As Prime Video prepares to welcome “Vought Rising” into its supe-powered universe after bidding farewell to “Gen V,” the cast and crew of flagship show “The Boys” are currently in the midst of their own final season.
Stars Laz Alonso, Karen Fukuhara, Erin Moriarty and series creator Eric Kripke celebrated Season 5 on Wednesday night with An Evening With Sony Pictures Television FYC event on the Sony Lot, where they opened up about closing out their fan-favorite satire seven years after its 2019 debut.
“I was just trying to get the emotion right, I wanted to land every character. That’s more important,” Kripke told TheWrap. “Believe me, we have big battles and action, but I just had this instinct that I really wanted the audience to say goodbye to these characters in the way that these characters deserve.”
“I can’t believe that we’re here, because once upon a time it was the little iconoclast show that could,” Moriarty added. “The satirical, absurd elements made us all love it, but unsure as to whether it would succeed with even a niche audience, let alone globally the way that it has.”
“We belong in the same conversation, because although it is a genre or superhero show, which always makes it difficult for people to take you seriously in the acting department, I feel like, in spite of that, we bring some really grounded performances to the table. And it has to be, because the show is so out there, it really relies on the writing, performing, everything has to be in sync so that the flare doesn’t outdo the story — and we put story first,” Alonso agreed, while Fukuhara added: “We’ve come such a long way with representation. It’s so meaningful to be included in these press interviews, it took us a long time to get to this point.”
The red carpet also featured stars and creatives from other Sony shows like “Plur1bus,” “Platonic,” “For All Mankind,” “Spider-Noir,” “Doc” and “Outlander.” But for the cast and crew of “The Boys,” they’re just glad both viewers and the rest of Hollywood understood the vision.
“I can’t believe they let us get away with this s–t, to be honest with you. A lot of the stuff that we are critiquing is about the people who are literally financing the show,” Alonso admitted. “But it’s a necessary evil to talk about it, because it’s the only way to do better. We’re not trying to preach; we’re holding up a mirror, not just to society, but to ourselves. Our superheroes can be anybody, they can be any genre. No one has been spared — religion, entertainment, politics, everybody has gotten some heat.”
“Our show pokes fun at a lot of the things that we are thinking already. It’s a little too inappropriate to say and you want to be socially aware, but there’s a way to put it that can be comedic and controversial in a positive way, and our show has done it and that’s why people are drawn to it,” Fukuhara said, as Kripke further noted: “I find that people in Hollywood love when you make jokes about people in Hollywood — either because they have a sense of humor or they’re just wildly narcissistic; and, frankly, it doesn’t matter, because they’re not mad. It’s done with a lot of love.”
For Moriarty, getting to address real-world issues through the lens of late-stage capitalism and politicized pop culture has been “cathartic” and “therapeutic.”
“I try to dictate my own relationship with Hollywood that involves insulating myself with people who are earnest and good, who understand how vapid Hollywood can really be. So to work on a show that is satirizing the elements of this industry that I don’t think are OK is ultimately very in line with how I think,” she shared. “It’s going to be difficult moving forward to be a part of projects that don’t pick apart topical things that bother me … when we’re complacent, we’re silent. And that’s the opposite of this show. So I’m so lucky that I get to work on a show that speaks out about things that simply aren’t OK, because it feels like a lot of us are just pretending that they are.”
“I just hope people feel satisfied with how we tie everything up,” Alonso concluded. “Ultimately, when you’re doing a series finale, you hope people leave satisfied. It’s the end of the meal, you don’t want to screw up dessert.”
“The Boys” Season 5 airs Wednesdays on Prime Video, with the series finale set to hit theaters and streaming on May 19 at 9:30 p.m. PT.
