A leading actor, leading actress, star, or simply lead, plays the role of the protagonist in a film or play. The word lead may also refer to the largest role in the piece and leading actor may refer to a person who typically plays such parts or an actor with a respected body of work. Some actors are typecast as leads, but most play the lead in some performances and supporting or character roles in others.
Sometimes there is more than one significant leading role in a dramatic piece, and the actors are said to play co-leads; a large supporting role may be considered a secondary lead. Award nominations for acting often reflect such ambiguities. Thus, sometimes two actors in the same performance piece are nominated for Best Actor or Best Actress -- categories traditionally reserved for leads. For example, in 1935 Clark Gable, Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone were each nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for Mutiny on the Bounty. There can even be controversy over whether a particular performance should be nominated in the Best Actor/Actress or Best Supporting Actor/Actress category.
A title role often is not necessarily the lead.
Famous quotes containing the words leading and/or actor:
“The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done to-day.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“An actor rides in a bus or railroad train; he sees a movement and applies it to a new role. A woman in agony of spirit might turn her head just so; a man in deep humiliation probably would wring his hands in such a way. From straws like these, drawn from completely different sources, the fabric of a character may be built. The whole garment in which the actor hides himself is made of small externals of observation fitted to his conception of a role.”
—Eleanor Robson Belmont (1878–1979)