E.J. Russell's Top 5 Best Supporting Actors

Thursday July 05, 2018

Although the main characters are important in any story, I love it when secondary characters steal the spotlight. Here are five of my favorites.

 

#5: Mr. Bennet, Pride and Prejudice

The Bennet family patriarch makes the best of life’s disappointments by viewing them through the lens of absurdity.

Favorite quote: “If any young men come for Mary or Kitty, send them in, for I am quite at leisure.”

 

#4: Min-Jung, Sense8

Remember when Sun arrives at prison and meets her three cell mates? Min-Jung, an elderly woman played by South Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung, studies Sun stonily and says, “You stole all of those investors' money? Shamed your father and brother. And almost destroyed their company.” She smiles and pats Sun’s cheek. “Well done.”

 

#3: Lina Lamont, Singin’ in the Rain

Lina’s the villain, but she’s also freaking hilarious, as in the scene when she dons a new costume:

Lina: Gee, this wig weighs a ton. What dope would wear a thing like this?”
Rosco: Everybody used to wear them, Lina.
Lina: Then everybody was a dope.

 

#2: Liz Imbrie, The Philadelphia Story

Photographer Liz (Ruth Hussey) puts up with Jimmy Stewart’s Macaulay Conner, despite the way he moons around over Hepburn. After Conner shows up drunk at C.K. “Dexter” Haven’s (Cary Grant) house, she collects him the following day:

Liz: We’ve come for the body of Macauley Conner.
Dexter: I’m so glad you came. Can you use a typewriter?
Liz: No, thanks. I’ve got one at home.

 

#1: Edna Mode (voiced by Brad Bird), The Incredibles.

I was under Edna’s spell from the beginning when she dropped lines like, “I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.” And of course, the iconic, “No capes!”

 

What about you? What secondary characters rock your world?