Amazon Prime's THE BOYS

Executive producer Eric Kripke

Karl Urban - Billy Butcher

Jack Quaid - Hughie Campbell

Antony Starr -Homelander

Erin Moriarty -Starlight

Jessie T. Usher -A-Train

Laz Alonso - Mother's Milk

Chace Crawford- The Deep

Tomer Capoon -Frenchie

Karen Fukuhara - Kimiko

Aya Cash - Stormfront

Moderator Aisha Tyler

Appearance by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

Taken from the best selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys is a irreverent
take on superheroes and abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good.

Eric: The fan reaction has been incredible and exceeded all of our expectations. Without
blowing smoke we are a hit. People are responding to the superhero bit turning
it on its head. They are falling in love with the characters due to the amazing
cast. They are also reacting to the satire and the social commentary and we
worked hard to layer that in. It's very gratifying and we are all so proud of
it. In season two it’s a lot more intense. We worked hard to make season two
crazier but also more emotional and higher stakes. Everyone is in a really
tight spot, The Boys are wanted fugitives and hunted and totally screwed. They
are fighting back as hard as they can and season one was hard for them.
Homelander killed the only person who could control him so he's increasingly
out of control. He is making it a scarier place. Starlight is trapped in this
nightmare. Everyone is pushed to the limits. We tried to make this not the most
realistic show ever made but make it a commentary on the up to the minute world
we live in. It’s a strange world of politics and social media and says so much
about the world we are in and we try to put in sharp commentary. For instance
in season one we took on the MeToo Movement with Starlight, the American
weapons industry and politics. In season two we continue that and probably make
that even more edgy because I can say we are going after white supremacy, white
nationalism and we are going after systemic racism and all of those things
really effing suck. The three triangles are strong characters, madness and if
we can sneak in revelations about the real world we do that too. You will see
that in season two.

(the trailer they showed will make you yell Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!)

Karl: That is the weirdest thing that I've done in my carrier. I think for everyone else but Jack
it was a really fun scnee to shoot.

Jack: And Karl was actually driving.

Karl: That was one of the things that I was surprised and thrilled about is that you had all of
the actors in the boat with a helicopter flying parallel to us and you never
get to really experience something for real anymore. But we were out ther eon
the water doing horrendous speeds and having fun except for Jack.

Karen: I was so surprised because I thought a stunt person was going to drive it but it was
Karl and I was getting motion sickness after about three hours.

Karl: They built a prosthetic whale that was on the beach and we actually end up inside the whale
without giving to much away and it was a pretty surreal experience and pretty
hot and stinky in the Canadian summer.

Eric: I want to add to that that the best professional moment as the crew said we are not really
building a whale are we and I said yes, its going to be 40 feet long and 11
feet high. We knew it was a huge project and it was so expensive too and it
makes the scene work. It’s a dead thing with an explosive belly and one of the
prouder moments as a producers.

Jack: The cast gave me so much guff about being covered in blood in season one but now they know.

Karl: At the end of season's was a game changer for Billy. His objective was to really find Rebecca
and rescue her and get his wife back. Season one was Butcher looking for blind
revenge and season two is to save her and the moral questions that arise for
that. It's particularly pertinent when we see Butcher would turn his back on
the boys if he could inflict pain and suffering and there is a certain
evolution in season two where he has some tough choices to make whether he will
be able to achieve his goal to get Rebecca or again jeopardize his team. That
was a lot of fun to play. Season two has a lot of interesting pair ups that I
really enjoyed getting to work with Aaron and Starlight which is an unlikely
pairing. That’s what season two does is throw unlikely couples bounce off each
other and interact.

Laz: In season one this guy is painfully lonely and desperate for connection and part of this was
Elisabeth Shue but she wasn't letting Homelander finish his mission. He dealt
with his complex in season one and in season two is very internal and there is
nothing more internal than milk so it has a way to connect the dots between
season one and two. He finds traces of Stillwell and reconnects that way and
that is a moment of pure connection. I think in a lot of ways that is the
duality of the character, these guys have done a great job playing both sides
of that. The strongest physical man on the show is the emotionally weakest.
There is also this weird parenting thing where you say I can say what I want
about my kid but you can't.

