Ken W. Hanley 
24 TV Characters That Shined Beyond Their Supporting Roles
Better Call Saul is finally coming to a close, essentially concluding another chapter in the Breaking Bad universe and potentially forcing Jimmy McGill’s fast-talking yet lovable criminal lawyer to face the music.
Yet, not every standout supporting character in television has had a chance to headline their own spin-off, despite getting over with their audiences in an organic and substantial fashion. With this in mind, I’ve assembled 24 of television’s most mesmerizing supporting performers who went above and beyond the limits normally afforded to those operating largely on the sidelines.
1. Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun) on The Walking Dead
20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Courtesy Everett Collection.In addition to her scene-stealing comedic performances in American Pie and How I Met Your Mother, Alyson Hannigan cemented her stardom among geek culture through her stellar, multi-faceted role as best friend-turned-volatile-witch, Willow, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
4. Richard Harrow (Jack Huston) on Boardwalk Empire
HBO / AlamyJack Huston brought a metric ton of empathy, nobility, and inner turmoil to the morally driven gangster in a star-making performance which led to high-profile roles in House of Gucci, Ben-Hur, and American Hustle.
5. Lenny Busker (Aubrey Plaza) on Legion
FX / Courtesy Everett CollectionAubrey Plaza may have been a star on the big and small screen prior to her enigmatic and occasionally terrifying turn on Legion, but her performance on this show demonstrated an undeniable energy and range that redefined the oft-understated performer.
6. Coach McGuirk (H. John Benjamin) on Home Movies
Alamy / The Levinson/Fontana Company / HBO Original ProgrammingIn a show filled with powerful performances, Eamonn Walker’s reserved voice of reason in a concrete nightmare was incredibly captivating, especially when juxtaposed against the chaos of the more venomous and violent storylines surrounding the other characters.
8. Hank Kingsley (Jeffrey Tambor) on The Larry Sanders Show
Alamy / Partners with Boundaries Productions / HBO Entertainment / Brillstein-Grey EntertainmentWhile the actor’s legacy on television will always be complicated by his personal actions during his time on Transparent, it’s hard not to see his work as the hapless blowhard sidekick to Larry Sanders as chief among the definitive supporting performance of ’90s TV comedies.
9. Owen Sharma (Rahul Kohli) on The Haunting of Bly Manor
Netflix / Courtesy Everett CollectionHorror television rarely gets the proper recognition when it comes to its performances, but Rahul Kohli was nothing short of spellbinding as the ill-fated emotional anchor of Mike Flanagan’s chilling limited series.
10. Proinsias Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) on Preacher
Skip Bolen / AMC / Courtesy Everett CollectionPlaying the resident vampire of this absurd adaptation of Garth Ennis and Steven Dillon’s R-rated graphic novel, Joseph Gilgun stood out among a very capable ensemble by emphasizing the charm, pathos, and humanity within a literally inhuman character.
11. Whiterose (BD Wong) on Mr. Robot
USA Network / Courtesy Everett CollectionEmbodying the coldest and most calculating manifestation of heartbreak-ridden revenge, BD Wong crafted one of the most compelling and enigmatic TV villains in recent memory.
12. Opie Winston (Ryan Hurst) on Sons of Anarchy
FX Networks / Courtesy Everett CollectionFrom his humble beginnings to his soul-crushing end, Sons of Anarchy‘s most tragic supporting character established Ryan Hurst as a must-see talent and an in-demand performer who continued to stun on the small screen in Bates Motel, Outsiders, The Walking Dead, and Bosch.
13. Kang Sae-byeok (HoYeon Jung) on Squid Game
Alamy / Netflix / Moviestore Collection Ltd.Squid Game skyrocketed a number of Korean performers into the global limelight, but few were able to command the screen as well as HoYeon Jung as the savage yet selfless North Korean defector Kang Sae-byeok.
14. Stevie Janowski (Steve Little) on Eastbound & Down
If you want to know a true testament to Steve Little’s talent, it’s probably that this writer has never laughed so hard while simultaneously feeling so much sympathy and shame for laughing as he has at Eastbound & Down‘s go-to whipping boy, Stevie Janowski.
15. Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) on Ozark
Netflix / Courtesy Everett CollectionIn her breakout performance, Julia Garner’s two-time Emmy-winning turn as Ruth Langmore went from stealing scenes to becoming the can’t-miss presence that keeps you glued to the screen.
16. The Creature (Rory Kinnear) on Penny Dreadful
Showtime Networks / Courtesy Everett CollectionPenny Dreadful has a murderer’s row of incredible performers throughout its cast, but Rory Kinnear was the MVP with his internally conflicted and occasionally blood-soaked performance as Frankenstein’s Monster.
17. Judy Gemstone (Edi Patterson) on The Righteous Gemstones
HBO / Rough House Pictures / Fred Norris / Prod DB / AlamyEdi Patterson has been the comedy world’s secret weapon for a number of years, but after her attention-grabbing turn on Vice Principals, she was rightfully given the time to shine as the crude and ambitious daughter of the Gemstone family.
18. Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) on Succession
Jeff Neumann / Showtime Networks /Courtesy Everett CollectionAfter bursting onto the second season of Billions like a force of nature, Asia Kate Dillon has continued to amaze with their confident and selfless performance as the mercurial Taylor Mason.
20. Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) on Lost
Alamy / Bad RobotInitially hired for a small arc as a random member of “The Others,” Michael Emerson quickly demonstrated that he was in a league of his own, ultimately becoming *the* TV staple that you could love to hate and eventually shaping his energy and attitude to similarly deceitful characters on Person of Interest and Evil.
21. Omar Little (Michael K. Williams) on The Wire
Alamy / Blown Deadline Productions / HBO EntertainmentThe Wire had multiple iconic characters, from McNulty to Bubbles to Stringer Bell, to name a few, but none felt as critical and beloved as stick-up man Omar Little, which elevated the late Michael K. Williams into a welcome favorite who would effortlessly steal scenes for the likes of Spike Lee, Antoine Fuqua, Todd Solondz, and Paul Thomas Anderson, to name a few.
22. Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) on The Golden Girls
Alamy / Witt/Thomas/Harris ProductionsThere may have been no weak links among the core cast of The Golden Girls, but every Golden Girls fan understands exactly why the show would lean further and further into the sharp-tongued Sophia Petrillo’s story in later seasons.
23. Leon Black (JB Smoove) on Curb Your Enthusiasm
HBO Entertainment / Alamy / Television 360Has there ever been a TV actor who has done so much with so little? Though his tenure on Game of Thrones was short-lived, Pedro Pascal’s memorable turn as “The Red Viper” took his career to the next level, including a leading part in Narcos, the titular character on The Mandalorian, and substantial roles in the Kingsman, Equalizer, and DCEU franchises.
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