[Interview] Erin Moriarty & Jack Quaid for THE BOYS

Leading up to this past week’s premiere of THE BOYS Season 2, Nightmarish Conjurings’ Shannon McGrew had the chance to be part of roundtable interviews with the cast. During that time, Shannon spoke with actors Erin Moriarty (“Starlight”) and Jack Quaid (“Hughie”) where they discussed Starlight’s working relationship with Stormfront, the new Supe, as well as the over-the-top gore effects that Season 2 has to offer.

Official Synopsis: The even more intense, more insane Season 2 finds The Boys on the run from the law, hunted by Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought. In hiding, Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) try to adjust to a new normal, with Butcher (Karl Urban) nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) must navigate her place in The Seven as Homelander (Antony Starr) sets his sights on taking complete control. His power is threatened with the addition of Stormfront (Aya Cash), a social-media-savvy new Super, who has an agenda of her own. On top of that, the Supervillain threat takes center stage and makes waves as Vought seeks to capitalize on the nation’s paranoia.

In Season 1, we were introduced to Annie January, aka Starlight, who became the newest member of the Seven. In this Season, we watch as she must contend with the personality of the newest member of the Seven, Stormfront (Aya Cash). “I think the apparently cool thing about Stormfront is we meet her and she’s the first person who, upon meeting Homelander (Antony Starr), she’s not impressed at all,” states Moriarty. “The whole point is [Stormfront]’s like, this whole system is kind of antiquated and we need to get new, fresh energy in here. She calls Starlight a Vaught Barbie, you get the impression that she thinks they’re all Vaught puppets. Starlight actually respects that, as she would, but she is covert in Season 2.”

Erin Moriarty and Aya Cash in THE BOYS | Image courtesy of IMDB

Though Stormfront presents a new, hip personality that challenges the dynamics of the Seven, it’s not enough for a friendship to bloom. “[Starlight]’s trying to put on this facade so that she can work with Hughie in taking Vaught done. She can’t reveal this to anyone, even if she respects that side of Stormfront and connects with that side of Stormfront,” explains Moriarty. “I would say that the beginning dynamic is one in which Starlight is trying to pursue an allyship and Stormfront doesn’t reciprocate that.”

And that facade is what draws and repels Starlight and Stormfront from each other. “Both of them have facades and both of those facades are kind of ripped away from each other as the season progresses,” explains Moriarty. “When those facades are ripped away it complicates A LOT and that’s kind of all I can say. I will just say on both Starlight and Stormfront, looks can be very deceiving and neither of them are what they expect each other to be.”

Meanwhile, we find Hughie going through his own struggles of depression and loss, ultimately culminating in a hilarious but important moment inside of a whale. When speaking on it, Quaid laughed when discussing just how gross the situation truly was. “With Season 1, I felt like, man, I got to Level 10 of having blood on me, but Season 2 came along and [the previous season] was only the tutorial level of blood [and I now needed to] prepare for the boss fight,” laughed Quaid. “Just being utterly surrounded by something [like this whale] that was made by somebody, which they absolutely nailed it, I can’t believe we were able to film [that scene], it was just insane.”

Jack Quaid in THE BOYS | Image courtesy of IMDB

So what was it like to experience so much blood and practical effects? Quaid explained, “With Season 1, every time I got sprayed with blood, it would be like, “Translucent is there, [beep noise as blood sprayed]’ and then I would go clean myself up because we had that take and that was it.” Quaid continued, “This season, specifically for the whale episode, I started my day in the hair and makeup trailer having blood meticulously applied to me to match the previous days blood. I spent like weeks in it this time around and that was new. It was very sticky but Head & Shoulders shampoo really helped get it out. I can only imagine what is in store for me in Season 3. I think we should just have a blood shower on set at this point.”

For more on THE BOYS Season 2, check out our review here. The first three episodes are now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video with new episodes available each Friday following, culminating in an epic season finale on October 9.

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Shannon McGrew

Founder/Co-Owner at Nightmarish Conjurings

Shannon is the Founder of Nightmarish Conjurings and a lover of all things horror and haunt related. When she's not obsessively collecting all things "Trick 'R Treat" related, or trying to convince everyone that "Hereditary" is one of the greatest horror films ever made, you can find her designing interiors for commercial restaurants. An avid haunt fan, Shannon spends the entire year visiting haunts and immersive experiences throughout the Southern California area and hopes to one day design her own haunted attraction.

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