The Boys on Prime Video has never shied away from being in your face and political—literally. Whether it’s a gore fest, a musical number or characters you just have to see to believe, the super-series keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. But that isn’t all it’s doing right.
Time and time again, The Boys manages to tackle tough themes like loss, trauma, assault and more. Creator Eric Kripke definitely makes sure to do all this with a very unique flair, but even the women of The Boys know they have something special with him as their showrunner, with Erin Moriarty stating, “…we are so fortunate to have a leader like Kripke, but not everyone thinks like him.”
With The Boys Season 4 coming to Prime Video on June 13th, CGMagazine got to speak with Erin Moriarty, Claudia Doumit and Karen f*ckuhara, just a few of the women in power in the show. The consensus was pretty clear: representation in media matters, and in some cases, The Boys might even be ahead of us when it comes to being progressive and inclusive.
How does it feel for all of you to be part of The Boys, a series that has become so beloved?
Erin Moriarty: Like a dream. Like I’m going to get up tomorrow and find out it wasn’t real.
Claudia Doumit: It’s a gift. It is a gift.
Karen f*ckuhara: I thank God.
Claudia Doumit: We love it.
Erin Moriarty: Truly, it doesn’t happen for actors very often.
Claudia Doumit: I’m always like, stay present, stay here, take this in. Because it’s a really cool show and incredible people.
Karen f*ckuhara: It’s always nice to be a part of a show that people care about, you know? You don’t have to convince anyone.
Erin Moriarty: By the way. You can’t, really, can you?
Claudia Doumit: That sounds like a real personal journey for you, Karen.
Karen f*ckuhara: Like “I’ve got free tickets, please come!”
Claudia Doumit: “Check it out. Check out my show! Come watch my play!”
Karen f*ckuhara: “My one-man show!”
Erin Moriarty: By the way, give us three years. We’ll be back there.
Claudia Doumit: I feel like the general consensus is that we enjoy every minute of it.
Karen f*ckuhara: Yeah, love it.
You all play very strong women mentally and physically in The Boys. How does it feel to be such strong role models in a male-dominated genre?
Claudia Doumit: I think it’s a testament to the writing, and I say that every time, whenever anyone asks me about that, because no one’s serving as a vehicle, and that’s fantastic. They’re such incredibly nuanced, intricately thought out, in-depth characters, and that’s always a gift to play.
Funnily enough, whenever I get asked this question, I never play Victoria Neuman in terms of her sex when it comes to power. I don’t, I really don’t. People ask me, they’re like, “What female politicians?” And, of course, I looked at every politician that I looked at, both female and male politicians. I looked at people in positions of power. I think that power is such a potent desire, a drug.
I really don’t think of it in terms of that. And I think that the show and the writers have really created such brilliant characters in all three of these that it’s just easy to play, and as an actor, you don’t want to have to do any of that extraneous work.
Erin Moriarty: It’s really interesting. I will say it’s affected me more so on a personal level. And it’s had me look at things more critically. And I will also say that I wish that it was mirrored more so in real life. There is still something going on that feels like it’s less overt than certain movements, but it does feel like there is. And I’m not saying that, like, our show, we are so fortunate to have a leader like Kripke, but not everyone thinks like him. And I do think that there is still this concept where we glom onto group thought, and group thought is this is what’s woke and this is what’s not.
There are certain components of the show that I would have thought, playing Starlight, they would have been more contagious, at least in terms of like…what do you expect from us, to not walk the talk? Do you know what I mean? And so I do feel like we have a long way to go in real life. And so to be on a show like this feels like the most cathartic, therapeutic thing that we can possibly do. Because we have a long way to go.
Karen f*ckuhara: Yeah, it’s also reflective of the real world. I’ve never I’ve never in my life felt like women don’t have power. It could be a different kind of power. And sometimes, we’re not given the opportunity to assume that position. We still don’t have a female president. But I think in our everyday lives, we are surrounded by nuanced, powerful women.
Claudia Doumit: I grew up with so many of those.
Erin Moriarty: Oh my God, so many!
Claudia Doumit: I couldn’t escape them. They were running my life! (Laughs) But it’s honestly, it’s just great to have those stories and these representations of women on screen because it’s what exists out in the world. And why wouldn’t you put that on your screen?
Karen f*ckuhara: Put her in there!
Thank you so much for your time.
Erin Moriarty: Thank you so much.
Claudia Doumit: Cheers!
The Boys Season 4 premieres on Prime Video on June 13, 2024.
