Leading or Supporting?

All of these performances are borderline. So,what do you guys think? Lead or Supporting??

Daniel Day Lewis in The Gangs of New York?
Cate Blanchett in Notes of a Scandal?
Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator?
Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption?
Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects?
Michael Douglas in Wall Street?
Marlon Brando in The Godfather?
Peter Finch in Network?
Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained?
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight?
Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?
Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook?
James Dean in The Giant?
Robert DeNiro in Awakeinings?
Annette Benning in American Beauty?
Nicole Kidman in The Hours?
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs?
Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy?
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind?

Roles like Pacino in The Godfather,Mara in Carol,Landau in Crimes and Misdemeanors,H.Macy in Fargo,Affleck in Assasssination of Jesse James,Hutton in Ordinary People are not even debatable. They are all nominated in wrong categories.

Daniel Day Lewis in The Gangs of New York? Supporting.Di Caprio and Diaz are leads of the movie,Bill the Butcher was definitively supporting character.
Cate Blanchett in Notes of a Scandal? This is probably most borderline performance of all time. I can see way many people see Cate as lead,but I must admit it has Supporting feel. It's Dench story. It could be either way.
Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator? He is title character,but story is about Sarah Connor more.Supporting in my book.
Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption? Supporting, easily.
Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects? Leading.I don't know how anyone can put Spacey in supporting??!
Michael Douglas in Wall Street? Supporting.It's all about Bud Fox.
Marlon Brando in The Godfather? If he is leading than Finney is leading in Miller's Crossing. Supporting. But,could go either way,actually.
Peter Finch in Network? Again,he was only pawn to create story. Supporting.
Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained? Hmm,I'll say Supporting and Leading.
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight? Leading. Even more so tthan Batman.
Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?
Supporting.Without a doubt.
Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook? Leading,but i can see debate.
James Dean in The Giant? Supporting,one of all time category fraud.
Robert DeNiro in Awakeinings? Again,he was bigger name than Williams at the time,but that doesn't make him lead. Supporting as a day.
Annette Benning in American Beauty? Spacey and Birch were leading in my opinion. Supporting.
Nicole Kidman in The Hours? Supporting.
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs? Supporting,it's no even funny.
Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy? Supporting with lots of screen time.
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind? Veeery Supporting.It's Scarlet movie.

Daniel Day Lewis in The Gangs of New York? Supporting
Cate Blanchett in Notes of a Scandal?
Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator? Leading
Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption? Supporting
Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects? Leading
Michael Douglas in Wall Street?
Marlon Brando in The Godfather? Leading (because the film is named after him and revolves around him)
Peter Finch in Network? Supporting
Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained? Supporting
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight? Supporting
Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? Supporting
Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook? Leading
James Dean in The Giant?
Robert DeNiro in Awakenings?
Annette Benning in American Beauty? Supporting
Nicole Kidman in The Hours?
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs? Supporting (although difficult because again film revolves around him)
Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy? Leading
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind? Leading

__________________

The Godfather revolves around Al Pacino. The Silence of the Lambs revolves around Jodie Foster. And Ted Levine even more so than Hopkins.

One of my favorite topics...


Daniel Day Lewis in The Gangs of New York?
Lead
Cate Blanchett in Notes of a Scandal?
Lead
Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator?
Supporting
Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption?
Supporting
Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects?
Supporting
Michael Douglas in Wall Street?
Lead
Marlon Brando in The Godfather?
Supporting
Peter Finch in Network?
Lead
Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained?
Haven't seen Inglorious, but he was supporting in Django
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight?
Supporting
Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?
Supporting
Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook?
Lead
James Dean in The Giant?
Lead (though I definitely understand an argument for supporting)
Robert DeNiro in Awakeinings?
Lead
Annette Benning in American Beauty?
Lead
Nicole Kidman in The Hours?
Supporting
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs?
Supporting (Only 18 minutes of screentime)
Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy?
Lead
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind?
Lead (I don't understand why this one is even in question)

Because it's Vivien Leigh movie. Gable doesn't even show until 30 min,and last scene is exactly why I think. It really shows that Rhett was just nothing to Vivien.

I guess there are many factors here, screen time, impact, quality and quantity and all that.

But I think you said it best, it's about who's story it is. The problem being if you can't tell whose story it is! An unbelievable choice for me is the Star Wars original trilogy. So, it's about Luke, right? Yet, the entire Lucas stuff, as he said himself, it's Anakin's story. I'd be interested in what you folks think about this. I thinks therefore Vader's the lead.

Cate Blanchett in Notes of a Scandal?

Support

Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator?

Sopport, it's definately Sarah story. Hell, he's a machine! Although, remember the "Cybernet gained consiousness on aug 29th 1997" line?
I once thought the evil terminatots are "evil", but they're actually evil. So, then what? Can we have a good vs evil story where evil's the lead? idk Not if you're Christian. So the question is the franchise Christian? I think not. It's all about the good ole science or religion thing, and this is definately science. So, arnie would be the lead afterall. But then again, it gained conciousness. Maybe it wants to dramatize science, and tell it's evil itself. and that would be Christian again. so, before i loose my mind, support.

Another one is LOTR. Who's lead there? Frodo? Maybe, even though the antagonist's name is even in the title. Up until recently I thought Frodo's the one who represents Jesus. But no. Believe it or not, I think it's smeagol. Hell, even the name sounds Jewish, and Jesus-like. Withouth him the ring could never have been destroyed. So, imho he's the lead.

i also agree Spacey is born to be in the lead. Hell, he's lead even in Seven. Even though he doesn't show almost any time at all. He just appears like 1 second! and then disappears again for half an hour.

Michael Douglas in Wall Street?

Support. It's Charlie's story, me thinks.

Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

Support. Hell, I think it's the Indian guy in the lead. It's Jack's story, but what a hell he's doing there anyway? got institutionalized not bc he's nuts (even though he is). But it's the Indian who flew, although I can respect other leads.

Robert DeNiro in Awakeinings?

Lead

Annette Benning in American Beauty?

Since it's about disfunction and insanity, (I think they both loose in the end) this is an impossible choice for me.

Morgan Freeman definitely plays a leading character in Shawshank Redemption IMO. He seems like such a heavy focus in the film to me that I can't possibly see him as a supporting character.