Note: This article contains spoilers from “Gen V” Season 2, Episode 4.
“Gen V” newcomer Hamish Linklater said it wasn’t the blood, violence or messiness that shocked him the most about “The Boys” spinoff, it was how many times he had to sign off on dropping his pants.
Linklater, who stars in Season 2 as the new dean of Godolkin University Cipher, told TheWrap that he was impressed by the Prime Video’s series’ cast, crew and writers.
“The meticulous notes their scripts are filled with are just mind-blowing. These are like elite-level professionals that you’re coming to work with every day,” Linklater explained. “And then I was shocked by how many times I had to take my pants off, by the sheer volume of nudity riders I had to sign.”
Nudity riders are written agreements within an actor’s contract with a production that outlines the details of the specific nudity, simulated sex or intimate scenes the performer has agreed to. They are provided to the performer prior to filming and put in place to ensure the safety and security of the talent.
The entire “The Boys” franchise, including the college-based spinoff, has become famous for its overly raunchy content and characters.
“My lawyer had to write ‘side of cheek’ so many times,” Linklater said. “There’s like special lawyer language for top of butt … I learned a lot about nudity riders, that’s for sure.”
Cypher is both the new dean of God U and the season’s newest antagonist. Marie (Jaz Sinclair) and her crew just thought he was a normal human being, but as we all learned in Season 2, Episode 4 he isn’t at all what he seems. While Marie couldn’t initially spot any Compound V flowing through his bloodstream, it wasn’t until he started controlling the body and mind of Jordan Li (Derek Luh, London Thor) during their fight with Marie that his powers were revealed: He’s some sort telepath.
While discussing what attracted him to the show, Linklater applauded the series for making the characters’ “weaknesses become their strengths.”
“I watched the show and I was like, ‘No f—king way, what’s happening?’” he explained. “From the opening scene and sequence … this amazing young woman kills her parents with her menses. If that isn’t a metaphor for being a young person, and then it doubles down. You’ve got an eating disorder, you self-harm, the mental disorders, that all of these weaknesses become their strengths. That is some archtypal Greek, superhero s—t.”
He also praised the show for its societal and political relevance.
“As an actor citizen, all you want to do is be part of things that are part of projects that are in conversation with the present moment,” Linklater said. “It’s very rare that you get to do that. So it’s a real privilege when those jobs come along. The show is super dark and super violent and super current, but it’s also super optimistic, I think, hopeful, and that optimism is in the title. It’s in the next generation. And so hopefully the generation that’s watching ‘Gen V’ will join the resistance.”
“Gen V” Season 2 is now streaming on Prime Video.
