I’m a novice when it comes to Bollywood movies, so I decided recently to fire up my Netflix subscription and watch the most popular Indian movie on the streamer, RRR. The Telugu-language film from 2022 is one of the most successful Indian movies of all time, both on the Asian subcontinent and further afield. It also won an Oscar for Best Song, so I thought this would be a great way to dip my toe in some waters I’ve never taken a full swim in. The production is amazing, but I found the story a little hard to follow.
I will say that for anyone who loves movies and is interested in checking out a Bollywood flick for the first time, like me, I wholeheartedly recommend RRR. It is a long movie, but nothing about it drags at all, and I promise it is totally worth your time. Also, just to get this out of the way, RRR is technically a Tollywood movie, which is different than traditional Bollywood, but for the sake of this article, I’m going to lump all Indian cinema into one bucket. Cut me some slack, I’m trying to learn new things!
Indian Cinema Is A Mystery To Me
at least heard of: RRR, directed by S. S. Rajamouli and starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan. At first, I thought going in blind, without knowing anything about the movie, was the right call. I abandoned that pretty quickly, though, and pulled up the Wikipedia page for the movie to help follow the story a little better. Almost immediately, though, I was struck by the scope of the movie.
Oscar-winning song “Naatu Naatu” was like a great MGM musical from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the best way.
Those two things may seem too weird to reconcile in one movie, but it works really well, and scenes like the attack on the English governor’s house is some of the coolest action in any movie in the last 10 years, and “Naatu Naatu” is so infectious and fun, it’s impossible not to love the dance-off. Plus, it doesn’t distract from the plot, which I was concerned it would. It makes total sense.
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RRR is both, and it’s so well done, I’m excited to explore more Indian films. I can’t say I am surprised by how much I enjoyed the production here, but I will say that I am more satisfied than I thought I would be. I knew it would be an impressive movie, but I wasn’t sure if I would like it, and I did, very much.
I’m also excited to learn more about the real people behind the characters of Komaram Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan), to say nothing about digging more into the history of Indian Independence. So not only am I going to start watching more Bollywood, but I’m looking forward to revisiting RRR after brushing up on some history.
2025 movie schedule here in the U.S. is filling up a lot of my time, but I’ve decided it’s definitely worth finding the time to really check out more about Indian cinema. I’m not sure where to go next, but Netflix has a large selection available, so I know I won’t have to spend too much time looking for my next watch.
I might even carve out some time for a TV show or two, but for now, I’ll stick with movies. If you have any thoughts on where I should go next, sound off in the comments and let me know what I should watch.
In the first teaser trailer for “Jurassic World Rebirth,” Scarlett Johansson’s Zora Bennett explains that, “This island was the research facility for the original Jurassic Park.” While the movie itself doesn’t dive into the full history of the island, we do learn some key things about its history and how it factors into the larger “Jurassic” timeline. In short, it was a key location for both Hammond’s original park and Jurassic World.
The movie’s opening scene flashes back 17 years, showing us an incident that occurred on Ile Saint-Hubert while Jurassic World was up and running. The geneticists were working on various hybrid dinosaurs that could help keep the park more interesting, which eventually brought us the Indominus Rex. However, they first created the mutant Distortus Rex, aka the D-rex, which breaks containment thanks to, of all things, a Snickers wrapper. A scientist is eaten. Things go haywire.
From that point on, the facility was apparently abandoned, but many of the dinosaurs that were created there managed to live on, unbothered by humanity and left to fend for themselves. As the movie explains, many of the dinosaurs that had been roaming the planet since the end of “Dominion” were dying off, as the Earth isn’t hospitable to them. The ones who remain can only sustainably exist near the Equator.
Ile Saint-Hubert is an important location in Jurassic Park history
Universal Pictures
Unlike Isla Nublar or Isla Sorna, aka Site B as featured in “The Lost World” and “Jurassic Park III,” which were located near Costa Rica, Ile Saint-Hubert is located in the Caribbean near Barbados. It is situated near the Equator, meaning that the dinosaurs there have been able to exist comfortably. Unlike the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar, who were either removed from the island or died on it during the volcanic eruption that wiped it off the map in “Fallen Kingdom,” this island has been left largely untouched for nearly two decades.
