Lead
Lead noun - The person who has the most important role in a play, movie, or TV show.
Supporting actress is an antonym for lead.
Supporting actress
Lead is an antonym for supporting actress in supporting actor or actress topic.
Both terms in one sentence
- Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her clear lead role in Whale Rider at the Screen Actors Guild awards, but was later nominated in Best Actress at the Oscars.
Source: Award Category Fraud - Then, in the movie version of Dreamgirls, Jennifer Hudson played Effie, the lead character of the movie, but the studio designated her a "supporting actress" and gave top billing to Beyonce Knowles (playing Deena), who is more famous.
Source: Undermined by Reality - Bérénice Bejo was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by multiple awards shows for The Artist, despite her being the clear female lead.
Source: Award Category Fraud
Cite this Source
Supporting actress and Lead. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/lead/supporting_actress
Lead & Supporting actress. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/lead/supporting_actress>.
Supporting actress or Lead. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/lead/supporting_actress.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "lead" and "supporting actress" have occurred on timeline