18 Gorgeous Female Celebs Who Always Get Cast As 'The Best Friend'

If I say the word "gorgeous", a ton of celebrities come to mind. Chris Pratt, Liam Hemsworth, George Clooney, Luke Bryan… the list of singers, actors, and triple threats in Hollywood rush your senses and you could list them on your ten fingers and ten toes and keep going. When it comes to gorgeous female celebrities, the list is even longer, we would say! But, how about we just name a few: Jennifer Aniston, Anna Kendrick, and Reese Witherspoon. Then we ask why? Because we look up to those women… some embody grace and elegance; some embody strength and resilience, and all of them that we would add to that list embody timeless beauty that takes your breath away.

Some female celebrities, however, are just as beautiful as these ones that are more obvious, but for whatever reason they are seen as number two, the sidekick, or the one next to the pretty one. Usually these women, specifically these actresses, get cast as the 'best friend' or 'the sister' instead of the leading role that blows everyone away. Some of the females on our list have worked their way up to leading lady stardom, but it took them awhile to get there, as you'll see.

Read on to see what sexy and gorgeous female celebs fell short of main character gold-- and somehow usually end up being the sidekick.

18 Judy Greer: Sister, Best Friend, & Teacher… Never The Lead

Judy Greer is the classic case of always playing the supporting role and never being the starring one. The first movie she really made a splash in was Jawbreaker alongside Rose McGowan and Rebecca Gayheart. She was the pretty nerd that wanted desperately to fit in with the cool and sexy popular girls. Then, once the 2000s hit, she played the best friend in romantic comedies like The Wedding Planner, 13 Going On 30, 27 Dresses, and Love & Other Drugs, alongside popular actresses like Jennifer Garner, Katherine Heigl, and Anne Hathaway. She even played the kind and patient teacher in the movie remake Carrie. So, what gives?! Greer is incredibly talented with a skinny frame and great legs! But she is really great at being that best friend that we all want but do not have.

17 Leighton Meester: Great Singer, Mediocre Actress?

We will be the FIRST to say that Meester is that incredibly talented brunette babe with the shiny and pearly whites to match. But for some reason, she is never the female lead in any popular movies and we can't help but wonder why. Starting in 2010, Meester stepped away from singing and ran fast toward the big screen, all while playing Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl alongside Hollywood's It Girl Blake Lively. Meester was never the lead, but always that supporting character that helped all the others. In Going the Distance and Monte Carlo, she was the best friend of the star lead. In Country Strong, she was the incredible singer that worked hard to make a name for herself, but was never the famous celebrity that Gwyneth Paltrow's character was. We aren't sure why, but for some reason, her acting chops just don't cut it.

16 Sara Paxton: A Mermaid's Best Friend

Sara Paxton is another example of someone that has a ton of television roles but just can't seem to make it to the lead role on the big screen. Her first instance of this was in the 2001 girl's hit Sleepover for which Alexa Vega of Spy Kids fame was the lead. In Aquamarine, she played the mermaid that is discovered by two lead female characters, so she does step a little closer to lead fame, but just doesn't quite cut it. She goes on to play in movies like Sydney White, The Last House on the Left, and Shark Night 3D, but these movies all had larger ensemble casts, so it was no wonder Paxton just faded to the background in most of them. Even with those gorgeous blonde locks, it can be hard to stand out in Hollywood.

15 Isla Fisher: Red-Headed Bachelorette

Fisher got her big break in the 2002 movie Scooby-Doo. Then, in 2005, a smash hit became a cult classic. Wedding Crashers was about two men that didn't want to settle down and decided to crash weddings to sleep with girls. Enter Isla Fisher as a crazy little sister that becomes obsessed with one of these guys. She went on to play in ensemble casts like Definitely, Maybe; Bachelorette, and The Great Gatsby. She was never the one getting married or the female lead to fall in love, not until the making of Confessions of a Shopaholic in 2009. However, that is her only lead role to date, so what gives? Fisher is a beautiful and unique woman who has great comedic and dramatic talent.

14 Lacey Chabert: Mean Girls' Supporting Character

Chabert is widely known and most popular for her incredible supporting role as Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls in 2004. Before this, she was known for her voice in The Wild Thronberrys, a Nickelodeon show, as Eliza, the main character. Ironic, isn't it? Because she can't seem to nab that big screen lead role no matter how hard she works. Even after her best friend of the enemy role in Mean Girls, Chabert did small television roles until 2009 where she played a supporting character in Ghost of Girlfriend's Past. She is now well known for her television movies where she DOES play many lead roles, but she just cannot seem to make it big on the big screen. What's wrong, Lacey? Maybe you're just not bold enough to make those big moves.