Again, the movie leaves a lot of the island’s history up in the air, but the implication is that this is the island where InGen cracked the code on recreating dinosaurs to make Hammond’s wild theme park a reality. After the events of “The Lost World,” Simon Masrani and Masrani Global purchased InGen in 1998 and began hatching plans to open Jurassic World. The park eventually opened in 2005. Masrani repurposed the island to conduct further experiments for the park. Most notably, hybrid dinosaurs.
Aside from the D-rex, the scientists on the island also crafted the Mutadons, which feature prominently in the third act of “Rebirth” and were created using a mix of Velociraptor and Pterosaur DNA. These animals never made it to the park because they were “too dangerous.” As were many of the other dinosaurs that Masrani and InGen left behind after the D-rex incident.
It’s important to point out that all of the dinosaurs we see in “Rebirth” are new in some way. This island has never been explored in any of the previous “Jurassic” movies, so even though we’d seen some of these same species of dinosaurs we’d seen previously, the specific ones we’re seeing on screen are new. We’ve seen T-rexes before, but even this is a different T-rex. Even the Spinosaurus we see is different from the one we met in “Jurassic Park III.” This is sort of like the island of misfit dinosaurs.
Could the franchise return to Ile Saint-Hubert in the future?
Universal Pictures
The movie ends with the majority of the survivors getting off the island, save for Krebs (Rupert Friend). Unlike 2015’s “Jurassic World,” though, which clearly set up a potential trilogy, this was more of a standalone adventure with no major loose threads to tie up. It’s a close cousin to “Jurassic Park III” in that way.
That begs the question: could Ile Saint-Hubert return in the future? As it stands, Universal hasn’t announced any plans for another sequel, though “Rebirth” does seem poised to do pretty well at the box office. As is always the case in Hollywood, if something is successful, a sequel will probably follow. Whether or not that’s a more direct sequel to this movie or another adventure with more new characters remains to be seen. Edwards did leave things pretty open-ended and didn’t box the studio into any specific story that needs telling.
There’s also the matter of the animated shows like “Jurassic World: Chaos Theory” on Netflix. Who knows? Maybe those characters will make their way to Ile Saint-Hubert somehow. Maybe the next movie will finally bring us back to Site B after all these years, as that’s largely been unexplored since “JP3.” There are options for the future, but the mere existence of this new island suggests that there is more to explore, should Universal decide that’s the right thing to do.
Even if the future of the franchise isn’t centered on Ile Saint-Hubert, its most significant contribution to the franchise was bringing something new to the table that could open the door for more down the line, be that a further explanation of this island or somewhere else entirely.
The biggest pleasure in Maa (Mother) is watching Kajol kick ass.
While the actor has spent over three decades playing everything from the girl every boy wanted to take home to mother (as Simran in Diwale Dulhania Le Jayenge) to a straight-up unhinged villain (as Isha in Gupt), we’ve rarely seen her in action mode.
Here, she becomes the savior mom — think Liam Neeson in Taken, except that since Maa is billed as mythological horror, the saving is done in a creepy hamlet near Kolkata, India, called Chandanpur. When a demon called Doito comes after her 12-year-old daughter Shweta (Kherin Sharma), Kajol’s Ambika transforms into fire and brimstone.
Maa is the second entry in the shared universe that began with 2024’s Shaitaan, at the end of which Kabir (Ajay Devgn, a producer on Maa) comments, “If you want to understand the real meaning of strength, watch a mother fight for her child. In the entire universe, there is no stronger god than a mother.” Perhaps this is the line that inspired this spinoff. But although Kajol is solid as the divine feminine (whose name, Ambika, is another name for the goddess Durga), I just wish the film had more of her fury.
