Leading actor

"Leading role" redirects here. For the dance role, seeLead and follow.For the constitutional principle, seeLeading role of the Communist party.

Salah Zulfikarwas a leading actor in over 100 majorEgyptian productions.

Aleading actor,leading actress,orleading man or ladyor simplylead(/ˈliːd/), plays the role of theprotagonistof a film, television show or play.The wordleadmay also refer to the largest role in the piece, andleading actormay refer to a person who typically plays such parts or an actor with a respected body of work. Someactorsaretypecastas leads, but most play the lead in some performances andsupportingorcharacterroles in others.

Sometimes there is more than one significant leading role in a dramatic piece, and the actors are said to playco-leads;a largesupporting rolemay be considered asecondary lead.Award nominations for acting often reflect such ambiguities. Therefore, sometimes two actors in the same performance piece are nominated Oscars forBest ActororBest Actress—categories traditionally reserved for leads. For example, in 1935Clark Gable,Charles LaughtonandFranchot Tonewere each nominated for the Best ActorAcademy AwardforMutiny 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/Best Supporting Actress category; for instance,The Godfather'sAl Pacinoboycotted the45th Academy Awardsceremony since he was insulted at being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor award; he noted that he had more screen time than his co-star and Best Actor winnerMarlon Brandoand so he should have received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Atitle roleis often but not necessarily the lead. A lead role must also be differentiated from astarring role,which means that an actor is credited as a part of the main cast but not that they necessarily play the main character.

See also

• Character actor
• Starring role