On the second day of New York Comic Con, the Empire Stage gave to me… an absolutely wild time with the cast of Amazon’s The Boys, complete with plenty of cursing, talk of ass bombs and throwing kids off of roofs, and the actual phrase “destigmatize gill sex.”
Tonight — almost exactly a year after the show’s second season finale aired back on Oct. 9, 2020 — cast members Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko), Erin Moriarty (Annie/Starlight), Jack Quaid (Hughie), Antony Starr (Homelander), and Chase Crawford (The Deep) gathered in person for the show’s first major fan convention appearance since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I’ll start by answering the question I know every The Boys fan has: Did they give away anything about season three?!? Sadly, no, not really. Moriarty did share a behind-the-scenes tidbit from the filming of the upcoming season, saying that she caught Nathan Mitchell nodding off while filming a scene (something that’s easy to hide in his Black Noir outfit). But otherwise, the cast stayed fairly tight-lipped — No plot hints, no surprise trailer drops, and no updates about when The Seven will be back on our screens. Nothing about the upcoming spin-off, either, although these actors’ characters aren’t expected to be part of that series.
However, the hour that the cast spent on stage together was packed with behind-the-scenes stories and tidbits from the show’s first two seasons, with language and content on par with what you would find, well, in an episode of The Boys. (A highlight, for example, was Starr giving a very animated, pantomimed reenactment of filming his season two sex scene with Aya Rachel Cash, aka Stormfront, while suspended in the air by harnesses.)
Here are some of the things we learned at the panel. (Warning: spoilers ahead if you aren’t caught up with The Boys!)
1. For one of Jack Quaid’s auditions, Seth Rogen was reading Billy Butcher’s lines.
For those who aren’t in the know, comedian Seth Rogen is an executive producer and writer for The Boys. While the cast was sharing stories about their audition experiences, Quaid told the audience that he had to audition for Rogen himself. This was something of a challenge, Quaid said, not only because Rogen is one of his idols but also because Rogan sounded so funny reading Billy Butcher’s lines, which are full of cockney slang.
2. The “Girls Get it Done” team-up moment from season two was hard to film, for a few reasons.
One of the most epic moments from season two is when Kimiko, Starlight, and Queen Maeve team up to fight Stormfront. It’s a great scene, made even better by the song “Boys Wanna Be Her” by Peaches and the iconic lines “Eat my shit you Nazi bitch” and “She’s gonna stick her boot up your Nazi kitty.”
While both actors noted how impressed they were with the final scene, Fukuhara and Moriarty also said they felt conflicted during filming because Aya Rachel Cash is one of the nicest people they know. (In fact, they had dinner plans with her after the NYCC panel!) On top of that, apparently, that day they filmed that scene was incredibly cold.
(Here’s the scene, in case you also immediately wanted to rewatch it, like I did.)
3. Quaid and Moriarty are distracting on set.
What started as a question about whether Quaid and Moriarty remember the words to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” from their road trip episode in season two (for the record, they very much do not) quickly devolved into an explanation about how the pair often “act like children” on set, which they are certain annoyed Lazaro Alonso (Mother’s Milk). For example, the duo apparently has a habit of screeching like dinosaurs when they get bored on set, just to see if anyone notices.
4. The fake blood attracts bees.
If you’ve watched even one episode of The Boys, there’s a solid chance that you saw someone covered in blood. Apparently, the fake blood that the actors (mostly Quaid) often find themselves coated with is very sweet, which in turn attracts bees.
5. The whale from season two was super elaborate.
This show doesn’t have a great survival rate when it comes to marine mammals. Following a pretty graphic dolphin death in season one, a whale literally gets impaled by a speed boat in season two. The cast had a lot to say about the whale (“We already got some shit for the dolphin thing,” Crawford said, describing his initial reaction to reading the script), mostly about how elaborate it was. Apparently, the crew really made a giant whale model for filming, complete with a beating heart.
However, according to Quaid, Lazaro Alonso was under the impression that the whale would have air conditioning (it did not). This lead to one of Quaid’s favorite on-set moments: Alonso sincerely asking “Hey, can we get some AC in the whale?”
6. Moriarty really bowled a strike in season two.
During her time on The Boys, one moment that really stands out for Moriarty happened when filming Annie and Hughie’s bowling date in season two. Apparently, Moriarty is a less-than-skilled bowler, and the bowling instructor they hired to help her for the episode didn’t have high hopes for her. There was even a professional stand-in ready to film the scene when Annie effortlessly bowls a strike. Apparently, against all odds and to the shock of everyone involved, Moriarty actually bowled a strike on her first take.
For the latest updates about The Boys, be sure to keep watching the Vought International YouTube channel, which features official videos and news broadcast-style updates from the infamous corporation behind the supes in the show that give hints about what’s to come.
