Antony Starr on Final Season of The Boys, Homelander’s Breast Milk Obsession & Surfing in LA

0:00 Our next guest is a non-evil New Zealander who plays

0:05 a genetically engineered American super psycho on the show The Boys.

0:09 You can watch the final season Wednesdays on Prime Video.

0:12 Please welcome Anthony Starr.

0:16 [cheering] [music] [music] How [cheering] are you?

0:30 I'm I'm wonderful and thank you for saying I'm a non-evil You're not evil.

0:35 Yeah, as far as I know you're not evil.

0:36 That needs disclaiming.

0:37 You look so different by the way than you do on the show.

0:40 I'm going to take that as a compliment.

0:41 Thank you.

0:42 And it's weird to hear you speaking with your New Zealand

0:45 a lot of people get that.

0:46 I get a lot which I also take as a compliment.

0:49 I work my little

0:50 it as a compliment.

0:50 I work my little hiney off to get get that accent.

0:54 Are you now studying your friends, the people locally?

0:57 Do you live here now?

0:58 I do live here now.

0:59 Yeah, I've got a a green card.

1:02 I love it.

1:02 America I I love America.

1:04 It's been very very good to me.

1:06 Oh, good.

1:06 Good.

1:06 Good.

1:07 I love it.

1:07 I know there's There's a some issues at the moment.

1:12 Uh-huh.

1:12 We've always got something going on.

1:14 Hey, hey, we're relax.

1:16 Uh but look, it's a beautiful country.

1:18 I love it.

1:18 I've made a a home here.

1:20 I have dogs here.

1:21 I have believe it or not friends here and uh

1:24 Yeah, it's home but um New Zealand is always it's always going to be my Well,

1:30 I I've not been to New Zealand and it is really at the top of my list of places

1:33 to visit but people I know who and there are

1:37 many who've been there don't ever want to come back.

1:39 They want to stay there.

1:41 and funnily enough so many people say uh I've been to Australia

1:44 but I never made it to New Zealand or they have 6 weeks

1:48 in Australia and 2 weeks in New Zealand cuz it's small and then

1:52 they wish they flipped it because uh sorry I was going to

1:55 Well, now you're going to start trouble with Australia.

1:57 Well, we're better than Australia so yeah.

2:01 You but They won't know I said that.

2:03 You're a surfer, right?

2:04 I am a surfer.

2:04 You Is the surfing as good here as it is back home?

2:08 Um it's different.

2:10 There's a lot more people here.

2:12 There is you know Santa Monica Bay is a breeding ground for great white sharks.

2:17 I've noticed that.

2:18 Yeah.

2:19 If you didn't know that, happy swimming.

2:21 So Um Are there more sharks here than there are back home?

2:24 Yeah.

2:25 Oh, there are.

2:26 Yeah.

2:26 Oh, interesting.

2:27 Listen, the good thing about it is there are

2:28 any there are only juveniles up to 10 ft.

2:31 So they'll they'll swim behind you and check

2:33 you out but there's very few attacks.

2:35 Why are they only juveniles?

2:37 Because they'll then swim out farther when they grow up?

2:40 Yeah, I mean they feed on I don't know I

2:42 didn't didn't realize this was like Nat Geo but It is.

2:45 Ask me anything about sharks, turtles and I'm going

2:48 I'm now fearing for my life so we got to get some information out of you.

2:51 to give you some tips.

2:52 You're going to be okay.

2:53 But they are juveniles.

2:54 They're 8 to 10 ft and anything bigger than 6 ft they're quite timid of.

2:59 So they'll check you out and then they'll What if your height is exactly 6 ft?

3:04 Am I okay?

3:06 6 ft?

3:07 Yeah.

3:07 Yeah.

3:08 Not 6'1?

3:09 Not 6'1.

3:10 6'1, you're toast.

3:11 Oh, jeez.

3:12 All right.

3:12 Well, luckily I don't swim.

3:14 Um so Homelander for those who have not seen the show,

3:17 I think it's worth explaining because it's and correct me if I have it wrong,

3:21 it's like kind of basically like if Superman was really bad.

3:24 Was a very bad man.

3:26 Yeah, if Superman Power-wise.

