The Boys S4

[CurlyDumps 4466]

There should be a whole episode dedicated to the Vought cleanup crew.  Would love to know how they treat bloodstains.

Feels like every Homelander scene going back 2.5 seasons now ends the same - closeup on  Homelander clenching his jaw with suppressed rage.

[Red Five 40822]

Watched episode 1. This show isn't as fun as it used to be. 

Also, I legit thought they had recast the role of Mothers Milk. I can't believe that's the same guy.

[Chuckie Finster 22692]

On 6/15/2024 at 1:41 PM, RexWilson said:

I had to Google what the thing on the table was with the Sage and Deep scene. Somewhere I missed the part she can heal herself. 

 

On 6/15/2024 at 3:52 PM, Lat22 said:

She lobotomized herself with that tool, meaning she’s no longer the smartest person in the world. And yes, I googled it. 😆

I may be off here, but the introduction of this tool at the end of the first set of episodes was likely meant to be an unexplained cliff hanger and any "answer" to what it was is either an educated guess or a spoiler from the comics.

Edited June 17 by Chuckie Finster

[Lat22 4010]

Everybody knows an Orbitoclast when they see one.  Come on guys!

[Doc Sam Beckett 5792]

On 6/15/2024 at 1:46 PM, Buzzrock said:

I skipped season 3 but I’m gonna watch season 4, and I watched a couple of recap videos. Did Black Noir ever do anything interesting? Through seasons 1 and 2 I kept waiting for him to turn out to be some awesome badass.

[HornOnTheBayou 8904]

On 6/14/2024 at 6:59 PM, BrazilHorn said:

I know. A LGBT character doesn’t bother me. Shoehorning this storyline in is just bad writing. I just don’t get what this arc is. Not the character that he has played thus far. 

 

On 6/14/2024 at 7:41 PM, BrazilHorn said:

I have watched three so far. Just seems like. Bolt on vs being an adder to overall story. 
Not that big a deal but just to me a tokenized gay storyline vs being genuine 

 

On 6/14/2024 at 8:17 PM, BrazilHorn said:

I must have missed. Like I said earlier, a LGBT character doesn’t bother me, with me having missed/forgotten him being bi prior it just felt like sloppy writing/development. 
 

[wild_turkey 3159]

I just caught up and I’m not enjoying it as much as I used to. I think shows with a never ending cat-and-mouse plot get stale after a while. It also feels like their attempts to mock certain segments of the population have become much more heavy handed. I enjoy a little mockery of a particular political group, but I don’t want them to beat me over the head with it. Maybe it’s just too close to real life.

I’ll keep watching, but S1-2 were much more enjoyable for me.

[KeysPhoneWallet 807]

This shit has not resumed well. Why is everyone suddenly gay? It’s graphic about it and ain’t nobody wants to see that.

[Hank_Hill 18785]

18 minutes ago, KeysPhoneWallet said:

This shit has not resumed well. Why is everyone suddenly gay? It’s graphic about it and ain’t nobody wants to see that.

Sounds like your wiener moved and now you’re concerned.

[seven 1367]

4 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

I just caught up and I’m not enjoying it as much as I used to. I think shows with a never ending cat-and-mouse plot get stale after a while. It also feels like their attempts to mock certain segments of the population have become much more heavy handed. I enjoy a little mockery of a particular political group, but I don’t want them to beat me over the head with it. Maybe it’s just too close to real life.

I’ll keep watching, but S1-2 were much more enjoyable for me.

Somewhat agree with this. The clumsy mishmash of conspiracy buzzwords misses the mark imo. The corporate satire still hits though. 

[KeysPhoneWallet 807]

Sounds like your wiener moved and now you’re concerned.

No, but the show is now about putting how dumb trumpers are and gayness front and center, with a backdrop of shitty superhero’s. I’m only 2 eps in but this season is feeling like one that shouldn’t have happened.

[HornOnTheBayou 8904]

9 hours ago, KeysPhoneWallet said:

This shit has not resumed well. Why is everyone suddenly gay? It’s graphic about it and ain’t nobody wants to see that.

Get the fuck over yourself 

[Chuckie Finster 22692]

1 hour ago, KeysPhoneWallet said:

No, but the show is now about putting how dumb trumpers are and gayness front and center, with a backdrop of shitty superhero’s. I’m only 2 eps in but this season is feeling like one that shouldn’t have happened.

I mean, this was like the main plot of Season 2.

