Political commentary, gross-out spectacle, and somehow still a surprisingly earnest show about people trying to do right in a system designed to reward the opposite: Prime Video’s “The Boys” is many things—and so is its cast. From treading the boards of Broadway to breaking into indie film, the actors behind the superhero satire—which returns for its fifth and final season on April 8—have embarked on quests nearly as epic as those of their characters. Here’s what they have to say about the craft.
Keep your eye on your craft and career, not the clock.
“Don’t sweat the small stuff. Things will be OK. You can pick and choose what you worry about; you don’t have to worry about every little thing.” —Jack Quaid
“Stop sweating the timeline. I spent a lot of time when I was young thinking, I gotta be this by this age; by the time I’m 25 I need to be on this. I just didn’t know what I was talking about. And I spent a lot of time obsessing over a thing that actually is useless to the craft or the lifestyle of it. It doesn’t make you any better to be stressed out about a timeline. In fact, it is energy you should be spending on making things. Spinning around wondering when you’ll get to make something doesn’t allow you to make anything.” —Daveed Diggs
Preparation is key.
“I believe in starting from scratch with each character…. What can I deduce about this character from what’s written on this page? Then I take it to a physical level: How would this character walk and move and talk?” —Karl Urban
“I’m very technical with scripts. If I get the script beforehand, I read it as many times as I possibly can. I also highlight every time my character’s name comes up. I highlight the stage direction, and I also highlight any time another character mentions my name. I get technical with every piece…. Once I’ve done the research as well, I drill the lines like a lunatic. I record everything on my phone, then whenever I’m in traffic, I’m listening to it.” —Karen Fukuhara
“I try to find something people will be able to relate to, which doesn’t make it OK for [the character] to do bad things, but you can understand why they do them. I think that’s the most important thing any actor can do—make your character human. I always try to make the audience understand why my characters make their choices. Hopefully that makes them a little bit likable and more real.” —Jeffrey Dean Morgan
“Be as off-book as you can before you go into an audition. Looking at the sides and holding the sides is so distracting for me. I try to know the lines the best I can, even if the role isn’t mine yet. I’ve got to know what I’m saying.” —Jack Quaid
“I would tell myself to do the work and then, the minute I step on set, trust that it’s there. That I’ve laid the foundation and the framework for something to blossom, and to just surrender to the process. To trust myself more often than question and sabotage. I would always say to do the work and then let it go.” —Shantel VanSanten
Stay present in the work—not in the outcome.
“The first take of [a scene], I had it in my head: I’m gonna laugh hysterically, maniacally. And so I did it, and we’re in front of the crew and everyone—there were crickets. I was like, It’s not gonna work. But I think it can. I wanna give it a shot…. Then, when you saw the sequence come out, it actually did hang together pretty well. It was the process, though, of being right on the edge of: Fuck, I don’t know if this is gonna work or not. But that’s, to me, the most rewarding place to be.” —Antony Starr
“Stay present in the experiences you’re having with your job. Focus on the day-to-day instead of the outcome of the job. Your performance will benefit from it. Your motivation to work will be simply rooted in the experience itself as opposed to the potential outcome.” —Erin Moriarty
“Oftentimes it feels like we spend so much of our life waiting to make art, waiting for somebody to let us do something. You don’t really have to do that. You can make it all the time. And 99% of the time it’s not going to be a big deal on a global scale. But 100% of the time it’s going to make you feel amazing.” —Daveed Diggs
Fortitude is the name of the game.
“Acting is a hard profession. More than anything it takes fortitude. You have to really stick with it. People don’t like you all the time. You have to learn to sleep with yourself after people say no to you for years at a time.” —Jeffrey Dean Morgan
“I’ve walked out of so many auditions feeling like a bad actor. I think you have to keep in mind: That is not reflective of your ability to act. You can be a brilliant actor and not be able to nail it. You need to keep in mind that everyone is in the same boat as you, and the majority of people have everything working against them that’s also working against you in those very sterile environments.” —Erin Moriarty
“I remember getting sides once and not having somebody to read with and thinking that I want this—what am I going to do? I’m not in a place where I can film with somebody…. I grabbed my phone and I thought, I’m going to figure out who this character is and I’m going to write a monologue about the scene and submit it, because this is how I’m going to fight for this role. I remember getting this wonderful email back from the casting director commending me for doing whatever it took.” —Shantel VanSanten
Just say yes!
“I love a thing that probably won’t work! Especially in the bigger film and TV world. When you get those projects, to me, if you happen to really like one of those and it feels like a big swing that has a bunch of different ways it might fail, you’ve got to say yes to those.” —Daveed Diggs
“If people offer you a job, you go, ‘Yeah….’ I’m trained into thinking like, if someone said, ‘Do you want that?’ ‘Yeah, I want that! What is it?’ ” —Antony Starr