The Boys star Aya Cash says Stormfront's racist dialogue is 'in service to a bigger conversation'
The actress is playing a sadistic new character in the show's second season.
The Boys star Aya Cash has spoken out about performing her character's racist dialogue, which occurs early in the show's second season.
Introduced in the season two premiere, Stormfront initially seems to be a refreshingly grounded new member of The Seven, unafraid to speak her mind to Homelander and the suits at Vought International.
However, in the climactic ending of episode three, we learn that she is actually racist when she utters an offensive slur to someone before barbarically killing them.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Cash defended the decision to include such language in the series and discussed the challenge of performing those "uncomfortable" scenes.
"Obviously, we’re going to deal with some very topical issues and some very sensitive issues, and walking that tightrope of not glorifying, but also expressing in a way that is real," she said. "So, not shying away from the language, not tiptoeing around that I think is important."
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The first instance of Stormfront's racism is targeted against Kimiko's brother, Kenji, portrayed by actor Abraham Lim, and Cash explained the preparation that went into filming the scene.
"Obviously, everybody has got to read the script," she said. "The people who I have worked with who I had to say those things to, there was absolutely a moment on the day where it’s just like ‘I’m so sorry, this is tough. Like, is this cool?’
“They’ve read the script, it’s not like an out of sequence that they’re just jumping into. They know hopefully what is happening so they’ve also signed on for that and they’re like ‘it’s fine.’
"But, you know, it doesn’t mean it’s not uncomfortable as a human, but I also think unfortunately people who don’t look like me hear those things quite often.
"And for me not to say that when I’m playing someone who believes those things, would do a disservice to the trauma that people suffer hearing those things all the time. So hopefully it’s in service to a bigger conversation."
The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke added that the writers had wanted to explore the "issues of white nationalism", as its something that has featured prominently in the real-world news cycle.
Season two of the hit series began yesterday on Amazon Prime Video, with the first three episodes made available for subscribers to stream.
The Boys season 2 is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, new episodes every Friday. Check out our list of the best movies on Amazon Prime and best Amazon series, or visit our TV Guide to find something else to watch.
