Ahead of tomorrow's big episode of The Boys, we caught up with Tony Award-winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton; Snowpiercer) to talk about joining the series as Oh Father and how his unique voice will add unpredictable new element to the show's final season.
He talks to me at length about how he was able to find the specific voice to play Oh Father and how the elaborate superhero costume helped him get into character. Plus, he explains Oh Father's actual intentions with the Democratic Church of America, whether he actually has faith in Homelander, and teases his true 'Welcome to The Boys' moment!
The season five main cast features Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Cameron Crovetti, Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jensen Ackles, and Daveed Diggs.
The first four episodes of The Boys season five are now streaming!
Watch our full interview below and/or keep scrolling to read the full transcription. Plus, remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: We saw in the last episode that Oh Father’s church has hit some hard times. In his mind, is Homelander’s 'Democratic Church of America' a genuine lifeline for his ministry, or is he looking for something else?
DAVEED: He's, yeah, I think he needs it, you know, Oh Father needs it. So, yeah, this partnership presents, particularly at the beginning, he's very excited about it and the potential of it.
ROHAN: Unlike Firecracker, who is starting to show some cracks and doubt, Oh Father seems much more comfortable selling Homelander's vision to the world. What would you say about his moral compass or his unwavering faith in Homelander?
DAVEED: Oh Father believes in his ministry, but he believes that his success is directly tied to it, right? As the messenger of God, God is good, if he is successful, and that mental leap that he's able to do to link those things, which is kind of a common one for a lot of us, is what sort of allows him to create this mathematics, right? Homelander is good for me, therefore Homelander is good. And that also, I think, because he's newer to the fold, like, it’s going to keep him going for a while longer.
ROHAN: There's a certain level of gravitas you need to play a character like Oh Father. What were your conversations like with Eric when you were trying to find this character? How did you find that specific sense of rhythm and cadence to bring him to life?
DAVEED: Yeah, Eric was giving me a bunch of the books they were reading in the writers room as they were sort of developing this plotline around how religion is going to intersect with the sort of corporate political order of the show, and so that was kind of where it started for me. Then, I'm sure you know, the development of these suits is an epic process, and so the six months of tinkering with that suit gave me, actually, a lot of time to sort of put it on and feel what it's like to move around and kind of find him physically, having rings on every finger became incredibly important to me, like a really necessary element for him, and so yeah, what was nice about the process for this is that there was time. It was kind of a lengthy development process, even for a new character, because it takes them so long to build suits, to build worlds, to build all of that. And so yeah, there was a fair amount of time to get into it and to play around with the voice, which was fun, finding those cadences, and then you still never really know until you get to set. And so, the first scene I shot was that opening sermon from Episode Two, or whatever, that was my first day on set, which is a terrifying thing, because the whole cast had to be there watching me recite this sermon for fifteen hours, or however long it took us to shoot that, which is not a great way to have to meet people. I felt very bad. No one said anything but me all day. But yeah, then when you get there, and all of a sudden, I was actually happy to get to focus on a large chunk of dialogue at the very beginning, to come out the gate with that, because by the end of the day, I was like, this feels like him. I had to walk and speak and do all kinds of things at the same time that you don't always have to do all at once on television, you know? So, it was good to get that out of the way.
ROHAN: You’re entering this universe just as the wheels are coming off for everyone. What was your sort of 'Welcome to The Boys' moment this season?
DAVEED: Yeah, I mean, that being the first day kind of threw me right into it, just in terms of, like, the workload for everybody, the cast and crew of this show. It is an incredibly difficult show to produce, and the days are long and it's not like there's downtime, it's not like there's wasted time, like everybody is really busting their ass the whole time, and so, that part, first up. But you know, I mean my real, real The Boys moment doesn't come until the end, so I won't spoil it for you, yeah, it wasn’t until the very end, where it was finally, like, yeah, here we are. But there's plenty of crazy stuff that happens before that too. Yeah, trying not to spoil too many things for people, but it's, you know, it's such a wild show. They take such wild swings, and, yeah, it was really just fun to be a part of.
Plus, check out our The Boys season five interviews:
The Boys Season 5 will premiere the first two episodes on Wednesday, April 8th, followed by weekly episodes, leading up to the epic series finale on Wednesday, May 20th.
In the fifth and final season, it’s Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother’s Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a “Freedom Camp.” Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it. It’s the climax, people. Big stuff’s gonna happen.