‘The Boys’: Tomer Capone on Why Frenchie & Kimiko Is a Couple Worth Rooting For
Q&A
Sometimes Going Rogue Pays Off
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Amid all of the explosions, alliances, revelations (this week is a doozy!) and body parts both detached and replicated in silicone, The Boys‘ third season has continued to find new ways to surprise us. Not just with shocks, Love Sausages and shots of Jensen Ackles‘ ass, either.
In Season 3, the Prime Video hit has also elevated the slow-burn bond between Tomer Capone‘s Frenchie and Karen Fukuhara‘s Kimiko to a point where, oh my god, we’ve gotten musical numbers and sweetly romantic moments, free from the chaos of Butcher (Karl Urban) and Homelander (Antony Starr) trying to kill everyone.
Can it last? Is love even a thing that can survive in the world of The Boys? Not if you’re Stormfront, Becca or whatever Hughie’s old girlfriend’s name was. Cupid was a total D to them, for sure. But according to Capone, the pairing of Frenchie and Kimiko could actually wind up giving the show something even Vought couldn’t create in a lab: A supercouple worth rooting for.
Tomer, this season is insane! I’ve been writing for TV Guide Magazine for 25 years, and 11 minutes into the first episode of this season, you guys gave us something I never even imagined we would see on television with that party. And that was five episodes before “Herogasm.”
Tomer Capone: Twenty-five years? Look at you man. So I have to say something. Now TV Guide, for me, I’m usually not excited about press and stuff like that, just because I’m not from the States and I don’t have the knowledge of who’s who and whatever. But TV Guide Magazine for me, is something that makes me really excited. Because you have to understand, to me when you say TV Guide or the logo, to me it’s [as iconic] as like, yellow school buses, right?
We don’t have both of them. We don’t have TV Guide and we don’t have yellow school buses in Israel. For me, watching the television drooling as a kid watching those American shows and seeing that name…that is very cool.
Aww, thank you! That is so cool. I recently got to speak with Karen and I pointed out that Kimiko and Frenchie have become the actual heart of the show.
All right, I love that!
And it’s the weirdest romance.
[Laughs] It is, isn’t it? Isn’t it? It’s weird because we’re getting all those kind of mixed responses from the audience, you know. Some of them want them more intimate and be romantic and then some really like the relationship the way it is. Obviously a big thing about this season is the two can now communicate. After two seasons of just doing eye gestures or body gestures or whatever, this is the first time they can really talk. So, the influence that Kimiko has on Frenchie now is massive. And in this season she really can articulate and just express herself in a way that is kind of how you express yourself to your boyfriend, I guess.
Frenchie has to make what I think is a pretty big sacrifice for her.
Mmhm. This is what Frenchie questions, what he asked himself. With Kimiko evolving or succeeding to communicate to him…he just questions where is he and why he’s the in The Boys anyways. And then, characters from the past come like Little Nina and and we get to see more of his backstory, which is obviously Frenchie’s motivation and engine. The traumas and what he went through when he was a little kid. And I love those little glimpses because it just puts Frenchie in this position [to see] for the first time a power that is more than Butcher, that is more than Mallory, that is more than the trauma. He’s standing in front of someone that is actually giving him a way out maybe or a different way to approach things.
When we met Frenchie, basically he was a soldier. He was a soldier following orders, Butcher’s orders. And obviously, in some psychological aspect, Butcher played his father in a way. So now it’s very, very interesting. Relationships are starting to tear apart and Kimiko and Frenchie are gaining some control. And that would be a great fucking new kind of relationship, where they’re not trying to save each other only.
And they know how to work together as a tag-team.
I love the word “tag-team.” I was a big wrestling fan of the ’90s, so I love tag-team action, my man. But you know, I would just love to pitch this: I can’t even imagine Frenchie being pumped on V, fighting alongside with Kimiko. That would be a cool, cool thing to explore.
So many mentions were made about Frenchie missing Herogasm. Where were you when they actually filmed those scenes? What did you get to see?
You know what, a few days ago when the episode dropped, I looked at my phone and I saw all the pictures the guys sent me because they were nice enough. They knew I fucking hated it that I wasn’t there. So I got obviously what I wanted to see, which is my good, good friend Laz Alonso…
My God, that scene [Laughs].
I had to see Love Sausage, Part 2: The Return! [Laughs] And I got some cool, cool pictures from Karl and Jack behind the scenes. And I was satisfied with that.
And how are you spending your break? What are you going to do?
Actually, I’m already getting things done and getting myself ready to go back. As you know, we got a fourth season coming and we’re going to start soon.
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Oh right, you wrapped Season 3 a while ago.
Yeah, we did. Obviously COVID slowed things up a bit. But I couldn’t be happier, man. There’s something very exciting every time I go back because Frenchie, to me, is one of those dream characters for an actor. I guess it’s my first role that I can say proudly that I kind of got lost in. In a way, you kind of hide yourself in him. Obviously being French, the accent, the way he talks, the way he walks, the makeup, obviously the buzzed head. So, every time I go back and do that dude, it’s the most freeing experience ever, because…I don’t know. He just takes control, man.
I have seen the finale and there is a fight sequence that is just massive. How long did that take for you guys to film?
It took some time, it took some time just because of the pure technicality of it all. But in terms of being ready, you know, we’re a big cast and you don’t get any days off. Whenever you’re not working, you’re in the studio rehearsing and flying on the wires. We try to be on set as ready as we can, so we can get the most options and try some stuff. And that’s what’s beautiful about this show. Everyone is so committed and so hot about their characters and so devoted and it’s just a fun, fun ride, man. It’s not something that happens every day. It’s a bunch of talented, great human beings who just love what they do and we kind of play ball with each other and it works.
What was tougher, filming the finale’s action sequences or the musical number?
Oh, the musical number. Definitely the musical number. [Laughs] I’m good with action. Action is a card I have up my sleeve. I feel like it’s a trick I can pull whenever I want to. Dancing? It’s a whole different thing. I dance with myself, but I’m not sure you can call it actual dancing. And I’m not sure I want any of the audience to see that when it happens, you know? You don’t want to see it!
And for that scene , I did moves like [a pro], man. I had to do a lift with Karen up in the air. When I went to sleep, I was dreaming about our choreographer, you know, doing my “1,2,3,4…and 1,2,3.” But, I loved it. I loved it. [Laughs]
It looked amazing. And it was also again, one of those moments like, “Who thought this was going to be coming our way?”
Yeah, that’s another beautiful thing. Sometimes me and Karen, we find ourselves on set and it’s such an intimate story with Frenchie and Kimiko, that sometimes you feel for a second like you’re in a complete different show, you know? And then the dance, hello! All the colors, all the dancers behind you, we were like “What am I shooting here? Is this The Boys? Is this The Boys?” And then two days later, someone comes with a bucket of blood and pours it on your face and you’re like “I’m back home, baby!” [Laughs]
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