The movie is directed by Vishal Furia and written by Saiwyn Quadras, and while horror is very much in Furia’s wheelhouse (his previous credits include Chhorii and its sequel), it represents a departure for Quadras, known for such biopics as Neerja and Mary Kom. Here, Quadras offers a spin on the tale of Kali Maa and Raktbeej, the powerful demon who can replicate himself from every drop of his blood that spills on the ground. The idea of reworking such a fascinating religious myth into modern-day horror sounds intriguing on paper. But it proves not so much in execution.
Horror films are not about logic, so we can’t ask questions like why Ambika takes Shweta to Chandanpur when she knows its dangerous history, or why she stays there despite all the strange things going on. Characters in these movies never seem to leave the haunted place when they should. But we suspend disbelief and accept it as part of the deal. What’s harder to make peace here with are the lack of scares and the sluggish pace.
Shaitaan was anchored by a solid storyline, with a stranger coming home and taking possession of a young girl. It also featured a delicious performance by R. Madhavan as the titular devil, his perverse delight in torturing the girl and her parents becoming its own entertainment.
The gaping hole in Maa is the feeble antagonist. Despite the VFX and the background score, Doito doesn’t have an inch of menace about him. In fact, I kept thinking this tree-like creature, with snaking branches that he puts to murderous use, was basically an overgrown and angry version of Groot from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. There is very little personality here, and he’s saddled with forgettable dialogue, as in a scene when he tells a man, “Your heart is black. You could be useful to me.”
The story is both slow and convoluted — there is human sacrifice, Kali Puja, a Rajbari (mansion) with 30 rooms. (Incidentally, if you want to see a far better use of big Bengali mansions in a horror film, check out Anvitaa Dutt’s Bulbbul.) Maa also has echoes of Rosemary’s Baby, with feminist undercurrents that might remind you of the Stree franchise, and frames in the climax that closely resemble moments from Shaitaan. And although Furia put sugarcane fields to great use in Chorii, here, the forest is too fake to evoke fear.
There are a few fun jump scares — but little that chills or thrills.
Maureen Hingert, the Sri Lanka-born beauty queen who appeared as an actress in The King and I, Gun Fever and Gunmen From Laredo, has died. She was 88.
Hingert died Sunday of liver failure at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, her daughter, Marisa Zamparelli, told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was a beautiful and peaceful passing,” she said.
As Miss Ceylon, the 18-year-old Hingert finished second runner-up at the 1955 Miss Universe contest held in Long Beach, California, then appeared as a royal wife in Fox’s lavish adaptation of the Broadway musical The King & I (1956), starring Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr and Rita Moreno.
She followed with more substantial parts as Native American girls in Gun Fever (1958), starring, directed and co-written by Mark Stevens, and, billed as Jana Davi, Gunmen From Laredo (1959).
Born in Colombo, Ceylon, on Jan. 9, 1937, Maureen Neliya Hingert appeared in two 1954 films made in her home country, Circus Girl and the Elizabeth Taylor-starring Elephant Walk, directed by William Dieterle.
After being crowned Miss Ceylon, she stayed in California after competing in the first Miss Universe pageant to be televised. (Her appearance was credited with helping put her South Asian island country “on the map.”) It also got her a contract at Universal and a role in Pillars of the Sky, a Western starring Jeff Chandler and Dorothy Malone.
She performed as a dancer in venues around Los Angeles, and a photograph of her on the set of Gun Fever made it into Playboy in September 1957.
Hingert’s résumé also included the 1958 films Fort Bowie and The Rawhide Trail and episodes of The Adventures of Hiram Holliday, Death Valley Days and Captain David Grief. She was done with acting by the start of the 1960s, soon after she had her first of three daughters, Gina.
Her first husband was Mario Armond Zamparelli, chief designer for Howard Hughes’ corporate empire (RKO Pictures movie posters, the Desert Inn, etc.). They first met when she was modeling for a TWA mural he was painting for Hughes, and they were married from 1958 until their 1970 divorce.
Gina Zamparelli, a concert promoter, died in 2018 of a brain tumor at age 59. Another daughter, Andrea Zamparelli, died in 2009 at age 42.
