Inside ‘The Boys’ Musical Number: “It Was Truly Magical”

What’s the one thing you would never expect from Prime Video’s The Boys, particularly in the middle of season that kicked off with a man exploding out of another man’s penis? How about — and spoilers past this point — a musical number set to Judy Garland’s version of “I Got Rhythm” from 1943’s Girl Crazy?

“It was so much fun,” The Boys star Karen Fukuhara told Decider of this week’s wild song and dance sequence. “I mean, we had weeks and weeks of dance rehearsal leading up to it, and I also got some singing lessons, because I needed it.”

Though co-star Jack Quaid kindly disagreed (“I heard your voice in Kipo. You did not need it.”), it is surprising to hear the otherwise mute Kimiko belt out Broadway style showtunes. And in fact, it’s something that’s been building since the Season 3 premiere, when Kimiko saw a woman at a party playing piano, and imagined herself singing along.

In this week’s episode, “The Last Time To Look On This World Of Lies”, Kimiko has lost her superpowers thanks to an attack in the previous episode by Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), the show’s Captain America stand-in who also can seemingly remove Compound V from a person’s system. As she recuperates in a hospital bed with Frenchie (Tomer Capone) watching Girl Crazy, she seemingly starts to speak, creaking out the phrase “I got rhythm.” And it’s reasonable to think that perhaps the Compound V in her system is the thing that has been preventing her from speaking… Up until she starts singing and dancing.

“It almost kind of felt like summer camp, because we got to do it with Tomer,” Fukuhara contiinued. “I’d like to say that it fueled our other scenes and the relationship of the characters and it deepened Kimiko and Frenchie’s… kind of this telepathic, soulmate relationship that they have. But on the day, it was truly magical. It was beautiful. Everything was colorful, even the props to the costumes.”

Over the course of the number, there are classic The Boys style touches, like flashes of light from doctors clapping defibrillators, musical bedpans, and patients dancing on crutches. But the most fantastical detail for Fukuhara was a relatively subtle change in her costume to make the number work.

“I think there’s, unfortunately, a sad fight sequence following the dance number, and in that one I wear something different from the hospital gown, even though it’s technically the same outfit,” Fukuhara recalled. “For the dance sequence, we made it flare out a little more and it’s a little more of a vibrant blue. And so it was really nice to see all the details come together on the day.”

Quipped co-star Karl Urban, “And a wonderful counterpoint to all the giant penis in the show.”

The Boys streams Fridays on Prime Video.