Supporting role

Supporting role is a term from theater culture and the film industry . In a feature film or a play there are usually several supporting roles in the personage (cast) in addition to the few main roles.

meaning

The English term for supporting role is Supporting Act and describes the actual task, the support of the main roles . Supporting roles are often considered to be the "more colorful" and more interesting roles, as they also have the task of making the film colorful and interesting, while the main actor often has to go linearly through the film: Doctor Watson in Holmes as the narrator , Papageno in the Magic Flute as Buffopart , Ron and Hermione for Harry Potter as secondary main roles, but also the respective antagonists (opponents) of the hero. A distinction must be made between the supporting role in its independence and the pure extras .

While the main actors appear clearly highlighted in form and color on posters and print media or a film opening credits , the so-called supporting actors in the supporting roles are usually only noted marginally and accordingly less conspicuously. However, awards in the film industry are also given for the Best Supporting Role category .

There are actors who almost exclusively play and played supporting roles. Peer Schmidt , Hubert von Meyerinck , Elisabeth Flickenschildt or Stanislav Ledinek , for example , never got the lead role in a feature film, and yet they became known and famous. On the other hand, there are also famous actors who deliberately appear in smaller supporting roles, either because they are friends with the director or because they receive appropriate fees in order to give a so-called B-movie the necessary status for the audience. According to the actor Martin Brambach , the playwright Bertolt Brecht said : "The better the quality of the casting of the supporting role, the better the production."

See also

• Goya / Best Supporting Actor , Filmfare Award / Best Supporting Actor , German Film Award / Best Male Supporting Role
• Bodil / Best Supporting Actor , Polish Film Award / Best Supporting Actor , Tony Award / Best Supporting Actor
• Molière (Theater Award ) / Best Supporting Actor , Bollywood Movie Award / Best Supporting Actor , New York Film Critics Circle Award / Best Supporting Actor

Web links

• Supporting roles

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Oscar / Best Supporting Actor , Oscar / Best Supporting Actress , Golden_Globe_Award / Best_Supporting Actor , César / Best_Supporting Actor etc.
2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.