[MissingInAction 25002]

Antony Starr is brilliant. Homelander's decent into madness now accelerated by a mid life crisis has been great.

Starlight's plastic surgery is distractingly awful.

I feel sorry for the octopus.

[F250 28760]

12 hours ago, Hank_Hill said:

Sounds like your wiener moved and now you’re concerned.

 

[Pato del Muerto 52484]

Even in this universe, it’s tough to see how homelander hasn’t gone full crazy and just killed everyone for any reason or no reason, instead of seething quietly still. I guess there’s a need to be loved that was established, but they’ve already shown and had him say that no matter what he does they cheer for him. 

[F250 28760]

On 6/17/2024 at 9:26 AM, Red Five said:

Watched episode 1. This show isn't as fun as it used to be. 

Also, I legit thought they had recast the role of Mothers Milk. I can't believe that's the same guy.

I thought he was either a new character or someone I forgot from the last season. It wasn't until he was talking to his ex wife that I realized he was MM. He slimmed down and shaved and now looks like an accountant. Starlight looked different too.

[Brian Fantana 6677]

2 hours ago, Chuckie Finster said:

I mean, this was like the main plot of Season 2.

Yeah the open mockery of right-wingers has never been even a little bit subtle. I don't understand how anyone can just now be noticing.

[Pato del Muerto 52484]

Common clay of the new west

[wildcat09 29338]

13 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

I just caught up and I’m not enjoying it as much as I used to. I think shows with a never ending cat-and-mouse plot get stale after a while. It also feels like their attempts to mock certain segments of the population have become much more heavy handed. I enjoy a little mockery of a particular political group, but I don’t want them to beat me over the head with it. Maybe it’s just too close to real life.

I’ll keep watching, but S1-2 were much more enjoyable for me.

It's so funny to read this, which I agree with, and then read some of the other posts in this thread by posters who are just now figuring something out about this show. 

[HornOnTheBayou 8904]

24 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Common clay of the new west

Dammit, that was going to be my response. Asshole. 

[CurlyDumps 4466]

thread reminded me how hot Stormfront is.  Goddam.

[Brian Fantana 6677]

18 minutes ago, CurlyDumps said:

thread reminded me how hot Stormfront is.  Goddam.

[safe sex 11696]

Erin Moriarty's extensive plastic surgery is a direct result of all the loser chud "fans" of the show who relentlessly bullied her online about her looks and not being sexy enough. Take your ire out on those pieces of shit and not the victim of the situation

[RomaVicta 29892]

I only watched the first two episodes of this show. One of the things that drew me back for the second show was Erin Moriarty's exceptional beauty.

What a fucked up world.

[EvilCaseMcCoy 691]

2 hours ago, safe sex said:

Erin Moriarty's extensive plastic surgery is a direct result of all the loser chud "fans" of the show who relentlessly bullied her online about her looks and not being sexy enough. Take your ire out on those pieces of shit and not the victim of the situation

I'm constantly being bullied online for my looks and not being sexy enough and guess what? I'm still not good looking or sexy, but haters gonna hate. 

[safe sex 11696]

Cool, a completely analogous situation for sure

[MissingInAction 25002]

I'm bullied because I'm too hot and sexy which creates unrealistic expectations for the average man/woman.

It's the cross I bare.

[Hank_Hill 18785]

11 hours ago, KeysPhoneWallet said:

No, but the show is now about putting how dumb trumpers are and gayness front and center, with a backdrop of shitty superhero’s. I’m only 2 eps in but this season is feeling like one that shouldn’t have happened.

What the fuck are you talking about? There’s one gay (actually bisexual) character  and he’s kissed a dude in two scenes through 3 episodes. A dude fucks an octopus and some man on man kissing got you all bothered?

[F250 28760]

So any thoughts on Neagan? He seems like a more subdued American version of Butcher.

[EvilCaseMcCoy 691]

42 minutes ago, Hank_Hill said:

What the fuck are you talking about? There’s one gay (actually bisexual) character  and he’s kissed a dude in two scenes through 3 episodes. A dude fucks an octopus and some man on man kissing got you all bothered?

You're missing the rimjob circle, nttawwt

[Hank_Hill 18785]

8 minutes ago, EvilCaseMcCoy said:

You're missing the rimjob circle, nttawwt

Technically that’s masturbation I guess? Every dude in here would try sucking their own dick if they could splinter I guarantee it.

