Ask Erik: Episode Nine

Once a week (barring major events), Erik sits down with a question asked by one of you, the viewers, and does his best to answer it in an intelligent, thoughtful, and considerate way.


Barring that, he posts a bunch of animated gifs and makes references to things like Dinosaucers.




To Erik:  Who are your favorite supporting actors?  Which movies did you like them best in?

Huh.  This might actually be interesting.  I guess first I have to determine what we mean by "supporting actor."  Do we mean actors who only star in movies as a supporting actor, or simply ones who seem to do best in a supporting role, while their solo careers have gone nowhere (looking at you, David Spade).

These would be actors who are never the main character.

That's a pretty specific question, then.

Well, that rules out Edward Norton, Robert DeNiro, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, and tons of other accomplished actors who did great jobs in supporting roles.

Now, based on the terms of this question, I'm going to go ahead and predict right now that I make a few mistakes.  I'm sure I'm going to post a few actors that other people will go "Hey, that actor was the leading role in Movie X!"  However, it's entirely possible I never saw Movie X so I'd know them only from their supporting roles.

So, without much further ado, let's break it down.

#5:  Alan Rickman

If you haven't seen Epic Tea Time With Alan Rickman go watch it now.  I'll wait.

Alan Rickman is one of those actors that I know turns down a lot of leading roles in order to do more artistic works.  Checking his history, I don't really see him ever "starring" in anything that wasn't on stage or on TV (I assume we're going with movie actors here, otherwise this spot might be taken by Ryan Stiles).  We've seen him play a wizard, a robot, an actor playing a Spock-like creature, a terrorist, and the Sheriff of Nottingham.

For me, the role that cemented him in my mind as "oh, sweet, it's got Alan Rickman, I gotta see this" wasn't Hans Gruber (though he does a great job in that role), but the first one that I actually saw him as Alan Rickman in:  Galaxy Quest.

It wasn't until after I watched the movie that someone pointed out that it was Hans Gruber playing that role, but it was his sly sense of humor and comedic timing that made me really love his work in this film.  Now, when I watch him in anything else, that's what I watch for: the exasperation, the sighs, and the sharp wit that puts people in their place.

#4:  James Cromwell

Now, I don't think James Cromwell has ever been the "lead" actor in anything.  I know he was one of the only actors at all in Babe but he was nominated for Best Supporting for that role.  I loved him as a scientist in the future, as a farmer, as four (4) Presidents across movies and television, but the role I saw him in that simply captivated me was Captain Dudley Smith in L.A. Confidential.  

He had deep nuances in that role, playing a man whose attempts to control the swirling chaos around him has cost him more than he can realize.  The tenderness he shows one moment is immediately contrasted by coldness the next, and god help you if you make him your enemy. 

#3:  Christopher Lloyd

Do I really need to tell anybody who this guy is?  Or why he's awesome?  I mean, we all know his best role ever was Switchblade Sam in the Dennis the Menace movie.

But seriously.  Doc Brown, everyone.

Yeah.

#2:  Marty Feldman

I only ever really saw him in two movies that come to mind, easily, but Young Frankenstein and Silent Movie are also two of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and Marty Feldman's role as Igor in  Young Frankenstein is a major part of that.

One of the funniest performances in one of the funniest movies of all time, I deeply wish Marty Feldman had lived longer so more people could appreciate his timing, humor, and style.  And those crazy eyes.

 Honorary Mention:  Stanley Tucci

Probably the most talented actor who, near as I can tell, has never had a major starring role.  I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention him, but if I have to go with my absolute favorite supporting actors, then, well, I'd be lying if I had him on this list.  Don't get me wrong, he's great in everything he does.  And if this was a list of the best supporting actors he'd be at the top of that list.

Actually, no.  I forgot he starred in Big Night with Tony Shaloub.  Nevermind.  Tucci, you're out.

But my favorite supporting actor just happens to be the #1 star of the box office, whose movies have earned the greatest total sum of money in Hollywood history.

No, not Samuel L. Jackson.  He's number two.   

See, in the list of "most money earned by movies done by an actor," Samuel L. Jackson sits comfortably at $5,148,045,703.  Tom Hanks is about $900,000 behind that.  However, my #1 is a full $1.3 billion ahead of Mr. Jackson.

#1:  Frank Welker

I know, not a lot of people will recognize him, but he is the ultimate supporting actor.  And trust me when I say that you might not have seen him on camera, necessarily, but you've heard him.

How?

Well, let's look at some of his movies.  He was Shockwave and Soundwave in the Transformers movies.  He was every single penguin in Mr. Popper's Penguins.  He was Gargamel's cat Azrael in the Smurfs movie.  He was the anaconda in Anaconda.  He was the voice of Shao Khan in Mortal Kombat.  He was Tohka and Rahzar in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel.  He was the reindeer in The Santa Claus.  He was the alien voices in Independence Day.  

He was Abu in all of Disney's Aladdin movies.  He was Max the sheepdog in The Little Mermaid.  He was a frog and some ducks in Lilo & Stitch.  If there's an animal in a movie, odds are he does the voice.

How about television?  He was the voice of Megatron in most of the Transformers cartoons.  He's the speaking and sound effect voice of Nibbler in Futurama.    He's been the voice of Fred in Scooby-Doo since 1969.   He-

Okay, just look at his filmography.  Asking me to pick the Frank Welker role that made me love him is pretty much impossible, because he is, in essence, my entire childhood and a lot of things into adulthood.  I just never realized it until I started looking back at credits and seeing this same name over and over again. 

He is, I feel, the most valuable actor in Hollywood, and the fact he's at almost 100 films (not including TV series, video games, or amusement park voices) to his credit just confirms that. 

So that's my top five favorite supporting actors.  People might be wondering why it's all dudes, and, well, that's because I was specifically asked about "actors."  Not "actresses."  Ha!  I'm totally forcing another question!

If you have a question you want me to tackle, tweet me at @ErikattheGates, email me at ErikAtTheGates@gmail.com, or, if you can find me on Facebook, toss me a message!