Jurassic World Rebirth is on course for an opening day gross of $28 million at the domestic box office — among the top 20 Wednesday grosses of all time — for an estimated five-day debut of $127.5 million, according to early returns. The summer tentpole opened Wednesday, July 2, in North America in order to take advantage of the long Fourth of July holiday corridor. It’s also opening almost everywhere overseas for a projected global debut north of $250 million.
The seventh installment in the action-adventure franchise, from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Productions and Universal, features an all new cast anchored by Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey.
So far, Jurassic World Rebirth is performing on the higher end of expectations.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story filmmaker Gareth Edwards directs from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp. The story follows an extraction team who race to an island research facility that factored into the original Jurassic Park (along the way, they discover a shipwrecked family). Now, the island is inhabited by the worst of the worst creatures that were left behind.
Rebirth also stars Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono and Audrina Miranda. Producers include longtime franchise stewards Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, with Spielberg and Denis Stewart exec producing.
The first three Jurassic World pics, which made up their own trilogy, all grossed north of $1 billion globally, and all opened higher than Rebirth domestically. At the same time, the latest film cost less to produce, or $225 million before marketing. In 2015, Jurassic World opened to a franchise-best $208.8 million, followed by $148 million for 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and $145 million for 2022’s Jurassic World: Dominion, not adjusted for inflation. (All grosses rep three-day openings.)
The first Jurassic Park, directed by Spielberg, opened to $47 million domestically in early June of 1993, not adjusted for inflation — a huge sum at the time.
Spielberg is always closely involved in the production of a Jurassic film, and was particularly so in the case of Rebirth, since it sets the stage for a new set of movies.
Other titles to watch over the holiday weekend include Brad Pitt’s F1: The Movie, which heads into its second weekend after opening to $57 million domestically, a stellar number for a racing pic about Formula One.
He began the calendar year with the critically acclaimed sci-fi thriller, Companion, and six weeks later, he became a full-fledged action star courtesy of another well-received film in Novocaine. A handful of weeks later, he co-starred in an indie called Neighborhood Watch with his The Boys castmate, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and now he’s topping it all off with another comedic action performance in Ilya Naishuller’s wildly entertaining Heads of State, featuring Idris Elba and John Cena.
Oddly enough, Quaid shot Naishuller’s actioner well before all his other recent work. His stretch of the film as Marty Comer, a station agent for a CIA safe house, consists of an ‘80s-inspired action sequence where he has to protect Cena’s U.S. President character and Elba’s U.K. Prime Minister character from continued assassination attempts. Quaid credits the elaborate set piece for whetting his action appetite.
“[Heads of State] made me get the action bug, which I eventually brought to stuff like Novocaine. It was a dream come true,” Quaid tells The Hollywood Reporter in support of Heads of State’s July 2 release on Amazon Prime Video.
Quaid is also on the verge of wrapping his satirical superhero series, The Boys, for Amazon. Needless to say, the process of bidding farewell to his career-altering role of Hughie Campbell has him feeling a bevy of emotions.
“I still have about six shooting days to go [as of June 22], and it’s just getting more and more surreal that I’m going to have to start saying goodbye to Hughie Campbell,” Quaid says. “It’s emotional. It’s bittersweet. This show has done everything for me. I love it. I love the people. I’m going to miss everyone so much, and it’s going to be weird [without it].”
Quaid is also quite content with the ending of the series and what showrunner Eric Kripke has pulled off with Garth Ennis’ source material.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished this season. I think it’s a great finale, which is a hard thing to do in TV,” Quaid shares. “I’m happy that Eric Kripke got to make the ending he intended, and he did a great job. So I’m excited for you guys to see it.”
Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Quaid also discusses the highlights of working with Cena and Elba, before recalling the evening in which he discovered that Tom Holland was a fan of The Boys. Then he reflects on his key contribution to the ending of Novocaine.
***
Heads of State is your fourth movie to be released in the last six months.
It’s getting obnoxious at this point, I know. It’s weird. I shot all these movies over a pretty long stretch of time, and yet, somehow, they’ve all come out within a couple months of each other.