[Pato del Muerto 52484]

10 minutes ago, EvilCaseMcCoy said:

You're missing the rimjob circle, nttawwt

That was masturbation. 

[Hank_Hill 18785]

29 minutes ago, F250 said:

So any thoughts on Neagan? He seems like a more subdued American version of Butcher.

I’ll be surprised if he isn’t part of Butchers V induced psychosis. Tyler Durden vibes.

[Red Five 40822]

I'm legit confused on the Starlight deal, because I have no idea what has happened. She was bullied online for being a smoke show, and made herself less hot?

[safe sex 11696]

You overestimate "fans" on the internet, especially incel chuds, which ironically have made up a sizeable portion of the fanbase of this show that rather obviously hates them and what they stand for. 

Edited June 19 by safe sex

[WelfareBuysMyWeed 5388]

9 hours ago, EvilCaseMcCoy said:

You're missing the rimjob circle, nttawwt

A man literally goes inside of a another man's dick in season 3. Shut the fuck up.

 

9 hours ago, safe sex said:

You overestimate "fans" on the internet, especially incel chuds, which ironically have made up a sizeable portion of the fanbase of this show that rather obviously hates them and what they stand for. 

Also there are Trump loving dipshits who literally identify with Homelander, so they hate her because she plays Starlight who opposes homelander in the show. Yes, seriously.

Edited June 19 by WelfareBuysMyWeed

[RPM 26315]

15 hours ago, safe sex said:

Erin Moriarty's extensive plastic surgery is a direct result of all the loser chud "fans" of the show who relentlessly bullied her online about her looks and not being sexy enough.

I hate to say this but, maybe she could learn something from Derka?

[EvilCaseMcCoy 691]

2 hours ago, WelfareBuysMyWeed said:

A man literally goes inside of a another man's dick in season 3. Shut the fuck up.

Hey, I was just pointing out scenes that could be considered ghey.  Which I was already corrected, as it's masterbastion, and we'd all do it.  To which I agree.  

[Parliament 14225]

17 hours ago, EvilCaseMcCoy said:

I'm constantly being bullied online for my looks and not being sexy enough and guess what? I'm still not good looking or sexy, but haters gonna hate. 

Avatar checks out.

[wild_turkey 3159]

Erin Moriarty's extensive plastic surgery is a direct result of all the loser chud "fans" of the show who relentlessly bullied her online about her looks and not being sexy enough. Take your ire out on those pieces of shit and not the victim of the situation

Please tell me that is not true. How does an attractive lead female on a critically acclaimed TV show give in to pressure from internet bullies to the point of having bad cosmetic surgery to appease said internet bullies? Is there evidence that this was a factor in her decision to have surgery? Has she spoken about it?

Celebrities are constantly being shit talked on the internet. It’s an unfortunate side effect of the job. They don’t get surgery because of it.

[safe sex 11696]

The pressure and criticism women face from online fans is unrelenting. 

Erin Moriarty Is a Woman Among ‘The Boys’

Quote

Erin Moriarty just stopped a stranger in his tracks. But it wasn’t because he recognized her as a star on one of TV’s most popular shows, or because he was taken by her charm.

We were tucked into a quiet corner table on an outdoor patio in West Hollywood, where an attentive server had been mid-stride when he overheard Moriarty, a star of the hit Amazon show “The Boys,” describe her belief that feminism had become an “obligatory thing for studios to exhibit.” He tentatively performed the briefest of check-ins and scurried away.

“I love how he hears the word ‘feminism’ and his approach starts to slow,” she said with a laugh. She took a sip of black iced coffee and resumed her thoughts.

“I think it’s dangerous,” she said. “I feel like we’re putting a Band-Aid on systemic diseases that we’re not inoculating against.”

As the highest-billed actress on “The Boys,” Moriarty, 29, has had to think a lot about performative feminism lately, and whether the show that made her famous is really part of the solution. On one level, the series, which returned for Season 4 on Thursday, is satire, centered on the exploits of a team of morally depraved superheroes known as the Seven.

The show targets the steroidal conventions of the genre, along with the corporate pandering and exhibitionist feminism that often accompany it. Much of that critique is focused through Moriarty’s character, Annie January, better known as Starlight.

But the series is also, unabashedly, a gleefully hyper-violent comic-book adaptation; not all its fans seem in on the joke. (As Moriarty put it: They “digest the sugar without digesting the medicine.”) From them and others she has faced harassment and bullying, online and on-air, which drove her temporarily to quit social media and to fear her career was over.

