Was a top performer embarrassed to be placed next to bad actors? (2-7)
I believe the answer is:
co-starred
'was a top performer' is the definition.
'embarrassed to be placed next to bad actors?' is the wordplay.
'embarrassed' becomes 'red' (I've seen this before).
'to be placed next to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'bad' is an anagram indicator.
'actors' is an anagram of 'costar'.
'red' after 'costar' is 'CO-STARRED'.
(Other definitions for co-starred that I've seen before include "Shared lead billing" , "Played the other leading role" .)