The Boys: Jensen Ackles Says Studio Wanted "Much Bigger Names" for Soldier Boy Role
Considering the history between Jensen Ackles and Eric Kripke, the later having crated Supernatural which the former having starred in the show for 15 seasons, one might assume that Ackles landing a part in Kripke's new series The Boys was an easy task. You'd be wrong in that assumption. Speaking in a new interview on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, Ackles opened up playing Soldier Boy in the series but also how he managed to get the part, revealing they had to convince the production company. "This was something that the studio, that Sony, was talking to some much bigger names than me and wanted to bring in for season three," Ackles said. "So Erik was like, 'Look, I know you can do this, but we're going to have to convince the powers.'"
Ackles revealed that he had to put himself on tape to audition for the part, filming a scene between Soldier Boy and Butcher. After going back and forth with Kripke to get it just right, eventually they finished it up and took it to "the powers." He added, "I was like, look if you're going to go to bat for me I want to give you the biggest bat I can. So tell me if there's anything else I can do, and he's like 'You're good.' So he went to bat for me and then boom that was it. But I worked for it. It wasn't just like 'Hey, we want to bring you on for season three,' I had to earn it."
Soldier Boy in the series is a bit like a Captain America parody, an old man in the body of a young superhero, and Ackles' describes his character as "this curmudgeon, bigoted a--hole."
When asked if his time in the show was one-and-done like season 2's Aya Cash as Stormfront, Ackles said there could be more Soldier Boy in his future, teasing: "I don't know. The door is not closed, I'll put it that way."
Season three of The Boys also stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, and Claudia Doumit.
The Boys season three will premiere on Friday, June 3 on Prime Video.
