Antony Starr portrays the smashing Homelander, a character who is nearly unbeatable. However, he said that one character on the program made him wobbly in the knees in a Late Night with Seth Meyers interview. Elisabeth Shue, who previously portrayed Madelyn Stillwell, the boss of Vought International, is that person. When Starr was a small boy, he saw The Karate Kid and developed a crush on Shue.
“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 remarked. “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.”
For Starr, Shue’s casting was a significant event. “And I’m like, ‘I’m going to work with Elisabeth Shue,” I said. “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 assisted Shue on one occasion. “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!’”
Shue played the role of Madelyn Stillwell in The Boys’ first two seasons. She also made an appearance in the Shue-voiced animated series offshoot The Boys Presents: Diabolical. Later, Madelyn appeared in the live-action spinoff series Gen V. Despite Starr’s excitement about working with Shue, their on-screen romance did not work out. Homelander killed her by shooting his heat vision straight into her eyes, searing through her face.