How Antony Starr Really Feels About Homelander's Strange Obsession On The Boys

Based on the comic book series of the same name, "The Boys" is fascinating to watch for a number of reasons — one of which is that it feels like the series can push envelopes that superhero movies usually cannot. While Marvel movies like to explore the responsibilities and trials superheroes must face to keep humanity safe, "The Boys" confronts its audience with intense themes like the dark side of celebrity, market manipulation, corporate espionage, and the toxicity of hero worship.

Homelander, played expertly by actor Antony Starr, is one of the show's primary antagonists. Often compared to Superman, Homelander's terrifying array of powers, along with his unnerving indifference for humanity and burgeoning God complex, make him a great villain. His past as a lab experiment raised by apathetic scientists certainly didn't do good things for his moral compass, and the show frequently demonstrates the depths of his dysfunction. One of his more alarming tendencies is his fondness for milk. The series has shown people getting blown up, a whale getting impaled, sexual assault, and countless other graphic depictions of violence, but watching Homelander lovingly guzzle milk is undoubtedly off-putting. 

Starr plays the part with frightening precision, his performance managing to show Homelander's milk fixation as one of his many unhinged character traits in a way that's genuinely jarring. And if you've ever wondered how Starr feels about Homelander's devotion to dairy, it just so happens that he touched on the topic in a recent interview.

According to Antony Starr, Homelander's love of milk, whether it comes from a human or an animal, was not originally part of the job description. That part of his storyline developed naturally as the series went on, and the actor actually had fun incorporating it into his scenes.

"The milk thing was a total surprise. It's funny, it started off with one scene. And then, that was so weird that whenever I had a scene where I could throw it in, I did," Starr explained in an interview with Collider. "I've gotta be honest, some of the biggest laughs of the season when we were shooting were around trying desperately to work milk in." It's true — the bloopers from Season 2 of "The Boys" feature some hilarious outtakes of Starr attempting to drink milk in a sinister and unsettling manner, only to burst out laughing. 

Starr went on to explain that the superhero's Oedipal obsession represents instability in Homelander, who, despite his ostensible status within The Seven, is considered by the actor to be the weakest character on "The Boys." Homelander seems to become more and more unstable every season, so we can't wait to see the drama that unfolds in Season 3 of "The Boys" when it premieres on June 3, 2022.