Did you typically jam-pack your schedule in between seasons of The Boys?
Well, we had a bigger break than usual this past season, but yeah, I tried to get whatever I could in [during the offseasons]. Weirdly enough, I actually shot Heads of State right after we wrapped Boys season four. So this is the first thing that I shot out of all those movies, and it’s coming out last. Hollywood is insane. But it’s cool to be talking about it because I’ve been sitting on it for so long, and I’m just so excited that I get to be a part of this thing. It’s so much fun.
Jack Quaid as Marty Comer in Heads of State
Chiabella James/Prime
Heads of State is an Amazon movie, and The Boys is an Amazon series. Knowing that they’ve been good to you over the years, do you feel a certain loyalty to strongly consider anything else they bring your way?
I’m grateful, of course. I am totally grateful for everything that we’ve done together. The test of whether or not I want to be a part of something is: “Would I watch this and be a fan of it, even if I wasn’t involved?” And when I read the Heads of State script, I thought, “This is a movie that I would watch with my friends at a sleepover and just absolutely adore it.” It has that incredible premise that’s so out there, but Ilya [Naishuller] makes it work so incredibly well. I love that it knows what it is. It’s having fun, and yet there is a surprising amount of heart and humanity in it, especially coming from Idris and John. So I jumped at the chance to be a part of it.
I’ve also been following Ilya since I watched Nobody, which was a genius action movie. It reminded me of character-based action movies out of the ‘80s and ‘90s where you care about the action because you care about the character. So he and Bob Odenkirk made that work so incredibly well, and [Heads of State] made me get the action bug, which I eventually brought to stuff like Novocaine. I’m really in just a sequence of this movie. But it’s such a fun sequence in getting to work with not only Ilya, but also John and Idris. It was just a dream come true, and it was a very hard movie to say no for a variety of reasons.
I partially asked that question because Antony Starr also shot an Amazon action movie during his offseason from The Boys.
And [G20] is also a presidential action movie!
So it seems like there’s synergy between the film and TV divisions at least.
Yeah, I guess so. I remember arriving in South Africa to shoot Novocaine right after Antony was there [for G20], and both productions had trainers for us that were working out of the same gym. So I never saw Antony in South Africa, but he had signed part of the [gym] wall, and they were like, “Will you sign right next to him?” It was such a two-ships-passing-in-the-night thing. But, yeah, it’s a total coincidence. We were at a convention, and we were both like, “Wait, we’re both doing action movies involving U.S. Presidents for Amazon? So insane.” (Laughs.) But we’re both very, very grateful.
As you touched on, this movie gave you, as Marty Comer, an ‘80s-inspired action scene with a gearing-up moment like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando or your TV dad, Simon Pegg, in HotFuzz. Was that the cherry on top?
Totally! A year [after filming], I went to a screening of the movie that Ilya hosted in London, and I loved finally seeing that sequence cut together. I remember smiling the whole time; I’ve always wanted to be in a sequence like that. I actually didn’t know that they were going to use Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” until I watched the movie for the first time. I knew that we were going to pick a cool song, but it’s always hard to predetermine what the song is going to be because you never really know if you’re going to get the rights or not. But the fact that it was “Sabotage” was such an incredible surprise. I remember filming the moment where I press play on the CD, but I had no idea what that song was going to be until I heard that opening guitar riff start up at the screening. I was so happy that it was “Sabotage.”
I know you shot this first, but it was strange for me to see you selling pain again on screen. I was still stuck in Nate Caine mode.
(Laughs.) Dude, I am still stuck in Nate Caine mode. I am doing fight scenes for The Boys now in Toronto, and I have to be reminded that I can feel pain. I didn’t expect [Novocaine] to stick with me this much, and sometimes, I go over the top with it. They’re like, “Okay, now you’re selling pain too much. Just sell a normal amount of pain.” So I’ve been overcompensating.
But pain is a factor, and it really does help you sell hits. That’s what I’ve learned doing action, and I love doing action sequences. It’s a part of acting that I never thought I would be in love with to this degree, but every time I get to do one, I jump at the chance. I truly love it.