13 Malin Akerman: Crazy Sister, Crazy Wife, Never The Perfect Lead

Flash back to 2007 when we all watched that Ben Stiller movie where he married Malin Akerman and she went crazy and he fell in love while on their honeymoon with a crazy person that he married. Remember how good Akerman was in that role in The Heartbreak Kid? But, of course, she wasn't the romantic lead; she was the crazy and irrational wife that got left on an island. She also starred in 27 Dresses the next year in a movie where she played the crazy lying sister to Katherine Heigl, the romantic lead. She has starred in more popular movies like The Proposal, Couples Retreat, Wanderlust, and Rock of Ages… all in supporting roles, but never in leads. It is no wonder she switched to the small screen over recent years.

12 Katheryn Winnick: Romantic Comedy Best Friend

Blonde and beautiful Winnick started out playing in romantic comedies like Two Weeks Notice and 50 First Dates-- and made a career out of playing the supportive best friend and/or sister. She went on to star in Failure to Launch with Sarah Jessica Parker, Killers with Katherine Heigl, and Love & Other Drugs with Anne Hathaway. She is famous enough to have a familiar face, but not famous enough to really have heard her name. To be honest, her name was unrecognizable until I looked into her career. It is an incredible laundry list of great movies with incredibly talented actresses that she absolutely held a candle to! Most recently she has fallen off the romantic comedy radar, but we are sure we will be seeing her soon.

11 Anna Faris: Silly Supportive Character Turned Lead

Faris is beautifully fun with her comedic talent, cute button nose, and skinny silhouette. Lucky for us (and her), she did make it big and has had lead roles, but it took a lot of other roles to do so. She starred as April in The Hot Chick and Kelly in Lost in Translation. She had a supporting role in Just Friends and Brokeback Mountain before making it big with her own lead role and comedic movie The House Bunny. Her talent knows no bounds and we learned that quickly, but for many years, Faris had to star in small supporting roles until making it big. She went on to be the lead in Scary Movie, Take Me Home Tonight, and What's Your Number and has made an incredible career out of her great talent.

10 Krysten Ritter: Permanent BFF

Ritter is one of the most popular actresses to be known for her best friend/supporting role place in the industry. The sad part is that she is incredibly talented and worthy of a lead role, but we wonder if it is her quirky and atypical look that producers and Hollywood execs alike just don't see potential in. Either way, she is beautiful.

Ritter had her first taste of stardom in Mona Lisa Smile as a student. Then, she played Gia the Goth in 27 Dresses, a friend of the lead star Katherine Heigl. She went on to play the best friend of a lead in What Happens in Vegas, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and Life Happens. She currently plays Jessica Jones in the Netflix show Jessica Jones-- and guys, it's a lead role!

9 Ginnifer Goodwin: They're Not That Into You

Currently, Goodwin plays Snow White and Mary Blanchard on the hit fantasy show Once Upon a Time on ABC. But Goodwin wasn't always this lucky with her roles. Her first taste of a supporting role was in Mona Lisa Smile which had an (incredible) ensemble cast. For the most part, Goodwin's character was in the background. She went on to play the best friend in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and In the Land of Women. In 2009, she starred in another ensemble cast for the movie He's Just Not That Into You. Luckily, for her, she had more of a lead role here alongside the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Scarlett Johansson. Now, she is one of the most popular actresses of our time, but she wasn't always the star.

8 Selma Blair: The Sweetest Thing With Good Intentions

Blair, 45, is another name on our list that is incredibly famous, but has barely had lead roles in anything for what seems like decades. The first role that put her on the map was as innocent Cecile in Cruel Intentions, alongside big 1990's names like Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Michelle Gellar. This only perpetuated her 'best friend' role status, as she went on to be the best friend in Down to You (2000) and The Sweetest Thing (2002). In 2001, she played the enemy to Reese Witherspoon's Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, yet still… always the support and never the lead. She went on to play the female lead in the horror movie Hellboy and its' sequel. Regardless of these stats, Blair is still a force to be reckoned with.

