Deuteragonist

A word so infrequently used that until I reclaimed it in a 1993 journal today, the word escaped me although on dozens of occasions I sought for and reached for this word to no avail.

And then not only was it there on the page, it came up today when I was listening to Fresh Air and heard an interview with Sarah Silverman.

Silverman, a relatively new name to me, said, empathically, and repeatedly she didn't want to play the friend, the second fiddle, the best friend of the star, and if she couldn't be the protagonist, she would no longer play the deuteragonist.