It won’t be too far-fetched to call Homelander one of the best villains when it comes to TV, and much of the credit goes to Antony Starr’s performance as the acclaimed antagonist. While Starr has been impeccable throughout the series, no other scene captures his versatility as an actor more than episode 6 of season 3, Herogasm, which could easily rival Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin.
For this episode, his experience in Outrageous Fortune came in handy, as it required him to play dwell roles, which he did brilliantly back in the drama series.
Antony Starr’s Experience in Outrageous Fortune Contributed to the Mirror Scene
The thing that makes Homelander stand out is that he is not yet another evil Superman clone, but an unhinged sociopath, who is in constant search for validation. Herogasm does a great job of highlighting this aspect, which sees his reflection reassuring him when is in a vulnerable state.
Moreover, Antony Starr does a great job of making a clear distinction between his vulnerable state and his evil unhinged reflection, which is impressive as the camera is “just cutting from Antony’s head to Antony’s head”.
For fans who are familiar with his performance as twins in Outrageous Fortune, which put Starr on the map, his brilliance in the mirror scene should come as no surprise. Considering he mastered playing dwell roles in the show, which saw him play twins, this made his job in The Boys much easier. Starr explained:
I played twins in a show for six years in New Zealand so I played me and me and… I was used to doing scenes with myself. I did it for years so. I knew the work that needs to go into it and the little details that you put in one side that you know you’re gonna put in to react to on the other side.
While there’s no justifying Homelander’s actions, one can’t help but feel compassion for him in the mirror scene, which stands as a testament to the show’s writing and Starr’s acting.
Antony Starr’s Idea Made the Mirror Scene Better
When Eric Kripke originally wrote the scene, it involved Homalander’s reflection berating him and calling him a loser. But it was Antony Starr, who ended up pitching the idea of it being his childhood friend. Considering John was alone for a prolonged period during his childhood, Starr shared the idea of him befriending his own image as a kid, who helped John get through tough times.
Kripke told Nerdist:
I think in the original version of it, the figure in the mirror was just this kind of cruel browbeating character telling Homelander what a loser he was. And, Antony called me and said, ‘What if it’s his childhood friend? And what if they have this connection because he was alone for so long that he ended up creating this relationship with an image of himself? And that’s what got him through these situations?
The showrunner was immediately on board with this idea, as not only was it sad and scary, but it added more depth to the complexity of Homelander as a person.
The Boys is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
