Movies where co stars Stole the Show From the Leads

Any movie with Thelma Ritter. That dame knew how to work it. She’s not even credited in Miracle on 34th Street and she comes in as the wisecracking mother and steals her scenes.

Mama wants to thank Santa too.

Do I even have to mention...

Desperately Seeking Susan. Rosanna Arquette was supposed to be the lead, they filmed it before Madonna broke through. By the time the film came out Madonna had become popular and stole the show.

Leslie Ann Warren in Victor/Victoria...she stole every scene she was in.

I actually disagree with both Anne Heche (I barely remember her from Birth - I do remember Lauren Bacall very well though) and Angelina Jolie. Jolie was AWFUL in Girl, Interrupted. It was actually one of Winona's best dramatic performances, very believable. Jolie just got all the notice for being a newer "it girl" and courting the press with her retarded faux bad girl antics.

Lauren Bacall walked off with HARPER, in spite of Paul Newman, Shelly Winters, Julie Harris (miscast) and others. Betty was delicious as a rich bitch.

I loved Lesley Ann Warren in Victor, Victoria. The script fucked up her character in the end by turning her into a harpy, which frustrated the fuck out of me. She was the best thing in the movie.

Lauren Bacall was also the singular watchable performance in the dreckfest The Mirror Has Two Faces. She honestly did deserve her Oscar nod because she managed to escape that horror show with her dignity intact.

Working Girl

Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada.

Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids.

Joe Pesci

Tatum O'Neal

Christine Lahti from Goldie Hawn in Swing Shift. (and Goldie knew it and recut the film.)

Rita Moreno WSS

Goldie Hawn shouldn’t have bothered. Ed Harris’ penis walked away with that movie. I remember when it came out on video. I would slo-mo the hell out of that 2 second shot.

Jack Carson in "A Star is Born"& "Mildred Pierce"

Every scene Jack is in for both movies, he steals it from the leads!! He was THAT GOOD in both movies!!

I forgot this one...Roddy Dangerfield, Caddyshack.

Walter Matthau The Fortune Cookie (1966)

I'm sorry...Rodney Dangerfield- my bad!!

Swayze and Moore didn't have a ghost of a chance

I forgot about that one, Whoopi is very Good in Ghost!!

Rosalind Russell Picnic (1955)

Birth was an awful movie. Kidman isn’t exactly Streep or Close. Not too hard to out act her. Anne Heche wasn’t that good in the film. Just because she is dead people are pretending she was some underrated talent now.

Sandy Dennis and Betty Buckley in Another Woman. Dennis has two scenes and Buckley just has one, but I remember their scenes more than anything involving Rowlands or Farrow who are the leads.

Shirley MacLaine in Postcards from the Edge dominated the movie in a way that the miscast, too old and witchy looking for the role Meryl couldn't.

Maureen Stapleton The Fan 1981

"Alien" from 1979, where Jonesy the cat ought to have been nominated for a supporting actor Oscar just for his "What-the-fuuuck??!" look he gives gazing up at the creature chomping his caretaker crewmember in half.

Veronica Cartwright Invasion of the Body Snatchers

and The Witches of Eastwick

Kathy Najimy in "Sister Act" stole every scene she was in from Whoopi Goldberg.

Lee Grant The Landlord 1970

Those 50 guys in Dawson’s 50 Load Weekend.

Eve Arden in "Mildred Pierce".

Kelly Macdonald in No Country for Old Men. Indelible in every one of her few scenes, toe-to-toe with the villain as her character and with Bardem as herself. I sorely wish she worked more.

Macdonald is also great in Trainspotting and Gosford Park (where she gets to be the one who figures out the murder. She's great in that final scene.)

Rachel Sennott in Bodies Bodies Bodies. She stole every scene she was in. The movie is obviously made for Amandla (can't believe she got another chance) and Pete Davidson to shine. I just watched it tonight. It perfectly portrays feminine rhetoric on social media as the hell scape it is.

The remake of The Stepford Wives is awful BUT our own G is just great in it.

I agree with R37. Glenn was the only good thing in that dreadful film.

A friend of mine fell in love with Leo Di Caprio in Titanic - "he's such a star! 🤩" - no, honey, the star of the film was the ship, closely followed by Kate Winslet's impeccable wardrobe.

agree with [R37]. Glenn was the only good thing in that dreadful film.

A friend of mine fell in love with Leo Di Caprio in Titanic - "he's such a star! 🤩" - no, honey, the star of the film was the ship, closely followed by Kate Winslet's impeccable wardrobe.

—Jaguar

I disagree. The only good thing in that movie was the iceberg. It gave me hope. The end is near

This.

Martin Short in Father of the Bride

R24 I also disagree with this. I love that movie and I think Farrow and Rowlands give incredible performances, two of their best ever. The entire cast is great.

Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate.

Katharine Ross's therapy scene in Donnie Darko is probably the scene I think of most about that film, which I quite liked (despite its polarizing reputation). Her begging him not to fall into his delusions was very moving to me.