"Principal actor"

I'm reading the July issue of Poker Pro magazine. There is a short piece by Sam O'Connor about how to think about bad beats. The article is OK, but I was most struck by something in his biographical blurb at the end: "Sam O'Connor is the author of the book How to Dominate $1 and $2 No-limit Hold 'Em and a principal actor in Lucky You."

Really? I don't remember seeing him in it, even though I watched that klunker twice. So I headed to www.imdb.com, font of all movie knowledge. I did indeed find Mr. O'Connor listed in the cast. The character he plays is "Old Man." He's the 48th one listed, right after "Bellagio Dealer #7" and right before "Man in Cowboy Hat" and "Woman with Straight."

Yeah, that's pretty "principal" all right. They really couldn't have made the movie without him, y'know? He basically had to carry the whole picture. [Snicker.]


Private note to Mr. O'Connor:

A popular online dictionary (see here) gives this definition of principal as an adjective: "first or highest in rank, importance, value, etc.; chief; foremost." You might want to give some thought to what that means before submitting your next article for publication.