Ultimately, it was the work — and her faith in the series — that got her through.

“I’ve learned to trust my showrunner,” which required a lot of “deconditioning,” she said, after years of witnessing empty gestures. “I’m used to people saying they want to do one thing with a female character and doing another thing.”

“The Boys,” by her account, has been a glaring exception. Since the show premiered in 2018, it has become one of Amazon’s most popular series — according to Nielsen, it was the most streamed Amazon original in 2022, the year Season 3 debuted, beating out “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” (Amazon declined to share viewership numbers.)

Starlight, meanwhile, is the show’s moral center, standing in direct opposition to the sociopathic Homelander, played by Antony Starr. (Picture Superman, if Superman were a narcissist who murdered innocent people in broad daylight.)

Season 4 may lighten Starlight’s narrative burden, introducing several new diabolically complicated female characters, including the superheroes Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) and Firecracker (Valorie Curry), and an amorous octopus voiced by Tilda Swinton. But Starlight’s journey still powers the story: She has denounced her role in the Seven, spurring a feminist movement against Homelander but also prompting an identity crisis, as her status as “America’s Sweetheart” is publicly dismantled. It’s a feeling Moriarty knows well.

“I just think, thank God there are characters like this, and thank God she came along,” Moriarty said. “I don’t know how I would metabolize my own experiences otherwise.”

Growing up in New York City, Moriarty first dreamed of being a musical theater star and played the title role in a local production of “Annie.” Her father was a hospice nurse by day and blues musician by night; her mother worked on the business side of an interior design company. They divorced when Moriarty was 2, and she grew up splitting her time between her mother’s apartment on the Upper East Side and her father’s place in Alphabet City.

When she was 15, Moriarty landed a multi-episode arc on the soap “One Life to Live.” At 17, she moved to Los Angeles by herself and had a supporting role in the short-lived ABC drama “Red Widow,” where a then-struggling Pedro Pascal played her uncle.

Pascal, who is almost 20 years older than Moriarty, said he had arrived to set the first day dreading the idea of making small talk with a teenager between takes. To his surprise, he and Moriarty bonded while discussing “The Hunger Games,” and Pascal said he “immediately adopted her as my little sister,” recognizing quickly “how self-possessed and independent and sharp and funny she was.”

Her career continued with a string of TV and film roles, in which she often played the love interest (“The Kings of Summer,” “Captain Fantastic”) or someone’s daughter (“The Watch,” “True Detective”).

Then came “The Boys.”

When Moriarty auditioned for the role of Starlight in 2017, Eric Kripke, the series’s showrunner, said his instant reaction was, “That’s her.”

“The character, as written, was very ‘Iowa girl next door,’ and what Erin immediately brought to the table was this intelligence,” Kripke said. “She was so obviously blindingly smart, and it was such an amazing take on the character to say, Yes, she’s from the Midwest, and, yes, she’s hopeful. But she’s not naïve.”

Developed by Kripke from the comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the show begins as Annie wins her dream role in the Seven. But she soon realizes that they, and the corporation propping them up, are corrupt after another member called the Deep (Chace Crawford) sexually abuses her. It turns out the character has a history of misconduct against women, but he has been protected as a role model all along.

As the production filmed Starlight’s reaction shots for that harrowing assault scene, Kripke watched Moriarty convey her character’s shock and horror. She communicated the mental arithmetic of how to extract herself from the situation and, ultimately, the realization that no escape was possible.

“That’s really subtle, difficult work because she’s telling a whole other narrative behind the scene,” Kripke said. “I was like, ‘Oh, dear God, she’s really good.’”

Throughout our conversation, Moriarty used careful language, erring on the side of social commentary instead of revealing anything too personal. Her manicured nails were sharpened into metallic talons. Even her jewelry — a collection of chunky gold and silver earrings, and a chain link necklace with a large heart, like a padlock — seemed designed to protect the wearer.

Her caution is understandable. Despite the critical stance taken by “The Boys” on themes like toxic masculinity and hero worship, Moriarty has found herself a frequent target of online harassment. From internet fan spaces to an episode of Megyn Kelly’s radio show, the topic is almost always the same — her appearance.

She left Instagram in January to try to escape the growing vitriol, but she expected the worst.

“For a few months, I thought my career was over,” Moriarty said. “Because there was so much attention brought to something that I was told never to address.”

