For every outstanding leading actor in the world there are at least two who need to regulate themselves to background roles. Hardly overshadowed by the leading role, they tend to lend more to the movie if they remain in support, allowing them to shine brighter there than they can in the primary spotlight.

Can these people work in the leading spot? Many of them often do, but they don’t seem to fit there. It’s like trying to watch someone escape the confines of a bad script only to have the audience realize that the role would have been much better done in the hands of someone else.

I offer six shining examples of this for your reading pleasure and opinion.

1. Jack Nicholson
This is an actor you either love or hate and if you hate him you want him in small doses. Sure he can carry films on his own, like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Shining, but he performs better in smaller roles, which help him confine the overwhelming personality he possesses that sometimes gets in the way of his acting. No one in this world could have given the “You can’t handle the truth” line from A Few Good Men better than Nicholson, and who else could have so easily seduced The Witches of Eastwick. But give him a starring spot, like in As Good as it Gets and its too much, so much that it made me never want to see the film again.

2. Tim Curry
I’m afraid to see this man in a lead role when he does so very well in support. He makes evil and darkness feel like less of a sin as he tramps around in massive costuming for Legend and he’ll scare the hell out of you as Pennywise in IT. Clue’s role of Wadsworth is probably the closest I’ve seen him in a leading role and while it may have been the script itself it was almost too much for even his skillful hands. Even Frank’N’Furter was over the top but give him a supporting role and he can even outshine the leading actors.

3. Geena Davis
As a leading actress she often leaves something wanting, the cast around her seems to carry her more than they should need to. A prime example of this is A League of Their Own, where the supporting cast enabled her to appear like she could be a leading lady, but if you cast her in a purely support role, such as in BeetleJuice, she’s a talented actor because she can work off the skills of the cast around her instead of letting them support her.

4. Steve Buscemi
One of my favorites in the supporting role, and no one can play psychotic support like him. When you have a record for cinematic deaths, it’s hard to even picture him in a leading role. He pops up in a lot of Sandler films and has a habit of stealing the scene when he’s on screen. A marvelous go to guy when you need someone who plays sleazy and his unmistakable voice is perfect for the background role. Anything else and he’d simply steal the whole move instead of a scene here and there.

5. Bill Paxton
When Paxton does a leading role he does it well, as shown by his character in Twister. He is, however, much better in the background, as evidenced by his roles in Aliens, Weird Science and Streets of Fire. Paxton is an excellent character actor in that he can play the sleazebag almost better than Buscemi, but often displays good intentions and a heart of gold as he does it. He has immortalized the line “Game over man” and while he can show a penchant for cowardly characters you can’t miss seeing the strength as well.

6. Jeffrey Jones
Has this man ever held a leading role? I know he’s come close with roles like Ed Rooney (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) and Charles (Beatlejuice), but he appears to pop up in the most unexpected places, especially for random cameos. Jones has played the vast array of coward to hero and any mix in between and there is no doubting that when he’s on screen he steals it.