The Boys' Antony Starr reveals knocking down fans glorifying Homelander: ‘This guy is not the hero of any story'
Kiwi actor Antony Starr has spent four seasons embodying one of television's most chillingly narcissistic villains, Homelander, in The Boys — a man so twisted he once engaged with a shapeshifter impersonating himself, only to murder them in a bizarre act of self-affirmation. During a roundtable conversation with Entertainment Weekly's Awardist series, the 49-year-old actor revealed that even after all this time, he still finds himself shocked by how much affection some fans express for the character played by him.
"We had a bunch of guys that we all kind of knocked them down a little bit on social media to say, 'This guy is not the hero of any story,'" he said alongside actors and fellow Emmy contenders Aimee Lou Wood, Tramell Tillman, Bradley Whitford, Marisa Abela and Sharon Horgan. He also recounted how unsettling it is to see audiences glorify the character. "They were really glorifying him, they loved him. Which is surreal," he added.
For Antony, the most unexpected part is the moral ambivalence some fans feel toward the character. "What I didn't expect was that people would be so conflicted around it and, you know, finding themselves finding empathy for this monster," he reflects.
That nuance—and Antony's ability to balance terrifying volatility with moments of eerie vulnerability—has earned him a long-overdue Emmy nomination this year for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. It marks his first nod from the Television Academy, and recognition for a performance that's long been praised by critics and fans alike.
Season 5 of The Boys, currently in production, will mark the end of the boundary-pushing series that first premiered in 2019 and quickly became a flagship title. While The Boys is approaching its conclusion, the universe it spawned will live on. The spinoff Gen V, set in a superhero college, is already gearing up for its second season. Additionally, Vought Rising, a prequel featuring Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy and Aya Cash's Stormfront, was officially announced earlier this year.
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