The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 3 letter word LEADING MAN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
L
E
A
D
I
N
G
M
A
N
More clues leading to the result LEADING MAN
- Top player’s aim, playing with England
- Top performer managed first of lines in plays
- Stage suppressing a noise by crew for megastar?
- Principal actor directing staff
- Star puts bullets into FBI agent
- Star having meal and gin cocktail
- Hero putting bullets into FBI agent?
- Star portraying FBI agent after introductory episode?
- Manchester has this top fellow on stage
- Protagonist maligned, an oddball
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Top performer" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case top performer = leading man.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.