Antony Starr himself, of course—best known as Homelander from “The Boys” on Amazon Prime Video—is fed up with people confusing him, a human being, for the character he plays. He appears as a psychopathic narcissist in the script and is one of the lead characters, adding that his personality is very far away from it.
Starr shared that he is often “slightly offended” when people treat him as if he has inherited some kind of trait from Homelander. He said he knows that fans are sometimes shocked when they meet him and turn out not to be much like the on-screen character themselves. “Oh, my God, you’re not like him,” he commonly hears. Starr finds this reaction both humorous and a bit disconcerting, often responding with a pointed, “Yeah, he’s a psychopathic narcissist. So yeah, thanks.”
Antony Starr says he gets slightly offended when people treat him like he’s Homelander in-person.
“People are surprised, like, ‘Oh, my God, you’re actually not like him.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, he’s a psychopathic narcissist. So yeah, thanks’”
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While Starr understands the impact of his powerful performance, he can’t help but feel slightly offended by the misconceptions. His humorous retort underscores the absurdity of confusing an actor with his character, especially when that character is as extreme as Homelander.
Playing Homelander massively influences Starr’s public perception. Highly narcissistic and psychopathic traits of the character are such a massive departure from the real personality of Starr, although fans often get them mixed up. This lack of differentiation between an actor and a role illustrates how powerful the performance is that Starr puts on but also creates problems for him in living his life.
In “The Boys,” Homelander is the most frightening main antagonist, advocating for the dark side of this genre of superheroes. It ridicules and inverses the ‘great hero’ by portraying them as broken and corrupted. Homelander is the embodiment of this since he appears to be a hero in front of everybody, but backstage, he is manipulative and ruthless. Different extreme behaviors and absolutely no typical human interactions—at all—make him an exciting but very unlikeable character.
Although he has made a name for himself through “The Boys,” Antony Starr had made waves long before, especially in New Zealand. Starr gained fame for dual roles as twins Van and Jethro West in the television series “Outrageous Fortune.” His versatility as an actor was reflected in his myriad international projects, spread across characters that go on to prove very different from Homelander.
Such success for both “The Boys” and Starr’s performance cement strong association by hinting that he will be strongly associated with Homelander in the public eye, the media illustrates once more just how far the temperament of Starr is from that of Homelander’s on-screen personality. This contrast defines his acting ability but is quite personally vexing.
His experiences and reactions have been documented in many interviews and articles. His statements show how much he is aware that actors face significant issues where the more famous roles overshadow their actual identity. The intensity of playing a character like Homelander inevitably leaves an impression on the audience, too much so that some cannot see anything beyond it. Antony Starr definitely impressed the image of Homelander from “The Boys” into the minds of his audience, and that is why he may be perceived as a character in real life. Funny and slightly hurt responses by Starr to this kind of misconception show how far apart he is from the character he plays.
Nice article