The Boys‘ Antony Starr didn’t originally want to play Homelander. The Amazon Prime hit original series explores a world where superheroes exist, but they don’t exactly have the most heroic intentions. The first three episodes of season two just premiered on Amazon, and a new episode will be released every Friday until October 9th. Starr portrays Homelander, the leader of the top group of heroes in The Boys known as the Seven.
Homelander is essentially the psychopath’s version of Superman or Captain America, a man that allows a plane full of innocent people to crash to their deaths without batting an eye. In a show that’s all about subverting superhero stereotypes, Homelander takes the crown for complete and utter terrifying villainy. Showrunner Eric Kripke has even said that Homelander’s only weakness is psychological attacks. Starr does such a fantastic job in both seasons of portraying the character’s two faces, the heroic face that he presents to an adoring public and his true nature, the sadistic murderer who cares only for himself. It’s frankly hard to envision anyone else playing such a challenging role with ease like Starr.
Starr revealed in an interview with Metro Uk that he originally wasn’t super interested in the part. He thought that they’d never cast him, thinking that someone like Henry Cavill would be more likely to land the superhero role. Check out Starr’s audition story below.
“My reps sent me the script and said this is one we should look at, I was busy, I was working pretty much every hour under god sent and they called me a week later and said, ‘Have you read it?’ I was like, ‘No, leave me alone I’m busy.’ So I didn’t look at it for a week and a half and then I saw it was a superhero thing and I thought they’re not going to pick me anyway, I’m not made for that. Henry Cavill’s 12 feet tall, built like a 12 foot brick s*** house and he’s wonderful, handsome, and charming-I’m not going to get that.
Then [my reps] were hassling so I sat in my dressing room, picked a spot on my iPad and filmed this audition almost out of spite for my reps. Then it got to Eric [Kripke] and [my reps] said, ‘They loved it!’ Then I thought I’d better actually read [the script.] I read it and realized this is actually really good and worth putting some time and energy into.”
Starr has been widely praised as Homelander, but it seems his co-workers also had similar experiences when they were cast. Interestingly enough, Karl Urban, who plays Homelander’s nemesis Billy Butcher, said that he had first heard about The Boys when, “I saw a colleague of mine was cast as Homelander…As it pertained to Billy Butcher I acknowledged it would be a fun character to play and I would be stupid to turn it down.” Erin Moriarty, who plays Starlight, said that she, “hate[s] auditioning,” but Kripke was rooting for her to play the role. A major part of what makes The Boys such a critically acclaimed show is the excellent casting choices. The actors themselves may not have been confident in their auditions, but the casting director certainly was.
It’s evident from the cast’s pre-audition stories that the creative team for the show saw their potential and it paid off immensely. The Boys perfectly balances dark humor with even darker storylines, and nobody achieves that better than Antony Starr’s portrayal of Homelander. The saying goes that a story is only as good as its villain certainly applies to The Boys, with Homelander at the helm of absolute evil. Fans will have to wait and see what Homelander is up to next when episode four premieres this Friday.
