Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: prime video, the boys

The Boys: Antony Starr Not Buying Homelander/Trump Comparisons

The Boys star Antony Starr on why he doesn't buy into those Homelander/Donald Trump comparisons, calling them "low-hanging fruit."

With filming underway on the fifth and final season of Showrunner Eric Kripke's The Boys, there are a lot of folks (like us) more than just a little curious about how the whole thing is going to wrap up. In addition – with the lines between the satirical world of the Prime Video series and our real world having pretty much been blown to pieces at this point – we're curious/afraid to see how the worlds on both sides of the screen will continue to reflect one another. Speaking with EW, Kripke and Antony Starr (Homelander) addressed that very issue – with Starr taking issue with the comparisons made between Homelander and incoming POTUS Donald Trump (calling it "low-hanging fruit") and finding himself "dragged into a conversation" he had no interest in being involved with.

"Of course, people could make the comparison, and they did. So it was quite strange getting dragged into a conversation I didn't necessarily sign on to be a part of," Starr shared. "I didn't want the character to be a mustache-twirling villain. It had to be a real person built from the ground up. The other thing is, I really don't like using the word 'psychopath.' I think it's such a reductive term," he added, noting how the term has been used to describe his character. But in terms of how the streaming series is in step with what's going down in the real world, it's a fact that Kripke has learned to (nervously) accept the fact. "We're making this fun-house mirror of what's going on in culture as much as any show since 'Veep' or 'The West Wing,'" Kripke revealed. "It makes me nervous to be in similar company, but we are!"

Here's a look back at Kripke's Instagram post announcing the first day of filming was underway and revealing intel on the first episode of the final season: Episode 501: "Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite" (written by Paul Grellong and directed by Phil Sgriccia).

The Boys Is "Punk Rock": Eric Kripke "Working Hard to Not Sell Out"

"We're gonna look at the chips we have on the table right now. I live in absolute terror of becoming the thing we've been satirizing for five years," Kripke shared during a recent conversation with Collider, explaining why he continues to be cautious about expanding the show's universe too much, too soon. "The thing about 'The Boys' is that it's punk rock, and it hurts extra hard when punk rockers sell out. I'm really working hard to not sell out. We do these shows because we really care about them and we're passionate about them, and they can tell fresh stories that we can't tell in 'The Boys' and not just be about rapid expansion but be very careful and mindful about the choices we're making and being able to defend why we're making them. I worry about that every single day," he added. "I just want people to say, maybe it's for them, and maybe it isn't for them, but gotta hand it to them, they maintain a consistent level of quality."

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