A Black Noir joke from The Boys was inspired by the real life actor
Asleep on the job
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A minor Black Noir character detail in The Boys is inspired by the real life actor Nathan Mitchell.
“We’ll be in scenes and he’s literally asleep. He’ll fall asleep,” The Deep actor Chace Crawford said during aHappy Sad Confusedlive event.
Antony Starr, who plays Homelander on the Prime Video series, added: “He legit falls asleep. There’s a line in there – ‘Is Noir asleep?’ – and he goes, ‘I’m narcoleptic’. Which Nathan [Mitchell] is in real life. He’s fallen asleep at that table in that suit in real life.”
The scene in question inThe Boys season 4involved Black Noir nodding off during a Vought/Seven briefing led by Homelander.
Narcolepsy is a brain condition that often causes a person to fall asleep or wake up against their will. It is estimated to affect one in 2,000 people in the US and millions of people worldwide.
This isn’t even the first time a health condition from Nathan Mitchell has made its way into the show. Black Noir’s nut allergy also mirrors the actor’s real-life severe allergy to nuts.
“The actors and I were at Comic-Con promoting season 1, and that was where I learned that Nathan Mitchell, the actor who plays Black Noir, has a super severe nut allergy,” show creator Eric Kripke toldTVLineback in 2020. “Like one of those people who can’t be in the same room with nuts, like a vampire with garlic.”
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“[Butcher actor] Karl [Urban] turns to me, laughing, and he says, ‘You know, we should give that weakness to Black Noir,’ and I just thought that was brilliant,” Kripke explained. “When you think of superhero kryptonite, you think of things like kryptonite… I was just tickled by the idea that someone as strong and powerful as Noir could be taken out by something so simple and something that so many people suffer from.”
For more on the show ahead of the finale, check outThe Boys season 4 release scheduleand additional coverage below:
I’m the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you’ll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.
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