There’s a shot of you in the center of the frame over Idris and John’s shoulders. Is that an intimidating position to be in?
Yes, and I love those guys so much. They set such an incredible tone of what the number one on the call sheet should be, and they’re some of the kindest actors I’ve ever worked with. John Cena was basically like my dad the whole shoot. He was like, “You don’t have to do the stunt during the rehearsal. I don’t want you to pull a muscle.” He takes care of everybody, and I thought that was so genuine and sweet.
Idris Elba is also one of the coolest people I’ve ever met in my life. He’s a very accomplished DJ, and I remember showing him one of these dumb little mashups of songs I made with this app on my phone. And he was like, “That’s dope, man.” (Quaid does his best Idris Elba impression.) Getting a “that’s dope, man” from Idris Elba was truly one of the greatest moments of my life.
But it was very intimidating to be in that scene with them. They’re both so incredible, and you want to measure up to them and make sure that the scene is working. My role very much comes during what people like to call the “fun and games” part of the movie. I’m supposed to inject a little bit of fun and humor, and they’re both at the point in their arcs where they just don’t really like each other all that much. Marty then fawns over John Cena’s character, and while he’s still respectful of Idris’ character, he’s not fanboying over him like he is with John Cena’s [action star-turned-U.S. President]. So it does create even more tension between them, and knowing that was my role going into it, I just had a blast.
Jack Quaid as Marty Comer in Heads of State
Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
For an action-comedy, I was also surprised by the ripped-from-the-headlines quality to it.
What’s great about this movie is that it’s about two world leaders who have their differences, but they’re willing to put them aside for the greater good. They truly care about the people that they’re leading, and that’s something that we sorely need in this time. It’s interesting, though, because we shot it a long time ago in the grand scheme of things. We shot it two years ago, and it’s interesting how headlines catch up to what you’re making, sometimes. I experience that constantly with The Boys, and it’s a very surreal thing. So to be in a great project that’s able to have a message and also have fun is really nice.
One of my favorite moments in any movie this year is when your Companion character welcomes his companion robot named Iris to the sounds of Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris.”
(Laughs.)
Are you of the mind that he named his robot after his favorite Goo Goo Dolls track? Or did he decide to welcome a pre-named robot in the corniest way possible?
Well, Josh Beaman is kind of a corny dude, so maybe he did [welcome her that way]. I also didn’t know that song was going to be playing in that moment. It was really important to me that we see him clipping his toenails as he’s waiting for her to boot up. He talks to her like an inanimate object [during their love link pairing], and then once she comes online, that switch happens and Josh feels a surprise. Drew Hancock directed that so expertly. Josh is such an interesting, weird, despicable character, and getting a little bit more context to his life was a really fascinating day. We weren’t even shooting on the main set of that movie; we were in some random apartment. But I don’t think he cares about Iris’ feelings in that moment, and his main flaw is his lack of empathy.
Did a certain person in your life point at the screen like Leo DiCaprio when she heard the soundtrack to that scene? (Note: Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” was written for City of Angels, starring Quaid’s mother, Meg Ryan.)
Well, I actually have not seen that movie with my mom, so I guess not. (Laughs.) But Drew told me about that [song] after the fact, and it was just a really cool, coincidental, amazing reference. It’s awesome.
I’m trying to speak this into existence, but when are you going back to Cape Town for Novocaine 2?
Oh, thank you for trying to speak that into existence. I’d love to do another Novocaine. I have also loved the amount of people that have checked out that movie since it’s come on streaming. It’s unbelievable, and thank you to anyone who’s checked it out. That character has such a special place in my heart. He’s such a sweetheart, and he goes through so much, but he does it for love. I have ideas [for a sequel]; we all have ideas. So knock on wood and pray to the movie Gods that it happens. I would absolutely love that.
Amber Midthunder as “Sherry” and Jack Quaid as “Nate” in Dan Berk and Robert Olsen’s Novocaine.
