# Most influential very minor movie role **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 3, 2022, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865 "2022-09-03T05:02:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/41 "2022-09-03T23:56:11Z")
Stephen Root in **Office Space**. His bits as Milton Waddams lifted an amusing movie into the hilarious realm. ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/42 "2022-09-04T00:00:19Z")
Leonard Nimoy in **THEM!**. He has a walk-on and speaking role as a U.S. Army SSgt. in an inter-service communications center. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/43 "2022-09-04T00:04:22Z")
Marlon Brando got first billing on Superman: The Motion Picture, a movie he was barely in. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/44 "2022-09-04T00:04:34Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > More memorable target for Harrison Ford: Greedo Meh, is the Rodian-to-Latin alphabet transcription that standardized? šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/45 "2022-09-04T00:07:26Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Marlon Brando got first billing on Superman: The Motion Picture, a movie he was barely in. Though Iā€™d argue that role is more influential as an example of a big name actor accepting a role they thought was beneath them and being a total dick to to everyone as a result, rather than anything the character did on screen. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/46 "2022-09-04T00:10:44Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Iā€™d argue that role is more influential as an example of a big name actor accepting a role they thought was beneath them and being a total dick to to everyone as a result, rather than anything the character did on screen. If that character doesnā€™t choose to rocket a baby to Earth, thereā€™s no movie; and no sequel, if he doesnā€™t get Zod (a) sentenced to the Phantom Zone while (b) swearing vengeance on The House Of El. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/47 "2022-09-04T02:56:33Z")
Yeah, I was working commission sales at the time, and we threw lines from that scene around a fair bit, jokingly of course. We could be intense, but never Alec Baldwin intense. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/48 "2022-09-04T03:45:25Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > that character doesnā€™t choose to rocket a baby to Earth, thereā€™s no movie; and no sequel, if he doesnā€™t get Zod (a) sentenced to the Phantom Zone while (b) swearing vengeance on The House Of El Though I meant culturally.influence not influencing the plot of the movie (most movies have minor characters that influence the plot). And as cultural phenomenon that role, if it is known at all, is known for Brandoā€™s prima Donna attitude on set. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/49 "2022-09-04T09:37:00Z")
It was also Brandoā€™s idea to have the S crest on Supermanā€™s outfit be the family crest of the House of El, which has since permeated into the modern DC movies and, AFAIK, the comics canon as well. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/50 "2022-09-06T08:22:19Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > ā€œIā€™ll have what sheā€™s havingā€. > > Estelle Reiner in When Harry Met Sallyā€¦ The only role quoted, in its entirety, in the [AFIā€™s 100 yearsā€¦100 movie quotes.](https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-movie-quotes/) ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/51 "2022-09-06T12:08:38Z")
ā€œTerminate with extreme prejudice.ā€ From Apocalypse Now, of course. It is that guyā€™s only line in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/52 "2022-09-06T17:39:04Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > The classic one for me is always Wilford Brimley in Absense of Malice. In a sense it might be arguable how minor his role is, but he is introduced basically at the denouement of the film and probably has less than ten minutes of screen time. But he dominates it. This is what I came in here to say. I think itā€™s the best example in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/53 "2022-09-06T19:39:12Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > From the same (tremendous) movie, donā€™t forget,ā€œOur precious bodily fluidsā€. Is Brig. Gen. Jack D Ripper really that minor? Heā€™s basically the bad guy throughout most of the movie movie, isnā€™t he? Iā€™ve not seen recently but I remember him being a major character not a minor one. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/54 "2022-09-07T18:16:05Z")
Indeed, he definitely was not a minor character. Mea culpa. In my defense, at that time in the thread, I was confused and thought we were looking for small bits of dialogue or quotes that were influential and/or memorable. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/55 "2022-09-07T18:48:27Z")
Sebastian Shaw has only two lines in _Return of the Jedi_. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/56 "2022-09-07T19:28:14Z")
[What about this little fella?](https://youtu.be/INCptskczb4) no lines at all and barely does anything except jump, grab hold of someone and then die a bit later. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/57 "2022-09-07T19:30:54Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Sebastian Shaw has only two lines in _Return of the Jedi_. Ah though that is the opposite of the Monty Python situation, as heā€™s playing a major character who appears throughout as one actor (David Prowse) and has a ton of dialog voiced by another (James Earl Jones). So I donā€™t think it counts. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/58 "2022-09-07T19:31:31Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > [What about this little fella?](https://youtu.be/INCptskczb4) no lines at all and barely does anything except jump, grab hold of someone and then die a bit later. Not a speaking role, so I think by SAG-AFRA rules not a character šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/59 "2022-09-07T19:32:26Z")
Well that is just nitpicking šŸ˜† ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865/60 "2022-09-07T19:50:28Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Ah though that is the opposite of the Monty Python situation, as heā€™s playing a major character who appears throughout as one actor (David Prowse) and has a ton of dialog voiced by another (James Earl Jones). So I donā€™t think it counts. But at the point heā€™s no longer Darth Vader but Anakin Skywalker once again. Thatā€™s how heā€™s identified in the script. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-influential-very-minor-movie-role/970865.md?page=4)