The Best Supporting Actors of 2008

Heath Ledger passed away on January 22, 2008 before The Dark Knight hit theaters to rave reviews. Ledger's death was determined to have been caused by an accidental overdose of sleeping pills and painkillers, and there was plenty of speculation as to why he had trouble sleeping. Members of the media spread the rumor that he took sleeping pills because playing The Joker put him in a dark frame of mind, but director Christopher Nolan didn't believe that to be true. "I'll answer that simply to say that it diminishes his skill as an actor."

The job Ledger did in bringing to life The Joker was simply brilliant. Ledger's Joker will go down in history as one of the best villains ever on the big screen.

Dev Patel's breakthrough performance is also his first major role in a feature film. In the comedy/drama directed by Danny Boyle, Patel plays a poor Mumbai teen who lands a spot on the popular TV game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. Patel might be a newcomer to movies but there's nothing hesitant about his performance. He's a talented, unique young actor and Slumdog Millionaire should earn him the attention of Hollywood.

David Kross only has a couple feature films under his belt and no English language roles at all until he took on the part of Michael Berg in The Reader. Kross had to perfect his English for the movie and worked with a dialect coach for seven hours a day in order to learn his dialogue and to learn how to read Horace in Latin and Sappho in Greek. Kross also had to handle sex scenes with Kate Winslet, something which would be intimidating to any young actor. It was an extremely difficult role on a multitude of levels, and Kross is pitch perfect.

Robert Downey Jr is experiencing a career resurgence and in 2008 he really hit his stride. Iron Man found Downey Jr playing a playboy billionaire industrialist who transforms into a hero, and Downey Jr's take on that character was hailed as one of the best delivered in a comic book-inspired movie. And then to top 2008 off, Downey Jr played an Oscar-winning Australian actor who takes on the part of an African-American soldier in the politically incorrect comedy Tropic Thunder. In it, Downey Jr is absolutely hysterical as "a dude playing a dude, disguised as another dude."

Truthfully, James Franco hasn't always made the best choices in movie roles. 2006 was a particularly bad year in films for Franco, but in 2008 he redeemed himself. Franco played Harvey Milk's gay lover in Milk and returned to comedies as a laidback pot dealer who just wants to be friends with his clients in Pineapple Express. Both performances showcased Franco at his best and proved he's back on track.