The Boys season three spoilers follow.
"There's so much love" for The Boys, says Tomer Capone, but the same can also be said for his character Frenchie, whose skill set rivals even Homelander's. Except, instead of strength and super-speed, Frenchie is a thief/marksman/cook/general jack-of-all-trades whose abilities are pretty much key to the endless fight against Vought.
In short, we love Frenchie, and while he doesn't take centre stage enough for our liking, it would be impossible to imagine this band of merry vigilantes without him.
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Digital Spy caught up with Tomer Capone to discuss Frenchie's future, his weirdest moments, and why this disturbingly brilliant show is the gift that just keeps on giving.
Off the back of season three's finale, was there a particular moment that really resonated with you, personally?
There's this little moment. You need to understand, we shot the entire season throughout COVID, which was… I don't know. Now, we tend to forget stuff so fast, but everything was locked down. It wasn't an easy task. We were struggling to try to make it right, and watch our backs.
I remember in the season finale, in that episode, when Frenchie's putting like a N95 mask on. It was back to reality in a way. It was a specific little moment where he puts the mask on. It was one of those moments where you're in a fantasy, and you’re in this bubbled world for a second, and then reality strikes.
I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm happy we're after it.
On a more joyful note, would you be up for another musical sequence in a future season? Or even an entire musical episode?
Oh, I'm ready, man. I'm ready. Give me that rhythm.
I'm not a fan of sitting and watching myself in front of the television, obviously, like a lot of actors. But if there was one thing that was really fun and cool for me to see was the action scenes. Because obviously I want to see what the prop people do, what the choreography looks like – there are amazing people who work on those special effects. I'm a fan. So these are the things that I'm 100% in.
And now I've found that there's another thing I can sit on my ass and watch – and that's dancing. I enjoyed it. So now there's two things I can do, if I want to watch myself – I can either watch myself fight or that. It's another one to add to the box.
Frenchie says at one point that he was disappointed to miss out on Herogasm. How did you feel as an actor also missing out on Herogasm yourself?
I read the script, and I read about 'Herogasm', and I'm continuing reading, and Frenchie's not there. And that's when I start to curse in French while reading the script [laughs].
And I'm like: "I'm going to write Eric Kripke an email." And it's typical Frenchie coming out of me. I don't know. I still didn't get over it, I still didn't get over it.
So many people were upset for me, and for Frenchie missing it, which I just want to say, through this platform: thank you, guys. You really helped me cope with the fact that I missed 'Herogasm'.
At least Frenchie had a great arc of his own in episode six with the torture scene and Kimiko rescuing him. Can you talk us through filming such an intense chapter for Frenchie?
Oh, yeah, man. It's like the answer to the question: what is your worst or most weird, troubled shooting day ever? Because of the amount of blood and nakedness that was on set through the entire day.
It's one thing being naked all day, with you chained to a pole for 14 hours. But it's being covered with this gooey blood.
It was strange, to be honest. We had an amazing director that day, Nelson [Cragg]. I just remember us looking at the set. It is The Boys, but it has a feeling, in a way, of a Tarantino set or something.
I loved it. I actually loved it. But again, my head was on 'Herogasm'.
Speaking of strange stuff on set, what was your reaction to seeing that giant penis prop while filming the Termite scene in episode one?
Listen, we're not playing around in The Boys. If it says we're going to have a big-ass whale on set, there will be a 500 lbs animatronic whale on one of the beaches of Toronto. And if they write that there's going to be a giant penis in the show – you know what? The whale kind of gave me a sense that I was going to see a six-storey high, large penis on set.
So I can't say I was super surprised by that. But that was an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life. It was my first day on set, and this is how they welcome me, you know?
Have you ever read a script for The Boys and been tempted to say no or object to a specific scene?
In terms of myself, sometimes I'll raise a brow, and I'll have some thoughts. But not with The Boys, I've got to be honest. With Frenchie, it's one of the most freeing experiences I've ever had portraying a character.
And I'll be more specific. Episode six when Little Nina catches Frenchie – originally, Frenchie was supposed to be with, I think, dirty undies or something like that. And I was like, "No, he should be naked."
Eric Kripke was like, "Are you sure?"
I said, "Yeah."
He said, "Right on."
To me, it looked like the right thing for the scene.
Are there any other moments that you tweaked or improvised in season three?
I think a big part of what makes The Boys, The Boys, is – we're a big cast. Having the ability to bring some ideas to the table every time, and get the chance to try them on set, and explore, it's a gift for an actor. It's a sandbox for us to play in. And then they can take whatever they want when they're, obviously, doing the editing.
But in terms of us exploring on set, the possibilities are — you know, man, there are some weird Frenchie takes that I hope, one day, they put it out there. I've tried some weird stuff. If you think Frenchie is weird now, you ain't seen nothing yet.
I think it's the generosity and understanding of Eric Kripke and the directors. He's navigating the ship in a way that is with an open heart, and he really wants to listen. He always says that we are our characters.
Would you mind sharing one of those "weird" takes now that didn't make the cut?
There's so many of them. Let's just say I have one shot – I don't know why that comes to mind. I have so many. But one of them was, when I got out of the whale guts, I put some guts in my mouth. We have one shot where Frenchie is going up, and he's gagging, and then he…
I think I spit some whale guts onto the lens of the camera, so they couldn't use it. It's just weird stuff like that.
Oh, and we did have something like a secret handshake, me and Karen, this season, for Frenchie and Kimiko. They loved it. We all loved it. And we used it a lot on camera. And they didn't use it, eventually.
Obviously, we're learning our characters as we go. This is like gold for me and Karen in terms of bonding, in terms of just having a thing to do before we start the scene if it's intimate. Even if it's not on camera, it's worth it. You know what I mean?
Frenchie and Kimiko share a really interesting bond. How would you like to see their relationship evolve in the future?
I'll always say it, because that's one I'm manifesting – I want to manifest some tag-team action. I want to see those two fight together, and work together. Less struggle, more action, please.
But with Frenchie's past, with Little Nina, and the season before with Cherie and Mallory and Kenji – at the end of the day, the source material is the comic book. And we have so much character that we can explore.
I'm just curious how they tie those up with some background stories, because these are my favourite moments, the origin stories where you can explore your character, and be more deeper and more profound, and you feel more comfortable in his boots than before – because you get a glimpse into who this guy is.
Frenchie is a weird cat, man. He's a weird cat.
What do you hope comes next for Frenchie in season four?
Do you know what? I've got to be honest. I'm anxious and I'm excited and thrilled just like you or the fans that are saying to themselves, "What's next?"
Listen, man, for me, getting the script is like the Christmas present that I never get to have. Because I don't celebrate Christmas. I'm Jewish. It's like wrapping a gift up. I don't even want to ruin what Santa Claus has in store for season four for Frenchie [laughs].
The Boys seasons 1-3 are available to watch in full on Prime Video.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
