‘The Boys’: Erin Moriarty Cringes at ‘Homelight’ and Reveals If Starlight and Hughie Would Have a Super Baby (2024)

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Payback,” “The Only Man in the Sky” and “Barbary Coast,” the three episodes that are part of the June 3 launch of “The Boys” Season 3.

Move over Brangelina and Bennifer, there’s a new celebrity couple in town: Homelight.

The trio of “The Boys” Season 3 premiere episodes ended on the Homelight reveal, which does not bode well for Starlight (Erin Moriarty), who’s trying to take down Vought and Homelander (Antony Starr), her increasingly unhinged co-captain of the Seven. Their forced coupling-up is really just a Vought-engineered bid to increase the social media popularity of the two heroes, and thus the stock price of Vought. The announcement, complete with their couple-name hashtag, also came during the finale of “American Hero,” a fake reality show in the vein of “Drag Race” and “The Bachelor,” designed to add in new members of the Seven. However, being a Vought TV show, the results of “American Hero” are really just a brand-focused popularity contest.

In addition to Homelander springing #Homelight on her, Starlight is blindsided by the re-addition of the Deep (Chace Crawford) back to the Seven. Deep has seemingly reinvented himself, found a wife (who may be manipulating his every career move) and apologizes to Starlight on TV. With Homelander and Vought watching, she has no choice but to accept Deep back on the Seven, even though he sexually assaulted her in Season 1.

Here, Moriarty speaks withVariety about Homelight, the Deep’s apology and if Starlight and Hughie (Jack Quaid) would ever have super-powered kids.

What’s your reaction when you hear “Homelight”?

Ughhhhh, I don’t even know what the reaction would be except for total and utter cringe. But Starlight steps up to it and she meets him there and she kisses him. So, in spite of my visceral reaction being that and her internal reaction being that, it’s another moment where Starlight is able to transcend all of her visceral emotions for the sake of accomplishing a mission.

How did you and Antony decide to play off each other with that awkward kiss?

Homelander is really good at hamming it up in front of the cameras, and Starlight is still learning to do so, but she has practiced. We’re coming from different angles. This is a premeditated event coming from him, so he’s able to smile through it in this very saccharine way that he presents to the world. This saccharine facade of Homelander being Captain America. I tried to capture, in a very short moment, when you’ve been hit with something totally unexpected and horrible in your mind. I think Starlight would consider Homelander kissing her a nightmare, but she’s used to being surprised at Vought. She has this moment of being stunned, and then quickly decides two can play at this game. She’s determined to meet this challenge he has set for her.

How did Starlight’s promotion to co-captain change the way you portrayed her?

When she’s initially promoted, her first response is to say no because Homelander is there and she can’t even fathom being co-captain. Homelander is a really scaring, menacing figure, so the concept of working with him is really daunting. When he leaves the room and Stan Edgar convinces her to do it, she sees it as an opportunity to seize more control over what happens in Vought, which she’s been trying to get this whole time working for them. This is her last attempt at working internally in this corrupt corporation to change things and mix things up and reduce the sexism at this workplace and toxic environment. When Stan Edgar continues to validate her, and she’s been validated by the masses, I think she starts to really embody a confidence that she continues to find and grow. She really is determined to go face to face with Homelander. It’s her looking at it as an opportunity to conquer the antiquated sexism that still exists at Vought. That means a lot as a woman, it’s really important for her to step into that role. As she says, “per my contract I have say over this, this and this,” she starts to embody that confidence.

What was it like performing that tough scene between Deep and Starlight?

In the moment I had to step into her shoes and it was really hard. Every single day, she’s sacrificing one thing to accomplish her macro goal of making the world and Vought a better place. Here she is accepting the Deep’s apology, which in one sense I think betrays her values because he represents sexual abuse and misogyny to her and the way men in positions of power take advantage of that. The only reason why is because she thinks if she does this, by working internally for Vought she’s going to eventually be able to shatter the glass ceiling.

We see Red River, the orphanage for abandoned children with super powers, in Episode 2. Would Hughie and Starlight ever have supe kids?

I mean, I think maybe down the line — very, very far down the line. They both have a lot of things they want to do. In certain parts of America, developing a family and becoming a mother, that’s kind of what’s expected of you. She’s moved to New York and focused her life on her job as a superhero for a reason. I hope to see it one day, because I think their children would be an amazing hybrid of a wonderful human and a wonderful superhero, but I think that’s further down the line. They both have a lot to do and a lot ahead of them.