Behave protectively towards different male leads (6)
I believe the answer is:
mother
'behave protectively towards' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'different male leads' is the wordplay.
'different' becomes 'other' (similar in meaning).
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'leads' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters go in front of others).
'other' put after 'm' is 'MOTHER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mother that I've seen before include "Female parent" , "One who pours the tea?" , "Be overprotective" , "Nature so-called" , "Fuss over" .)