10 Movie Characters They Wanted You To Forget
8. Danny McGrath - Billy Madison
Not all movies that want you to forget about a character necessarily do so for a big dramatic "gotcha!" - sometimes it's just for a good laugh.
Case in point, we have the classic Adam Sandler comedy Billy Madison, where upon being bullied after re-entering high school, Billy (Sandler) decides to make amends with those he himself bullied as a kid.
He starts by calling and apologising to Danny McGrath (Steve Buscemi), an old classmate he tormented at school. Danny accepts Billy's apology, and the scene ends with Danny hilariously crossing Billy's name off a "people to kill" list stuck on his wall.
That seems to be the end of the gag, except Danny unexpectedly re-appears at the very end of the film some 20 minutes later, showing up just in time to shoot the villain, Eric Gordon (Bradley Whitford), in the ass with a sniper rifle before he can shoot Billy's love interest Veronica (Bridgette Wilson).
To cap it all off, Billy then quips, "Man, I'm glad I called that guy."
Comedy is all about timing and upending expectations, and this nailed both.