Paramount Pictures
I totally thought the movie was going to end with blood pouring down Nate’s chin, as if he’d just bitten his tongue, something he feared in the first act’s pie-eating scene. I assumed it was going to be the payoff to that setup. But Dan Berk and Bobby Olsen both told me that they preferred a more earnest ending that doesn’t risk making fun of Nate’s condition.
Yeah, I’m kind of with them. I like that Nate got such a win at the end of that movie. I love that it ends with him smiling and enjoying a piece of cherry pie and just enjoying his life. He’s been through so much, and he gets a real win at the end of that movie. That sequence was so cool because the ending song is Telekinesis’ “Power Lines.” I first heard it a long time ago, and I always thought that it would go perfectly in that moment.
This is kind of the opposite of what I was just talking about with the Beastie Boys. But I played “Power Lines” off my iPhone speakers to Dan and Bobby in that moment, and I was like, “This could go really well here, right?” And they were like, “Holy shit. Let’s see if we can get the rights to this.” Then they made a couple calls, and a couple hours later, they were like, “We have the rights.” I’ve never done that before, and I probably never will again.
So the movie ends in the exact way that I envisioned to that song and with the camera slowly pushing in on my face. I was also really happy that no blood came out of my mouth, and I think it would’ve taken a little bit of joy away from Nate. But thank you for seeing the movie, man. I really appreciate it.
How close are you to wrapping The Boys’ final season? (Note: This interview took place on June 22.)
Pretty close. It’s a huge show with so many characters, and it’s so chaotic, but people, one by one, are starting to wrap out. I still have about six shooting days to go, and it’s just getting more and more surreal that I’m going to have to start saying goodbye to Hughie Campbell. It’s emotional. It’s bittersweet. This show has done everything for me. I love it. I love the people. I’m going to miss everyone so much, and it’s going to be weird [without it].
But I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished this season. I think it’s a great finale, which is a hard thing to do in TV. I’m happy that [creator] Eric Kripke got to make the ending he intended, and he did a great job. So I’m excited for you guys to see it.
Antony Starr’s Homeland and Jack Quaid’s Hughie Campbell in The Boys.
Courtesy of Amazon Studios
Do people from the more conventional superhero stuff ever reach out to say that they wish they could do the risqué things that you guys do on a regular basis?
Maybe they do to Eric and the writers, but I’m always just surprised when anyone from superhero media knows who we are. We were always this different underdog universe. I remember meeting Tom Holland very briefly at a party once, and he was like, “Oh, The Boys.” And I was like, “There’s no way that Spider-Man knows who I am. That’s crazy.”
I always thought that my biggest dream was to be in a Marvel movie or a DC movie, and it still very much is. But never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be on the ground floor of a superhero universe that is entirely its own thing. It has its own very specific tone where we get to satirize the world around us in the most cathartic way every season, and I’m just so unbelievably grateful for it all.
Besides Antony and Erin Moriarty, is everybody making their case to EPs Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg for a Studio season two cameo?
Oh, man, that’d be sick. I love that show, and it’d be awesome. It was great that [Erin and Antony] showed up in it. But I’ll do that right now. I’ll start making my case. Please have me on! It’s a great show. Those guys are amazing. They’re heroes of mine.
[This next question/answer contains spoilers for Predator: Killer of Killers.]
Dan Trachtenberg directed you in The Boys’ pilot, and he also directed Amber Midthunder in Prey. And he was the one who recommended the two of you work together en route to Novocaine. Thus, have you seen the end of Dan’s recent animated movie, Predator: Killer of Killers?
I just watched Predator: Killer of Killers, and it’s so good. I love that ending. Amber’s character from Prey makes an appearance, and I got very, very excited. She absolutely nailed it in Prey, and I am so happy to know her and to know Dan. During Novocaine, Amber quickly became one of my better friends, and we still text all the time. She’s just such a badass. So I was excited as a fan of Dan’s, as a fan of Amber’s and as of animation. I love that movie. Go check it out. It’s so unbelievably good.
*** Heads of State is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
