10 Supporting Characters Who Were Much Better Than The Main Characters

By Rebecca Ryan / May 25, 2013

The main characters in a film are supposed to be the ones we focus the most attention on, they are our heroes and our guides through the stories their directors want to tell. It's only natural they get the top billing, and more often than not, they deserve all of that attention. But, this isn't always the case - sometimes a supporting character will steal the show, pulling attention away from the lead, despite their primary function being support, and not distraction. Sometimes it's because the actor playing said character naturally deserves more attention, or perhaps the character is just an awful lot more interesting than the lead, thanks to the lessened screen time meaning an opportunity for braver creative decisions. Usually that means the supporting character will steal the scenes he is in, which isn't always fatal for the main character, as they tend to get more time on screen, but sometimes a supporting character appears who totally overshadows everyone else. They are the memorable sideshows to the main event, who draw more of a crowd, and leave a more enduring legacy, whether through better writing or a better performance, and we're here to celebrate them. So, here are ten supporting characters or 'sidekicks' who stole the show. A word of warning; there's likely to be spoilers.

10. David - Prometheus (2012)

"Sometimes to create, one must first destroy." We all knew Michael Fassbender's performance in Prometheus as the android David would be something special. The androids in the Alien series tend to play a crucial part to the story though whether they are evil or not is anybody's guess until the moment of revelation either way. Since the viral video of an Apple-esque advertisement for David was released, and we saw his crisp appearance with perfect English accent, we knew Fassbender was going to give us a show, and we could all see something sinister beneath his looks. It was after this teaser that everyone began to get really excited about Prometheus. Unfortunately, Prometheus turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for most Alien fans. With practically all of the other characters being paper-thin with extremely poor judgement, David was the only character who COULD steal the show. The studios caught on to this and he is now in the middle of the DVD cover rather than Noomi Rapace. We were all glad to see that he (kind of) survived and will hopefully be in the next film - he was the best character after all.