At first, her fears seemed to be coming true. The paparazzi began stalking her, and the online commentary about her looks went into overdrive.

“I was really worried about her for a period of time,” said Karen Fukuhara, who plays Kimiko on “The Boys.” “Nobody is bulletproof, even though I think she’s close to it.”

Behind the scenes, though, Moriarty had “amazing” support from Amazon and her co-workers, she said. (“Most male actors don’t have to put up with this [expletive],” Kripke said, adding: “If you can’t be kind, don’t watch the show.”) In Toronto, where “The Boys” is mostly filmed, she and other female cast members gather routinely for what Fukuhara called “estrogen nights”: meet-ups in which they discuss their industry experiences, relationships and “what it feels like to be on set as a woman.”

And online, something unexpected happened: Women began messaging Moriarty to share their own stories of harassment and abuse, and Moriarty said those voices encouraged her to re-engage and return to social media.

“I had left it on a note where I’d explicitly said that I had been heartbroken by the comments,” she reflected. “Now, I’m not heartbroken. I’m galvanized.”

She has plenty worth readying for. Moriarty is slated to star in “True Haunting,” a horror film about the family involved in the first televised exorcism. “The Boys,” meanwhile, has already been renewed for a fifth season, which will be its final.

She also turns 30 this month, and although she said she has long felt “psychologically creaky,” she is eager to embark on a new chapter that builds on what she has learned over the past year. The Hollywood career Moriarty admires is that of Frances McDormand, a fiercely private actress who immerses herself in her roles and essentially disappears outside of her obligatory appearances.

“I had to find my own relationship with work that lacked codependency, that involved finding a genuine motive to stay in the industry,” she said. “It’s been confronting, but it’s been liberating.”

Read between the lines.

Erin Moriarty Says The Boys Trolls Made Her Feel 'Dehumanized' and 'Paralyzed'

Quote

Let's get right to it. Amazon's The Boys, of course, frames superheroes as corrupt politicians and celebrities as a vehicle to highlight toxic masculinity and abuse of power. The problem? When a certain corner of The Boys fandom thinks that some of the immoral right-wing heroes leading the show are actually cool! These Internet trolls praise Homelander, a Trumpian Superman at the center of the series who rules through fear.

Starlight, by over-sexualizing her and downplaying her character’s tough journey throughout the series. Now, posting a screenshot from a Medium post titled, #IStandWithStarlight?: The betrayal of Erin Moriarty by The Boys fans, by blogger @butcherscannery, the actress argued that some of the show’s fans seem to have missed the point of the series entirely. Where The Boys seeks to show how toxic masculinity “crushes and controls women,” a subset of fans are doing the very same thing to her in real life. "It’s a reflection of how misogyny in ‘fandom culture’ is being normalized, which will only worsen if we neglect it," the author said on Twitter. Erin Moriarty is literally empowered in the series, and still, her story is silenced.

“I do feel silenced,” Moriarty wrote on Instagram. “I do feel dehumanized. I do feel paralyzed. I’ve put blood, sweat, and tears into this role (over & over & over again). I’ve grown UP in this character’s shoes (*emphasis on grown up – we change & evolve mentally AND physically). This does break my heart - I’ve opened up a vein for this role and this kind of trolling is exactly what this role (Annie) would speak out against.”

“To anyone who comes at me: I see you, I don’t hate you, I only empathize and forgive,” she added, thanking the author for their kind words about her struggles with fans. The Medium post also brought up a double standard regarding Homelander, pointing out that actor Antony Starr was not criticized for his looks after he revealed that he inserted fake muscles under his suit. Fans of the show even went out of their way to defend him, arguing in Reddit threads that Homelander is "inherently strong and never needed to gain muscle mass."

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke came to his lead actress's defense after the news broke, telling fans to "be kind" or to watch another show. "Hi trolls! One, this is literally the opposite of the show's fucking message," he wrote on Twitter. "Two, you're causing pain to real people with real feelings. Be kind. If you can't be kind, then eat a bag of dicks, fuck off to the sun & don't watch #TheBoys, we don't want you."

Several of Moriarty's co-stars also showed their support on Instagram following her post, including Chace Crawford, Karen Fukuhara, Jessie T. Usher, Nate Mitchell, and Antony Starr. "Love you Erin. We’re all here for you," said Jack Quaid, who plays her on-screen boyfriend Hughie Cambell. "You’re such an incredible, talented force of nature and I consider myself incredibly lucky to know you. Keep shining bright. Leave the trolls to us. We got your back." The Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal also commented with the exact The Boys energy we needed to stand up to the haters, writing "Let me at them."

