PopcornTreeCt

Alan Rickman?
Claude Rains?

Most good "character" actors nowadays get their shot at a leading role. Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, even that guy from the 40 Year Old Virgin has a new movie coming out.

astrochimp

I remember seeing an interview with Kevin Bacon talking about how the best thing he realized is that he didnt have to be a lead actor even after Footloose when they tried to make him one ie:Quicksilver

Groucho

Truly Madly Deeply
The Invisible Man

Remember the subject header, folks: the operative word is never.

Case01

Tracey Walter - He probably has been a lead but I know not which film.

Bateman

Jeffrey Wright is one that is a fantastic actor that hasn't yet gotten a shot at a lead role. Though I think he could break out a bit similar to Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Groucho

Basquiat

Shannon Nutt

John C. Reilly immediately popped into my head, but ever since CHICAGO, he's been getting more and more lead rolls (or at least second billing at worst).

Philip Baker Hall is a guy who could have been a lead most of his career, but was always second fiddle.

M. Emmet Walsh was a guy who never really got a lead (he's still alive, but I haven't seen him in a movie in ages). Roger Ebert used to have a saying about him: "No movie with M. Emmet Walsh can be that bad."

Bruce McGill is a heck of an actor...I don't know if he's ever had the lead in anything big.

inri222

vegasbaby

damn. he's a handsome man.

Ronnie Dobbs

Maria Bello

Brent_MN

she's all sorts of hot. She was the female lead in The Cooler with Bill Macy and The History of Violence with Viggo Mortensen.

I don't know if I was the only one, but she looked so freaky with blue contacts in World Trade Center that I had to quit watching 30 minutes in.

I'm glad someone mentioned a woman, because I assumed actor was being used in the general sense.

My man pick:

nateman

Another vote for Mr.Morse, he's a great actor like you said but i highly doubt he will ever be a lead sadly.
loved him in 'the green mile' & his short lived tv series 'Hack' was pretty damn good, that was his only lead role if i can recall & he starred with one of my favorite TV actor's-Andre Braugher.

there's another one, hes hands down my favorite actor on 'scrubs' & i hope when scrubs ends he will continue to act, even if its only in minor movie roles like he has been doing as of late with movies like wild hogs, are we there yet? & the sequel are we done yet?-i could are less about those 3 movies exept for wild hogs which sounds mildly entertaining but at least hes getting work.

GoldenJCJ

One of my all time favorite lines is in Platoon when McGinley says, "I got a baaad feeling about this one." The way his voice quivers when he says it just blows me away.

Rockmjd23

William Fichtner. He may have been a lead in some movies I'm not thinking of.

harpo787

FinkPish: Buscemi may have been the lead in Tree's Lounge, but I'd discount that as he was the director (or was he?)

Nonetheless, I think it can't be a true lead part if you're in control of the film/casting.

PopcornTreeCt

He was the lead in Hard Eight along with John C. Reilly.

FinkPish

OK, then he was the male lead in Ghost World.

vegasbaby

William Russ, who played Roger Lococo on Wiseguy 20 years back.

He was awesome ... buckwheat.

JIF

Angela Bassett
Craig T. Nelson
Kiefer Sutherland (Unless it's a 24 movie)
Hector Elizondo
James Earl Jones
John Lithgow
Alfre Woodard
Christopher Walken
Roy Scheider
Louis Gossett Jr.
Angelica Huston
Danny Devito


They still got a small chance to be a lead again...

Morgan Freeman
Alec Baldwin
Whoopie Goldberg
Danny Glover
Burt Reynolds