[PJ-Comix]

Okay, now your turn. What movies were upstaged by one character other than the main character?

[AnAmericanAbroad]

“The Dark Knight” in which Heath Ledger’s Joker upstaged Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne/Batman.

To be fair, that could well have the point, however. The antagonist in a story is often more interesting than the protagonist.

[ClearCase_guy]

Pretty much any movie with Christopher Walken.

[NotYourAverageDhimmi]

Star Wars. Most character’s were cooler than Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker.

[CMS]

Silence of the Lambs.

Clarice/Foster was hands down upstaged by Lecter/Hopkins

[perez24]

I thought Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight upstaged Murray and Chase in Caddyshack.

[RoosterRedux]

Though it is not unusual for the antagonist to do so, I thought Javier Bardem in Sky Fall stole the show.

[liberalh8ter]

The Sixth Sense......Bruce Willis was good but Haley Joel Osment stole the show.

[ClearCase_guy]

In “Kick Ass”, Chloe Moretz stole the show as “Hit Girl”.

[miss marmelstein]

Well, I’m gonna disagree with you. James Dean is wonderful in the movie but Rock Hudson probably gave the best performance of his career and Elizabeth Taylor was incapable of being boring. Also, Mercedes McCambridge is fantastic as Rock’s weirdo sister.

The direction by George Stevens is so beautiful (my favorite scene is Dean’s climb up the derrick to the platform to view his little kingdom) and the set design is stunning. The house, which goes through multiple changes over the decades, is a character in and of itself.

And let’s not forget the score. A classic that simply improves with time.

[mylife]

Interesting topic, and it happens all the time, not just in movies but in life.

I can not think of an example at the moment (morning brain fog) but it normally happens when the lead character sells himself out on beliefs and some secondary character remains unassuming and true to his beliefs.

[Sirius Lee]

In the Matrix films, Keanu Reeves was upstaged by Agent Smith and also by various wooden stage props.

[Puppage]

Any movie with Ben Afleck. The guy is wooden, can’t act his way outta a wet paper bag.

[Mercat]

Samwise Gamgee and Gollum were both better than Frodo.

[Tupelo]

Val Kilmer stole TOMBSTONE. If memory serves, he was something like 4th or 5th billed.
Think back and he damn near stole TOP GUN.

[dead]

Joe Pesci in Goodfellas.

[JaguarXKE]

Terminator, Ahh-nold was upstaged by the formerly very hot Linda Hamilton and a liquid metal guy!

[randita]

Louis Gossett, Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman.

[mylife]

USA's production of Moby Dick.
Piripi Waretini as Queequeg, he upstaged Patrick Stewart,
Ismael, Father Mapple, all of them.

[dfwgator]

I thought John Cazale as Fredo was the best performance of Godfather II.

[mardi59]

Kathy Bates outshined James Caan in Misery.
The Titanic fared better than Leonardo What’s His Name!
Jonathan Lipnicky(s) trounced Tom Cruise in Jerry McGuire. Even the tripods in War Of The Worlds beat Cruise.