Thorten screaming in his face, the kid never bats an eye and nails his lines perfect deadpan. The first time I saw that movie I honestly wondered if the kid had a true learning disorder.
Kirsten Dunst in Interview with a Vampire - just a small child at the time and stealing scenes right and left. (I consider this a lesser task then Brett’s due to the fact that any adult with acting skills is pretty well equipped to out act Tom Cruise.
And speaking of Val Kilmer, I’m surprised when he doesn’t steal the show.
If I remember correctly, Desperately Seeking Susan was supposed to be a star vechicle for Rosanna Arquette. It probably would have been, if not for Madonna’s role as Susan.
Wait, what? Rosanna “the incredibly cute” was the star of that movie and held that position. Madonna was simply the publicity angle for a movie with mostly unknowns. At least among my friends in the Navy, we all to the last man thought Rosanna was the better, funnier and prettier actress in the film and we looked forward to her future roles.
I thought Dame Judi Dench was absolutely deserving of her Oscar for the - what 9 minutes? - screen time she did for Shakespeare in Love. In that small time, in just three scenes, she created a complex, rich character with actual subtext and backstory and just plain weight. While I love the rest of the movie, and all the performances were great, it’s the Queen I think of when I think of that movie. It could have been a cardboard cutout role, but it wasn’t.
“I know something of a woman in a man’s profession, yes, by God, I do know about that.”
Toby Stephens in Die Another Day. Not a great movie, by any means, though Once Were Warriors’s Lee Tamahori made it better than most. But Stephens made it worth watching more than once.
And let’s not forget another great child scene stealer: Anna Paquin was the best actor in The Piano.
