Karen Fukuhara says The Boys has done 'really good job of giving power to women', praises Eric Kripke | Interview

Karen Fukuhara, who plays the superpowered assassin Kimiko in The Boys, talks about how the show empowers its female characters, in an exclusive chat with HT.

In the seven years that it has been on our airwaves, The Boys has become an integral part of modern pop culture. From Homelander memes to The Deep’s ‘deep thoughts’, the show has taken over the internet. But apart from the jokes, there is a serious side to The Boys as well. To its credit, the show, created by Eric Kripke, has satirised everything from conservative politics to xenophobia perfectly. And Karen Fukuhara, one of the show’s stars, believes it has also done a lot for its female characters. In a chat with Hindustan Times, the 34-year-old actor talks about her character and how The Boys has ‘empowered’ its female parts.

Karen Fukuhara plays Kimika on The Boys.

Karen Fukuhara on Kimiko finding her voice

On The Boys, Karen plays Kimiko, a character who began as a mute before she found her voice in season 4. In the final season, streaming now on Prime Video, Kimiko has more lines than ever before. “Kimiko has always had a fiery side to her, a little bit of sass. I think when she's comfortable with someone, that side can come out, especially with someone like Frenchie (Tomer Capone),” she says.

But now, Kimiko can verbalise it, enabling Karen to explore a new facet of the character. “Sometimes it's a little bit socially not good to say those things out loud. But in season five, you catch her speaking those things out loud and finding humour in that, because she doesn't have that experience of what's acceptable to say and what is socially okay.”

On female characters in The Boys

With a few notable exceptions, the superhero genre did not always give power and agency to its women. Things did change in the 21st century with the Marvel and DC films bringing Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel to the fore, but even Black Widow had to wait for death before getting her own solo film. The Boys has been refreshing in that sense. “Yeah, we've done a really good job of giving power to the women in The Boys universe,” Karen agrees.

Detailing a few examples, she says, “Ashley becomes Vice President, and Starlight becomes Annie. And that is sort of an upgrade as well, because it's representative of the fact that she stuck to being true to herself and what she believed in. And it's the same for Kimiko as well. She's done a lot of inner work and worked on her trauma to get to the point that she is at this moment in season five. And not only is she physically badass, but she is now mentally badass.”

The actor credits this to the showrunner Eric Kripke and his writers. “I owe it to Kripke for writing such layered, deep characters, especially for the female characters on our show,” says Karen.

About The Boys final season

The Boys season 5 also stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Jessie T Usher, Colby Minifie, and Jensen Ackles. The first two episodes of the final season premiered on Amazon Prime Video on April 8, with weekly release after that till the finale on May 20.