Jack: Season one was transformative and blossoming, it is interesting because Butcher from Hughie's perspective betrayed everyone. Now he's left there, he's alone and feels
terrible about lying to Annie all during season one. He's super alone and has
nothing then he starts realizing 'what do I do now? Do I keep this going?' and
he does that by sneaking in a few conversations with Annie which he's not
suppose to since they are on the run. Something I really found fascinating that
Eric did with Hughie is that he latches on to people who tell him what to do
and in season two he's starting to realize how he can do that on his own and
realize who he is and what he wants to do rather than what others want him to
do. There is one moment early on where Butcher comes back and Hughie isn't
happy about it. After that Hughie says 'I never love it, I never 'effin love
it!' so he's standing up for himself and owning himself a little more. He still
screams a lot but he's coming into his own.

Erin: What was fun about season two and what I think people will find satisfying about her
trajectory is that she steps into her own power and her objectives stay the
same. She wants to be the best superhero in the world but she's forced to adapt
to the dark world she's been exposed to. That's where some the interesting
story comes in where Hughie has broken her heart and has residual feelings for.
The only way both of them can achieve their goals is to get over it yet there
is still tension and chemistry. It's confusing because Butcher shot her and yet
she has to join forces with him. Her objective stays the same but she hardens a
lot because of season one. A really thick wall goes up with her going from
naive and gullible and having their heart broken by everyone they love and the
wall is too thick to compensate for it all. She's still doing the same thing in
terms of trying to save the world but a little bit inaccessible. She balances
the line between being informed and finding herself again. There's a lot going
on. With A-Train I don't think the interaction is positive but mutual figuring
out on how to handle each other. She has to blackmail him but she's
uncomfortable with it. He doesn't respond to well to it.

Jessie: Starlight doesn't know what A-Train knows and there is a lot of figuring out going on
there. Physically A-Train is in bad shape, he has abused Compound B and him
being an athlete. There are so many things he's been running from for so long
that now he has to stop and face these things. He is fueled by hate and rage
pinning it on other people even though he did it to himself. He is attaching
negative emotions to every aspect of his life and its a lot to come face to
face with. The end of season one was a lot of confusion, misplaced anger and it
is a lot and unfortunate that he takes it out on other people. For him he
doesn't think there is any other way, he feels like its his safe haven instead
of realizing its his own self destruction. He is willing to keep it, to die for
it, to kill for it. He's almost a pretty sad case and ruthless because his
decisions are always the worst ones. It's like he doesn't care what he loses in
the process. That's what I like about the show, in a world with superhero's the
ones you know and love aren't the only ones that exist. There are quite a few
people that have the same abilities as him. In the back of his mind he's
thinking there are more super speeders than him. He's willing to do what ever
it takes to keep that top spot. In season two we will learn why that's so
important because a lot of what he deals with is fear, he's afraid of a lot of
things that could happen. He's afraid of his own nightmares but they also drive
him to do some really crazy stuff. Despite knowing better he can't help
himself. He's a guy who aims his problem and in season one he aimed it at
Hughie, he just needs someone to blame like he does Hughie for the death of his
girlfriend. He's so dependent on Compound B that it blurs his vision so he
keeps running, keeps going and don't look back and don't deal. They physical
aspect gets snatched from him so now he has to deal with it.