With the way the last season of The Boys commented on current politics, the writers will hopefully add some clap-backs for Starlight in Season Four.

 

Edited June 19 by safe sex

[wild_turkey 3159]

The pressure and criticism women face from online fans is unrelenting. 
Erin Moriarty Is a Woman Among ‘The Boys’

Erin Moriarty just stopped a stranger in his tracks. But it wasn’t because he recognized her as a star on one of TV’s most popular shows, or because he was taken by her charm.
We were tucked into a quiet corner table on an outdoor patio in West Hollywood, where an attentive server had been mid-stride when he overheard Moriarty, a star of the hit Amazon show “The Boys,” describe her belief that feminism had become an “obligatory thing for studios to exhibit.” He tentatively performed the briefest of check-ins and scurried away.
“I love how he hears the word ‘feminism’ and his approach starts to slow,” she said with a laugh. She took a sip of black iced coffee and resumed her thoughts.
“I think it’s dangerous,” she said. “I feel like we’re putting a Band-Aid on systemic diseases that we’re not inoculating against.”
As the highest-billed actress on “The Boys,” Moriarty, 29, has had to think a lot about performative feminism lately, and whether the show that made her famous is really part of the solution. On one level, the series, which returned for Season 4 on Thursday, is satire, centered on the exploits of a team of morally depraved superheroes known as the Seven.
The show targets the steroidal conventions of the genre, along with the corporate pandering and exhibitionist feminism that often accompany it. Much of that critique is focused through Moriarty’s character, Annie January, better known as Starlight.
But the series is also, unabashedly, a gleefully hyper-violent comic-book adaptation; not all its fans seem in on the joke. (As Moriarty put it: They “digest the sugar without digesting the medicine.”) From them and others she has faced harassment and bullying, online and on-air, which drove her temporarily to quit social media and to fear her career was over.
Ultimately, it was the work — and her faith in the series — that got her through.
“I’ve learned to trust my showrunner,” which required a lot of “deconditioning,” she said, after years of witnessing empty gestures. “I’m used to people saying they want to do one thing with a female character and doing another thing.”
“The Boys,” by her account, has been a glaring exception. Since the show premiered in 2018, it has become one of Amazon’s most popular series — according to Nielsen, it was the most streamed Amazon original in 2022, the year Season 3 debuted, beating out “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” (Amazon declined to share viewership numbers.)
Starlight, meanwhile, is the show’s moral center, standing in direct opposition to the sociopathic Homelander, played by Antony Starr. (Picture Superman, if Superman were a narcissist who murdered innocent people in broad daylight.)
Season 4 may lighten Starlight’s narrative burden, introducing several new diabolically complicated female characters, including the superheroes Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) and Firecracker (Valorie Curry), and an amorous octopus voiced by Tilda Swinton. But Starlight’s journey still powers the story: She has denounced her role in the Seven, spurring a feminist movement against Homelander but also prompting an identity crisis, as her status as “America’s Sweetheart” is publicly dismantled. It’s a feeling Moriarty knows well.
“I just think, thank God there are characters like this, and thank God she came along,” Moriarty said. “I don’t know how I would metabolize my own experiences otherwise.”
Growing up in New York City, Moriarty first dreamed of being a musical theater star and played the title role in a local production of “Annie.” Her father was a hospice nurse by day and blues musician by night; her mother worked on the business side of an interior design company. They divorced when Moriarty was 2, and she grew up splitting her time between her mother’s apartment on the Upper East Side and her father’s place in Alphabet City.
When she was 15, Moriarty landed a multi-episode arc on the soap “One Life to Live.” At 17, she moved to Los Angeles by herself and had a supporting role in the short-lived ABC drama “Red Widow,” where a then-struggling Pedro Pascal played her uncle.
Pascal, who is almost 20 years older than Moriarty, said he had arrived to set the first day dreading the idea of making small talk with a teenager between takes. To his surprise, he and Moriarty bonded while discussing “The Hunger Games,” and Pascal said he “immediately adopted her as my little sister,” recognizing quickly “how self-possessed and independent and sharp and funny she was.”
