“Put the gun down”: The Boys Star Almost Landed in Legal Trouble for His ‘Violent’ Audition That Made the Police Barge Through His Door

The Boys has taken every single step in the right direction, be it story, production design, or casting. It is the latter of the three that has had audiences the most impressed. Every single actor in every single role is perfect. No character could have been better suited in the hands of another, and every actor has added a sense of uniqueness to their characters.

This is especially true for Frenchie’s character, played by Tomer Capone. Serge is a character who could easily be difficult to like. Even though he is always useful in some way or another, he is constantly haunted by the demons of his past. However, rather than this being a frustrating plotline, Capone adds a sort of flare that makes him one of the most beloved characters in the series.

During a recent interview, he revealed what his audience process was like for the role, and interestingly enough, it involved law enforcement.

How Did Tomer Capone Become a Part of The Boys?

Recently, Tomer Capone gave an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where he was asked how he ended up getting the role of Frenchie in The Boys. Interestingly enough, it was showrunner Eric Kripke’s mother who put him in the running. Before the hit Prime Video series, the actor had been a part of some projects that helped his name out there.

Through [The Boys‘ showrunner] Eric Kripke’s mother. That’s the most honest answer. I found out when they visited Israel and we went for a dinner in Jerusalem and his mother said, “I pointed out to Eric about you when I saw you on Netflix.” She saw me on When Heroes Fly or on Fauda. 

Fortunately, Kripke’s mother saw one of these works and thought that he would be perfect for the role. What made the interaction seem almost miraculous was that the production of the series was having a very difficult time finding the right person to play Serge’s character.

That’s something I didn’t know. I know they looked for Frenchie for a long time.

After Kripke heard about Capone, he started the audition process. However, this almost became one of the most dangerous situations of his life.

The Police Got Involved

Tomer Capone then revealed that after his first few tries, he was asked to send an audition tape of him acting out a rather confrontational scene. It involved Frenchie trying to intimidate Billy Butcher with a gun. Acting out the scene with one of his friends, he grabbed a gun and got into character.

I remember I got a call saying, “They want another tape, like something more profound in terms of another scene.” So I’m at a [friend’s] place in Tel Aviv and it’s a scene with a gun and [my friend] goes ballistic on the Butcher character and I’m doing my things for the camera, cursing in French, whatever.

The thing about Frenchie is that if he is angry, everyone will know, and he will make a spectacle out of it. While many love this about his character and, perhaps, this trait was what got Capone the job, it was not the best decision to make in a suburban neighborhood.

And a couple of IDF [Israel Defense Forces] police officers went in her backyard, guns drawn and just screaming, “Put the gun down. Put the gun down.” And both of us froze in our place. I almost pissed my pants. It was extreme.

What happened was some neighbors had seen us from the window and saw a crazy guy with a gun and called the police. That’s my Hollywood audition experience.

It would seem that some of their neighbors saw Capone’s audition, and while context would have made it better, all they understood was someone was that threatening their neighbor with a gun. Naturally, they called the police, and they showed up at the house, pointing guns at our beloved chemist. It is safe to assume that this is the most Frenchie thing to have happened to Capone.

Watch The Boys on Prime Video.