3:28 Yeah, imagine Superman reversed and on meth.

3:33 Yeah.

3:34 Not a good not a good man but what I got to say

3:37 about it though is is this show has it's been such a blessing.

3:42 It's been so much fun because it's also you

3:46 know he's the strongest man on the show physically.

3:48 Uh-huh.

3:49 But he's basically a child.

3:51 It is the the the the biggest case of arrested development you'll ever see.

3:56 Second.

4:01 [cheering] [applause]

4:03 Remember those Gee, I have no idea what you're talking about.

4:06 Remember those issues you mentioned earlier?

4:09 Yeah.

4:09 So anyway, [clears throat] back to sharks.

4:11 People do make that comparison though, right?

4:13 Between uh So people do make that comparison.

4:16 Um but you know, I don't write the show

4:19 which I'm I'm great pains to make it known.

4:22 Uh-huh.

4:23 Uh but we've got a great writing team.

4:26 And it's their fault.

4:27 They're the ones who should be audited.

4:29 They are.

4:29 And deported.

4:30 Yes.

4:31 Yes.

4:31 No.

4:32 Oh, I see what's going on here.

4:33 You want to keep that green card.

4:36 So Homelander, I want to talk about this character

4:38 again cuz the one of the quirks that he has,

4:41 the character, is that he loves breast milk.

4:43 Well, this first of all I never expected it would become

4:47 a thing in the show but uh his he's got serious Oedipal

4:52 issues and his old boss uh had a baby that was

4:56 my nemesis in season 1 which was very odd giving an infant daggers,

5:02 you know, looking at this baby with pure hate.

5:05 But uh in in the at the beginning of season

5:08 2 I find some of her breast milk and why not?

5:14 It's a way of a way of remembering her.

5:17 Heat it up, like it and uh as we finish the scene I I called Eric,

5:22 our showrunner, and I said, "My friend, it's really funny.

5:26 It's really funny.

5:27 We got to do more with that." And he went,

5:29 "What?" And I went, "I'm writing it into every episode." [laughter]

5:32 So now it's a whole thing for 5 seasons.

5:35 superhero reason for it, right?

5:37 Because he is genetically engineered.

5:40 He is comforted, right, by the the breast milk itself.

5:44 Did you not know this?

5:45 Am I just telling you this No, I think there is an element of comfort.

5:49 Yeah, there's a deep deep-seated comfort that he gets from milk.

5:55 Breast milk.

5:56 Yeah.

5:56 Are you now when people you run into people who watch the show,

6:00 are they offering you milk and um Yeah,

6:03 like it's the first time it's the best joke that they can think of especially

6:07 happen to you a lot.

6:08 Waiters will like play it super cool and then

6:10 they'll they'll take the drinks order and then go,

6:12 "How about you, sir?

6:14 Milk?" [clears throat] And I'm like, "You terrible.

6:17 How'd you come up with that?" You don't drink the milk just to be polite?

6:22 I I decline the milk.

6:24 the milk.

6:24 Okay.

6:25 But uh acknowledge the joke.

6:26 Okay.

6:27 All right.

6:27 All right.

6:27 Well, it's great to have you here.

6:29 Congrats on the show.

6:30 Your show's over, too.

6:31 You and and Jean both are ending their programs.

6:35 Uh did you steal anything from the set before you left?

6:37 You're supposed to.

6:38 You know that, right?

6:38 No, you know what?

6:39 I was going to take a I was going to try and take one of the suits.

6:42 Uh-huh.

6:42 But then I thought it through and I was like, "What am I going to do?

6:44 Like have the best Halloween outfit ever?" Yes.

6:47 Or you know what?

6:48 Wear it in the ocean when you're with the sharks.

6:52 [laughter] That could be I LOVE THAT THIS WHOLE

6:53 SEGMENT IS is mainly been about about aquatic species.

6:57 Listen, if there's a dangerous animal involved, I need to know all about it.

7:02 [laughter] It's great to have you here.

7:02 The show's called home The Boys.

7:04 He's Homelander.

7:05 called Homelander.

7:06 It premieres April 8th, the final season on Prime Video.

7:09 Anthony Starr, everybody.

7:11 Thank you for being on the background [cheering] music.