Laz: It was interesting working through with Eric, why is Mother's Milk with The Boys? In
season one he has a family, a daughter he cares so much about, a wife he is
subservient too, he cooks tilapia for her. Why would he risk all that to join
the band of misfits. What I love is he was addicted to B because of his family
working at factory's but in our version of The Boys and our ecosystem that's
not the case. Eric kind of beautifully created this infection with being a
fighter of freedom. That's what he is infected with, risking what he has in the
pursuit of justice. Even if it doesn't mean justice for him but if its justice
for his daughter who is the future than it is worth the fight so I love that
take on this character. There was a lot of emotional intelligence that I had to
bring to this character so I could become the voice of morality. To keep from
going so far over the edge that we forget why we are here and what we are
fighting for. When we have a scene together as a group and planning what to do,
what would Mother's Milk do? Try to steer the group in that direction. I think
there is a tremendous amount of "hold on guys, lets think about what we
are going to do", sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. You need
someone to say 'hold on a minute' and you need someone to be the conscious of
the group, I see Mother's Milk as the good angel on the shoulder saying 'lets
not jump off the cliff yet'.

Chace: The Deep is really going through it, the first season I was with other actors and other
characters but its been very interested quite literally being on my own
journey. I think being in Ohio was tough for him, like quarantine, started out
making margaritas then drinking from the bottle. He was in a very, very dark
place. He is not very self aware and I think he was finally confronted with his
own inner turmoil figuring out who he is. He was pulled into a certain
spiritual journey and goes on a few different quests to find love and a
connection in that way. There is some humor in there like on the whale, I think
he wants to be back in the seven, it was fun. He was totally wrapped up in his
identity and when stuck in Sandusky Ohio at a water park you are really
confronted with not knowing who you are. Someone joins him from his past and
it’s a very interesting story line.

Karen: Having no lines is very freeing and some of the cast say that would love to not have any
lines. Its definitely a challenge as an actor having no lines, even in season
two we dive into more of her psyche and her emotional state more than her
physical side. A fulfilling challenge. For the physical bits I work with a
trainer in Toronto and a stunt coordinator and he helps us learn all the bits
ahead of time so we are comfortable on the day. I think it’s a balance of
training your fitness to build the muscle and then learning the choreography so
its already in your skin. We did something called the Black Widow stunt and we
got it on camera with me doing it.
Season two will learn more about her relationship with her history also
alters her relationship with Frenchie a little bit. It's interesting to see
different sides of her come out and growing into her own womanhood and
individuality.

Tomer: In season two, the audience gets a chance to peek through the window of all the
characters including Frenchie which you are going to get a sneak peek of his
origin story. Being a comic book fan, I loved this stuff so much. The chance to
get to know the character and how Frenchie got into The Boys and learn his real
name. It was exciting to me as an actor and I can't wait for fans to see that.
All season one he hung on to the most beautiful thing to take care of which was
a female, season two she can't take it anymore and spread her wings and start
talking. Frenchie is in a lonely spot and deal with his traumas and there are a
lot of them. That's what I love about this season is that the stories are so
well taken care of that I was amazed by everyone's performance in a much deeper
and further away, it was amazing.

Aya: Stormfront is a new character, I knew the backstory and I was given some sides that show her
social media savvy and what is going on underneath. Eric and I chatted about
what was going to happen and I knew who she was. I was really excited to play her
mainly because I think I thought there was no chance they would let me play
her. Then Eric let me do it. I look for things that I'm necessarily good at
because that's the fun about being an actor is doing new stuff. What I think is
so great about The Boys coming in as a fan is that its so topical and it allows
us to look at current issues with some sort of distance and see them clearer.
When you are watching something that is in a heightened world you sort of
listen better. I was really excited about that, not to say there weren't hard
moments being a human being playing a role of someone I violently disagree
with, but my job as an actor is to find the humanity and go to the ugly gross
parts of ourselves. It's Eric's job to tell what happens to a character and
hopefully he punishes her.

Eric: We try to apply the most stringent reality to how that character would really behave if
they had those powers. So they are prone to the types of challenges and
potential corruption that happens when you get so much power in excess.

Seth: Thank you for watching The Boys. Because this show has fans and is watched by people like you they have decided to renew for a new season.

Evan: Who knows what things we make will move forward or shut down.

Seth: We don't know when we can do it. We hope you enjoy the third season as much as you enjoy the second season.