All actors pine for stardom, right? The actor with a show built around them and a cast of supporting players to make them shine. Actually, I think most actors want to work, but if stardom comes along with a job, many will not turn it down. Even so, it’s not always the stars, but the supporting actors who can make or break a show. Good second bananas make the star look good. Really good second bananas make the show look better than it really is. Brilliant second bananas improve the show, elevating themselves to stardom in the process. Consider Christine Baranski, who buoyed both Cybill (starring Cybill Shepherd) and later, the short-lived Welcome to New York (starring Jim Gaffigan). Bruce Willis launched his movie career in an earlier Shepherd vehicle, Moonlighting. Today, Shepherd’s appearance on the small or large screen is nowhere to be seen.
Second bananas are seldom celebrated in our star-obsessed culture. (A notable exception would be Frasier‘s David Hyde Pierce, who just inked a deal with NBC to receive a reported $750,000 to $1 million an episode, making him the highest-paid second banana in TV history.) I offer a list of some of my favorite supporting players whose paychecks aren’t in the six to seven figures. Is stardom in these actors’ future? Got me. All I know is that their shows wouldn’t be the same without them.
Angel (WB): J. August Richards as Charles Gunn and Andy Hallett as Lorne the Host. Angel stumbled after the departure of Glenn Quinn as Doyle in the first season. Alexis Denisof was brought on to fill the void by reprising his Buffy the Vampire Slayer role as Wesley Wyndham-Price, but it was Richards’ Gunn who helped moor the show, bringing some welcome streetwise swagger in the process. In season two, demon club owner Lorne (Hallet) joined the cast. From his sharp wit, to his way with a song (he owns a karaoke bar), to his pointy red horns and ascot, Lorne brings levity to the somber series.
Gilmore Girls (WB): Where to start? This show is so jam-packed with fabulous supporting characters, picking one is difficult. So I’ll pick two: Keiko Agena as Lane Kim and Kelly Bishop as Emily Gilmore. As Lane, Agena is the frenetic best friend to Alexis Bledel’s wonderfully underplayed Rory Gilmore. While Lane plays the good Asian daughter to keep peace at home, she has cleverly found ways to assert her independence. She keeps her expansive music collection carefully cataloged under the floorboards of her bedroom. To escape her mother’s scrutiny, she retreats to her walk-in closet outfitted as a funky crash pad with mood lighting, floor pillows and, of course, her discs and headphones. Instead of making her a full-blown, sneer in your face rebel, her amusing survival tactics (not to mention her prodigious knowledge of music) make Lane immensely likable. The opposite of likable is Emily Gilmore, played with aplomb by Kelly Bishop. Her starchy performance balances the pervading good cheer of the show. But Bishop is no one-note wonder. Bishop wears that bitchy mother persona like an impenetrable suit of armor. Fortunately, viewers now know that it protects a soft, maternal center.
Scrubs (NBC): An alumnus of Chicago’s ImprovOlympic and Second City, Neil Flynn plays one of this past season’s most demented characters. For some reason, his character (known only as the Janitor) has it out for poor Dr. John “J.D.” Dorian (Zach Braff). The thing is, no one else sees how the Janitor torments young J.D., making his sneers and threats all the more hilarious, even if mildly creepy. The Janitor’s absurd antics include breaking into a Riverdance jig to celebrate putting one over on J.D.
Six Feet Under (HBO): Call him the MacGyver of undertakers. Anyone who’s watched this HBO drama — or the now-canceled TV series about a private eye who can make objects out of the most unlikely items, like a bomb out of pine cones and pitch — knows I’m talking about Federico “Rico” Diaz, played by Freddy Rodríguez. No challenge is too great for Rico, no tool off limits. Whether he’s working with mortician’s putty, hairpieces, or cans of cat food, you can count on Rico to reconstruct that smashed skull, rebalance a buxom corpse, or replace missing digits. The gallows humor may cause some viewers to blanch. Still, you’ve got to hand it to Rico. He gives new meaning to “Made With Pride in America.”
The Sopranos (HBO): Tony Sirico as Paulie Walnuts (aka Paulie Gaultieri). Last season, Paulie was at his slimy, Brylcreem best. Plus, how can you not crack a smile saying, “Paulie Walnuts”?
The West Wing (NBC): One of the great contributions from The West Wing are its smart, articulate characters. Oh, to be that brilliant, well-read, and ready with the perfect comeback at just the right moment. Maybe The West Wing is a fantasy in that regard, but it’s one I’m not willing to give up just yet. And I’m especially appreciative of the bright women on the show, including Anna Deavere Smith‘s deadly serious National Security Advisor Nancy McNally, Ph.D. McNally is a great side dish of quasi-hawkishness next to the show’s healthy portion of liberalism. A similar character is Emily Procter‘s archly conservative Ainsley Hayes, associate White House counsel. Unfortunately, she hasn’t been on the show lately.
Bananas may cost a few cents a dozen, but the above second bananas are more than worth their weight in talent. As always, stay tuned.
This article appears in December 21 • 2001.