The Boys is an Amazon show that deals with superheroes. It takes on the trope of superheroes being evil, but it does it in a way that isn’t “detached” as superhero shows may be, such that they’re simply made into super villains. Instead, the superheroes of The Boys are celebrities. The disconnect between the public and what really goes on within these public figures’ lives. They’re portrayed as narcissitic, psychopathic, and detached from the rest of humanity. They’re superheroes in a way that realizes our fears of what Hollywood, and politics have become.

Every event involving them is a spectacle. What the public sees encompasses such small parts of larger and deeper stories that would never involve the public. In the boys, you are the idiot, and the superheroes love to take advantage of your ignorance.

It’s one of sharpest critiques of celebrity culture on television popular right now, and so it only stands to benefit that the largest star of the show is the most interesting.

Antony Starr is a quiet, introverted man. He’s a celebrity who keeps his private life private. In an old piece on him, it states,

[Antony Starr] lets slip that he has a partner, but no more probing, please. He’s here to promote his latest projects, not his personal life. “I keep myself to myself pretty much. I’m not someone who gallivants around town looking for attention.”

In interviews, he zones out, coming back in to deliver a proper quip before returning to his thoughts. Maybe a funny story from the set. His politics make him a typical liberal. By all means, Antony Starr seems like a nice, quiet man.

On March 4, 2022, a few weeks before the release of the third season, news broke out that Antony Starr had an altercation. He reportedly punched a worker there twice, and apparently smashed glass over his head sending him to a hospital.

This should be a little damning for a celebrity. To give context, this was a few weeks before Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the oscars, and Will Smith’s career took a hit. Movie releases were postponed, and he was banned from the academy.

In Antony Starr’s case? The character protected him. Viewers love the idea that Antony Starr is Homelander, and hearing about that altercation only fostered the thought.

It didn’t help the parallels when his comments on the incident were released.

“I got myself into a situation that was negative and I reacted poorly, and the way forward from that was very clear,” Starr said. “It was quite simply to take ownership of it, which I do, and then really learn from it and move forward.”

“I’m just a man who fell in love with the wrong woman.”

Starlight (Erin Moriarty) even comes in to drop a good word for him and defend him, right out of the show.

To preface, I don’t think what Antony Starr did was good, but it wasn’t homelander-level bad. Good people can get involved in bar fights, it’s just the age disparity and celebrity status scrutinizes him.

Homelander is ultimately a work of fiction. He’s a character. Antony Starr is a person.

Regardless of who Antony Starr is, the whole situation intrigues me. The division between celebrity and privacy, the press junkets, and the seeming cynicism against the fans. The boys does not just become fiction anymore, but reality, and the interactions it plays with its celebrities should be worth the intrigue.

Because here, the illusion is broken. The display of celebrity is completely undermined by its satire of celebrity, and yet fans still adore it. Few works of popular art can infect outside of its fiction.

Antony Starr is now a world class celebrity, and more seasons of the boys will only continue to support him. The fame will dig itself into his life.

He will stand to become one of the few actors where the more he plays his character, the more his own celebrity becomes a victim to his character.

And that’s why of all celebrities in hollywood, Antony Starr stands to become the most authentic.