Does Homelander Have a Weakness?

Antony Starr, known for his portrayal of the near-invincible Homelander on Prime Video’s hit series The Boys, recently revealed a surprising vulnerability during an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Despite his character’s formidable power, Starr confessed that one character on the show left him weak in the knees: Elisabeth Shue, who played Vought International boss Madelyn Stillwell.

Starr shared that Shue became his childhood crush after he saw her in The Karate Kid. “When I was little, and she was actually not that much older than me, but slightly. I was a big fan of The Karate Kid,” Starr reminisced. “I used to do karate when I was a little kid, and my dad took me to see The Karate Kid at the movies. And Ali, aka Elisabeth Shue, was probably my first on-screen crush.”

When Shue was cast in The Boys, it was a significant moment for Starr. “And I’m like, ‘I’m going to work with Elisabeth Shue. Oh my God, what am I going to do? What am I going to wear? Am I going to look okay?’ And [it] turns out she is the nicest person.”

Starr also recounted an occasion where he helped Shue with a scene. “She came up, and she goes, ‘I’m not feeling really good about this scene. I feel really insecure.’ And I said, ‘You’re Elisabeth Shue. You don’t come to this little jerk and say that! I don’t know, I’m trying to learn from you!’”

Elisabeth Shue portrayed Madelyn Stillwell in the first two seasons of The Boys and reprised her role in the animated spinoff, The Boys Presents: Diabolical. Madelyn Stillwell was also seen in Gen V, the live-action spinoff series.

While Starr was thrilled to work with Shue, their characters’ relationship on the show ended dramatically when Homelander killed Stillwell using his heat vision.