Erin Moriarty is The Boys' lead female character and has, as a result, become the target of online trolls. Much has been said about her appearance as the show has continued, including claims of plastic surgery and a consensus among mostly male fans that she's "ruined" her face.
The actress has denied having any work done, though only after the social media accusations reached a mainstream audience when Megyn Kelly decided to chime in.
"For a few months, I thought my career was over," Moriarty told The New York Times of the understandably scathing response she issued in January shortly before leaving social media. "Because there was so much attention brought to something that I was told never to address."
"I had left it on a note where I’d explicitly said that I had been heartbroken by the comments," she added. "Now, I’m not heartbroken. I’m galvanized."
Moriarty says she started being stalked by the paparazzi after Kelly's comments went viral and, as you might expect, has struggled greatly with the online discourse. Now, though, she's focused on doing right by Starlight.
"I’ve learned to trust my showrunner," which saw her go through a lot of "deconditioning," she said, after years of witnessing empty gestures of better-representing feminism on screen. "I’m used to people saying they want to do one thing with a female character and doing another thing."
"I just think, thank God there are characters like this, and thank God she came along," Moriarty notes. "I don’t know how I would metabolize my own experiences otherwise."
It's great to hear that The Boys star is in a better place and undeniably upsetting to discover the toll the speculation surrounding her appearance has had on Moriarty.
Showrunner Eric Kripke recently weighed in on those who take issue with the show's deeper political themes when he said, "I don't write with them in mind. I mean, look, it doesn't really particularly bother me. I just kind of throw up my hands, and I'm like, 'Well, I don't know what else to do then.' The show is many things. Subtle is not one of them."
"If you, for instance, think Homelander's a hero, I just don't know what to tell you. I don't know what to tell you. But look, on the other hand, if people want to watch this show as just escapist entertainment, like as any other superhero thing...then I guess thanks for watching, question mark?"
The first three episodes of The Boys season 4 are now streaming on Prime Video. It was recently confirmed that the upcoming fifth season will be the show's last.