Her career continued with a string of TV and film roles, in which she often played the love interest (“The Kings of Summer,” “Captain Fantastic”) or someone’s daughter (“The Watch,” “True Detective”).
Then came “The Boys.”
When Moriarty auditioned for the role of Starlight in 2017, Eric Kripke, the series’s showrunner, said his instant reaction was, “That’s her.”
“The character, as written, was very ‘Iowa girl next door,’ and what Erin immediately brought to the table was this intelligence,” Kripke said. “She was so obviously blindingly smart, and it was such an amazing take on the character to say, Yes, she’s from the Midwest, and, yes, she’s hopeful. But she’s not naïve.”
Developed by Kripke from the comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the show begins as Annie wins her dream role in the Seven. But she soon realizes that they, and the corporation propping them up, are corrupt after another member called the Deep (Chace Crawford) sexually abuses her. It turns out the character has a history of misconduct against women, but he has been protected as a role model all along.
As the production filmed Starlight’s reaction shots for that harrowing assault scene, Kripke watched Moriarty convey her character’s shock and horror. She communicated the mental arithmetic of how to extract herself from the situation and, ultimately, the realization that no escape was possible.
“That’s really subtle, difficult work because she’s telling a whole other narrative behind the scene,” Kripke said. “I was like, ‘Oh, dear God, she’s really good.’”
Throughout our conversation, Moriarty used careful language, erring on the side of social commentary instead of revealing anything too personal. Her manicured nails were sharpened into metallic talons. Even her jewelry — a collection of chunky gold and silver earrings, and a chain link necklace with a large heart, like a padlock — seemed designed to protect the wearer.
Her caution is understandable. Despite the critical stance taken by “The Boys” on themes like toxic masculinity and hero worship, Moriarty has found herself a frequent target of online harassment. From internet fan spaces to an episode of Megyn Kelly’s radio show, the topic is almost always the same — her appearance.
She left Instagram in January to try to escape the growing vitriol, but she expected the worst.
“For a few months, I thought my career was over,” Moriarty said. “Because there was so much attention brought to something that I was told never to address.”
At first, her fears seemed to be coming true. The paparazzi began stalking her, and the online commentary about her looks went into overdrive.
“I was really worried about her for a period of time,” said Karen Fukuhara, who plays Kimiko on “The Boys.” “Nobody is bulletproof, even though I think she’s close to it.”
Behind the scenes, though, Moriarty had “amazing” support from Amazon and her co-workers, she said. (“Most male actors don’t have to put up with this [expletive],” Kripke said, adding: “If you can’t be kind, don’t watch the show.”) In Toronto, where “The Boys” is mostly filmed, she and other female cast members gather routinely for what Fukuhara called “estrogen nights”: meet-ups in which they discuss their industry experiences, relationships and “what it feels like to be on set as a woman.”
And online, something unexpected happened: Women began messaging Moriarty to share their own stories of harassment and abuse, and Moriarty said those voices encouraged her to re-engage and return to social media.
“I had left it on a note where I’d explicitly said that I had been heartbroken by the comments,” she reflected. “Now, I’m not heartbroken. I’m galvanized.”
She has plenty worth readying for. Moriarty is slated to star in “True Haunting,” a horror film about the family involved in the first televised exorcism. “The Boys,” meanwhile, has already been renewed for a fifth season, which will be its final.
She also turns 30 this month, and although she said she has long felt “psychologically creaky,” she is eager to embark on a new chapter that builds on what she has learned over the past year. The Hollywood career Moriarty admires is that of Frances McDormand, a fiercely private actress who immerses herself in her roles and essentially disappears outside of her obligatory appearances.
“I had to find my own relationship with work that lacked codependency, that involved finding a genuine motive to stay in the industry,” she said. “It’s been confronting, but it’s been liberating.”

