Karen Fukuhara, a famous actress from Los Angeles, began learning karate when she was a middle school student. She won competitions and eventually attained a brown stripe belt, which is the next rank below a black belt. Despite quitting karate before enrolling at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), her karate abilities ultimately helped her land her first leading role in Suicide Squad. She currently stars in the popular television series, The Boys as Kimiko Miyashiro.
The Japanese-American actress, who plays the mysterious Kimiko Miyashiro on the popular Amazon series, The Boys, recently discussed giving a preview of what to expect from her character in the upcoming season.
When The Boys first debuted on Prime Video, viewers got a glimpse into a world where superheroes were not just actual people, but also corporate celebrities whose real jobs were to promote toys, movies, food products, dreams, and—most importantly—lies.
And after witnessing these heroes commit horrifying acts, it became obvious that these individuals were not the heroes but rather self-centered sociopaths.
How Karen Fukuhara’s Character Developed In The Boys
Karen Fukuhara portrays Kimiko Miyashiro in The Boys with a combination of ferocity and empathy while uttering no vocalizations. But as a former martial arts champion, who has experience with karate and sword fighting, the actress gladly accepts the challenge of a physical performance like this. Also, note that her performance heavily relies on sign language, along with body language.
And while her character is not exactly a ‘good guy’, she is also not a villain. Her character will tear anyone in two, but only to defend herself or those she cares about. Since she was first introduced as the mute heroine, with whom both viewers and her teammate Frenchie (Tomer Capone) fell in love, she has gone through quite a transformation in the show.
The Boys has carved its own path by departing from the source material in multiple ways. It was adapted from the same-named comic series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson for Amazon Prime Video by Supernatural creator and showrunner, Eric Kripke.
After the first season, there was unmistakably a gap in the script where Fukuhara’s character should have been. This was brought to the public’s attention by Kripke, who acknowledged that he needed to improve this aspect of her portrayal in order to avoid the role of adhering to stereotypical tropes.
The storylines about Miyashiro and her brother, as well as her deepening bond with Frenchie, received more focus in the ensuing seasons. Thus, this culminated in a brilliant musical sequence in The Boys Season 3 that even Fukuhara herself found hard to believe she was given the opportunity to perform.
Also Read: The Boys Star Karl Urban in Talks to Play Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2
Karen Fukuhara on Avoiding Stereotypes In The Boys
Karen Fukuhara talks about Kimiko Miyashiro’s development over the course of these past three seasons, as viewers eagerly await The Boys Season 4 on Prime Video. She discusses the show’s relevance to pop culture, and how Eric Kripke and a more diverse writing staff helped to make her character more complex than a stereotyped, one-dimensional character.
When asked how she feels her character has developed, in particular, in The Boys Season 3 where she has received a lot more focus and depth, she stated:
“It’s really cool that our writers’ room is really diverse. I spoke with one of the writers and they were saying, ‘We do that so that the actors have real-life stories and real experiences that they can pull from’ and I think that’s brilliant. You can’t have an all-white male writers’ room and expect to come up with a layered Asian female character, you just can’t.”
Therefore, all of these wonderful characters are the result of the collaborative efforts of the diverse writers’ room. This aspect of The Boys really appeals to the Bullet Train actress.
Fans have praised The Lost actress for her performance in portraying Kimiko Miyashiro in The Boys as a nuanced and complex character. It appears that Fukuhara’s tireless efforts to shatter stereotypes will continue to pay off in a big way as all three seasons promise to take her character into even more thrilling and unexplored territory.
The Boys is available on Prime Video to stream all three seasons!
Source- Discussing Films