7 Zooey Deschanel: Cannot Make It To Lead The Big Screen

Lucky for us, Zooey Deschanel, just like her big sister Emily (of Bones fame), has made it big on the small screen with her hit Fox comedy show, New Girl. But her start on the raod to stardom wasn't so wonderful all the time. She played supporting roles in Almost Famous, The Good Girl, and Failure to Launch, all alongside big names like Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston, and Sarah Jessica Parker. As we said, always the bridesmaid and never the bride, but why? Deschanel is incredibly funny with great comedic timing and just the right amount of quirkiness to be cute. After many years, she was finally cast as the female lead in 500 Days of Summer and so began her upward spiral to TV fame.

6 Gabrielle Union: Old School BFF And Enemy

Union made her start in Hollywood on great shows like Family Matters, Moesha, and Sister, Sister. Then, in 1999, her 'best friend' status as an actress started to kick in. In this one year, she played a best friend in popular movies like She's All That and 10 Things I Hate About You. The next year she switched to public enemy number one in the famous cheerleading movie, Bring It On, alongside blonde and beautiful lead Kirsten Dunst. After several years of roles like this and small leads on the television screen, she finally nabbed a decent lead role in Think Like a Man and its' sequel. We don't understand it-- because we think she is not only talented, but beautiful with the tall and skinny frame!

5 Brittany Snow: Is The Pitch Perfect?

Another instance of 'always the bridesmaid and never the bride', except in the instance of female lead roles in Hollywood. Snow's first big role was alongside Vin Diesel in The Pacifier. Then, in 2006, she hit it big with a supporting role in John Tucker Must Die, a movie where Jesse Metcalfe was the main character and all his girlfriends/ex-girlfriends were in supporting roles. Her next big role? You guessed it-- Pitch Perfect, in yet another supporting role alongside lead talent Anna Kendrick. She went on to play this character, Chloe, for two more movies. To this date, she has only nabbed one big movie lead role and that was in the 2008 horror movie flop, Prom Night, a movie that was intense and suspenseful, but ultimately not very intelligent.

4 Lake Bell: No Strings Attached In Hollywood, Either

Lake Bell has made a name for herself in Hollywood, but how? Everyone knows her name, but we still aren't sure. Her first role as a 'best friend' was in What Happens in Vegas alongside Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. Then, in 2011, she played an awkward girl that Kutcher tries to date to get over our beautiful brunette female lead, Natalie Portman, in No Strings Attached. This was a great supporting role in which Bell shows off her comedic talent and timing. Her most recent 'best friend' role was alongside Reese Witherspoon in Home Again in 2017. We think this is another case of awkwardness and quirkiness when it comes to looks because even though Bell is beautiful, she is almost too tall to play the female lead in an appropriate way. We love her still!

3 Brittany Murphy: We Grew To Love Her

Brittany Murphy actually played in several leading roles up until her death in 2009, but like most Hollywood starlets, she did not start out this way. Her first 'best friend' role was in the timeless cult classic Clueless, alongside female lead Alicia Silverstone. Her next big supporting role was in the 1999 hit Girl, Interrupted, where highlighted her talent for drama. She starred next in a handful of romantic comedies, including Summer Catch and Riding in Cars with Boys. Her first big lead role was in 2003 in Just Married with Ashton Kutcher-- and the rest is history, as they say. Uptown Girls and Little Black Book are just a few of the popular movies that she led with grace and elegance before her death.

2 Lizzy Caplan: Mean Girls Started It All

We are the first to say how much we love Lizzy Caplan, but her record for various roles doesn't show that that is always the case for the population. The first role that put her on the map was, of course, in Mean Girls as gothic angry chick Janis Ian, alongside the famous lead of Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron. She starred in supporting roles in My Best Friend's Girl, Hot Tub Time Machine, Bachelorette, and The Interview. In 2016, she starred in Now You See Me 2, replacing Isla Fisher as the main female lead, but it took her several years to get there through supporting roles, guest arcs on television episodes and failed sitcoms. Regardless of this, she put in her hard work and is now a well-known name in Hollywood circles.

1 Leslie Mann: A Good Big Sister Or Bad Big Lead

Mann is married to famous writer and producer Judd Apatow, so acting isn't really something she necessarily has to do for her money, but it's incredible that she still does. She is known for her comedic talent and ability to pull heartstrings in all audiences in what seems like hundreds of romantic comedies in roles of, you guessed it, the best friend-- or the sister! In 2007, she starred in Knocked Up as the supportive sister of Katherine Heigl's character. In The Bling Ring, The Other Woman, and How to Be Single, she also plays the supporting role that everyone loves her for. Despite this, she is just as talented to be a lead, which she has been in This is 40 and The Change-Up among others. No matter what, we love her!