As we gear up for the fifth and final season premiere of The Boys this Wednesday, we recently caught up with stars Colby Minifie ("Ashley Barrett") & Nathan Mitchell ("Black Noir II") to talk about life within Vought and what we can expect from their charactesr as we near the end.
Last we saw Ashley, she was undergoing some sort of transformation, and without getting into spoilers, Minifie walks me through Ashley's mindset this season and whether she'll finally take a stand against Homelander. Then, Mitchell teases a little of what to expect from Black Noir II this season as he balances his own secret and trying to stay alive.
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 Boys return with a two-part premiere on April 8!
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: Colby, I think everyone was worried about Ashley after the Season 4 finale, but she’s a survivor and is probably the longest surviving human at Vought. What would you like to say about her new job heading into the new season?
COLBY: Yeah, she is the longest surviving human, I think.
NATHAN: Is she human anymore?
COLBY: Well, not anymore. Ha, ha, ha. Yeah, I mean, Ashley has, you know, the great thing about her is that she's been kind of the representation of this question of how far are you willing to go for your job, essentially, or for power. And so, I do think that, as she's entering season five, she's still grappling with that question. I don't think she can look at herself in the mirror very much. I think she has quite a lot of shame about how much she's done for Homelander and for Vought and, yeah, I mean, she has now become the thing she's been most afraid of, and so, her in season five is grappling with that overarching question. That's that question we've been asking about Ashley since the beginning, you know, how far is she willing to go for her job.
ROHAN: Nathan, You’ve had the unique challenge of playing a silent cipher for years, and now, he does have a voice, but as we head toward the finale, he’s seen what happens to people around Homelander. Where would you say his head is at this season?
NATHAN: I think he has become aware of the type of threat Homelander is, you know, I think, at the same time, he's still stepping into this world. He's still in his first, you know, like year or two, and that's enough, but everyone else has been in it for a longer time, or has a much more visceral experience of how threatening Homelander is and how dangerous he is. And I think Noir, you know, for season five, it's really about him committing and embracing the role of Noir, you know. So, the silent killer, you know, the menacing threat, and I think he's ever in search of character, and playing the character to a T and the question is how fulfilling is that for him? And what is he going to do in the pursuit of his art.
ROHAN: Colby, Ashley has survived longer than almost any "human" in Vought history through pure, distilled stress. In this final season, does she finally reach a breaking point where she stops being afraid of Homelander, or has she transitioned into a state of permanent "fight or flight" that she actually thrives in?
COLBY: I think, I mean, I do think she's constantly in a state of fight or flight, but I also think she's made a choice at this point to be there. There's a scene in season four with A-Train where he says, let's leave together, and she chooses to stay, because it's the devil she knows. So, not only did she choose to stay, she chose to inject V. She's now in a different position. I do think there is some kind of, I don't know, horrible feeling that comes with that choice. And I think this season is really about actually finding courage. It takes a huge amount of courage to stand up to this thing she's been afraid of for so long, and I do think courage is kind of an underrated quality in our current culture, perhaps, yeah, I would say that. Yeah, so that's something that Ashley's still very much contending with.
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.