Read between the lines.
Erin Moriarty Says The Boys Trolls Made Her Feel 'Dehumanized' and 'Paralyzed'

Let's get right to it. Amazon's The Boys, of course, frames superheroes as corrupt politicians and celebrities as a vehicle to highlight toxic masculinity and abuse of power. The problem? When a certain corner of The Boys fandom thinks that some of the immoral right-wing heroes leading the show are actually cool! These Internet trolls praise Homelander, a Trumpian Superman at the center of the series who rules through fear.
Starlight, by over-sexualizing her and downplaying her character’s tough journey throughout the series. Now, posting a screenshot from a Medium post titled, #IStandWithStarlight?: The betrayal of Erin Moriarty by The Boys fans, by blogger @butcherscannery, the actress argued that some of the show’s fans seem to have missed the point of the series entirely. Where The Boys seeks to show how toxic masculinity “crushes and controls women,” a subset of fans are doing the very same thing to her in real life. "It’s a reflection of how misogyny in ‘fandom culture’ is being normalized, which will only worsen if we neglect it," the author said on Twitter. Erin Moriarty is literally empowered in the series, and still, her story is silenced.
“I do feel silenced,” Moriarty wrote on Instagram. “I do feel dehumanized. I do feel paralyzed. I’ve put blood, sweat, and tears into this role (over & over & over again). I’ve grown UP in this character’s shoes (*emphasis on grown up – we change & evolve mentally AND physically). This does break my heart - I’ve opened up a vein for this role and this kind of trolling is exactly what this role (Annie) would speak out against.”
“To anyone who comes at me: I see you, I don’t hate you, I only empathize and forgive,” she added, thanking the author for their kind words about her struggles with fans. The Medium post also brought up a double standard regarding Homelander, pointing out that actor Antony Starr was not criticized for his looks after he revealed that he inserted fake muscles under his suit. Fans of the show even went out of their way to defend him, arguing in Reddit threads that Homelander is "inherently strong and never needed to gain muscle mass."
The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke came to his lead actress's defense after the news broke, telling fans to "be kind" or to watch another show. "Hi trolls! One, this is literally the opposite of the show's fucking message," he wrote on Twitter. "Two, you're causing pain to real people with real feelings. Be kind. If you can't be kind, then eat a bag of dicks, fuck off to the sun & don't watch #TheBoys, we don't want you."
Several of Moriarty's co-stars also showed their support on Instagram following her post, including Chace Crawford, Karen Fukuhara, Jessie T. Usher, Nate Mitchell, and Antony Starr. "Love you Erin. We’re all here for you," said Jack Quaid, who plays her on-screen boyfriend Hughie Cambell. "You’re such an incredible, talented force of nature and I consider myself incredibly lucky to know you. Keep shining bright. Leave the trolls to us. We got your back." The Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal also commented with the exact The Boys energy we needed to stand up to the haters, writing "Let me at them."
With the way the last season of The Boys commented on current politics, the writers will hopefully add some clap-backs for Starlight in Season Four.

 

Read between what lines? You said her cosmetic surgery was the direct result of internet bullying in response to people saying she doesn’t look sexy enough, but the article you posted doesn’t come anywhere close to saying that.

The article says she has been a victim of bullying and that she left Instagram in January 2024 as a result. I looked it up and read the post she made when that happened, which also makes no mention of her being pressured by bullies into getting cosmetic surgery.

There is no causal relationship even remotely implied in any of this. At least some of her physical changes were done prior to filming season 4, which according to the internet, was finished by April 2023. Then she leaves Instagram 9 months later for bullying. That is not the correct order to support your claim, nor can I find anything else online that supports it.

Internet bullying sucks, but let’s not make up facts here.

[safe sex 11696]

Okay, change it to I believe it is a direct result of those things. 🙄 I'm not going to engage further in the discussion. We have very different lived online experiences, as do women celebrities compared to their masc counterparts, and I've been around long enough to know this isn't going to go anywhere fruitful.

[seven 1367]

I was under the impression that the surgeries spawned the bullying. Either way the vitriol is gross. 

[Hank_Hill 18785]

Lol

[bschoolprof 6251]

At the end of season 1 or 2, I thought they would provide some explanation as to why the supes don’t just take over the world. Like Stan Edgar had some ability to kill them all. But nope. Relatedly, the plot armor protecting the Boys from harm from the supes has gotten ridiculous by season 4. 

[Hank_Hill 18785]

3 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

At the end of season 1 or 2, I thought they would provide some explanation as to why the supes don’t just take over the world. Like Stan Edgar had some ability to kill them all. But nope. Relatedly, the plot armor protecting the Boys from harm from the supes has gotten ridiculous by season 4. 

I liked where Homelander, who infamously has xray vision, was just randomly lasering the air duct that Hughie was crawling through like he was guessing. 

[TexEx15 17509]

The ice skating scene was pretty good. Also, I love the fact they are doing away with all pretense and going hard in the paint at maga. #NoCR

[crony 359]

1 hour ago, Hank_Hill said:

I liked where Homelander, who infamously has xray vision, was just randomly lasering the air duct that Hughie was crawling through like he was guessing. 

He was guessing. HVAC ducts are coated with rust resistant zinc, which Homelander can't see through.