The Boys’ Jack Quaid Previews Hughie’s ‘Family Chaos,’ How Season 4 Tops ‘Herogasm’
The Boys Season 4 promises to be a big one for Hughie: Not only is Jack Quaid‘s character now working alongside his girlfriend Annie (aka Starlight) as part of the show’s titular anti-supes group, but Hughie will also be reunited with the mother who abandoned him.
As TVLine previously reported, Rosemarie Dewitt (United States of Tara, Little Fires Everywhere) will play Hughie’s absentee mom, and she won’t be the only Campbell relative making an appearance: Simon Pegg will reprise his role as Hughie’s dad, leading to “Campbell family chaos” for the trio, Quaid previews in the following Q&A.
Below, the actor talks about exploring Hughie’s “core trauma,” the new dynamics within The Boys and just how nuts the show will get in Season 4 (premiering this Thursday, June 13, with its first three episodes).
TVLINE | Is there something in Season 4 that tops “Herogasm”? How crazy does it get?
I think we have some stuff that tops “Herogasm.” I think that every season gets, I don’t know, better, worse, however you want to quantify it in terms of the crazy, big, gross moments. We have a lot this season, and I think it does top “Herogasm.” Several of them do. Not just one. Several. But I think the secret sauce of the show has always been, yes, we have these huge, gross moments that everyone’s going to love and talk about, but the show continues to get deeper with all the characters. I think every character this season, their best written material is within this season. I know, personally, Hughie’s journey this season was so cathartic and cool to play, and I feel like a lot of the other actors felt the same way. So I think it’s our best season yet on all of the fronts. I think the writers just continue to top themselves, and [showrunner] Eric [Kripke] is just a genius. I don’t know how they do it, but they pulled it off again.
TVLINE | There were some shakeups at the end of Season 3: Annie’s in with The Boys, Butcher’s out. How does that change the dynamic within the group? And how are they filling that leadership void?
Well, Mother’s Milk is, I think, a natural leader, for sure. It definitely puts Hughie in an awkward position because, on the one hand, he has his girlfriend working with him, which is wonderful in a lot of ways, and I think he is really happy and excited that she’s done with The Seven and not living in Seven Tower anymore, feet away from people like Homelander.
Butcher is out, but still working for The Boys, and Hughie’s, I think, loyal almost to a fault sometimes. So he wants him to stay around. Obviously, to him, Butcher saved his life at the end of last season — albeit he saved him from taking a fatal dose of V by punching him and knocking him out in a gas station bathroom. But still, that’s how they express love. So I think that Hughie wants Butcher around, but understands that the group doesn’t necessarily want him around, and that puts him in a bit of an awkward place in the middle. I love that every season the dynamics get shaken up again, and this season is no exception.
TVLINE | Is Hughie experiencing any lingering effects from taking the V24 last season?
I think you’ll have to wait and see. Not apparently, because I think Butcher did his job. I think he saved him, honestly. But you’ll see. There’s only so much I can talk about.
TVLINE | We know that Rosemarie Dewitt is coming on as Hughie’s mom. What does it do to Hughie to see her again and have her in his life again?
It’s a huge part of Hughie’s core trauma. His mom leaving when he was a kid is a big reason why he is the way that he is, why he is almost loyal to everybody to a fault. He just doesn’t want anyone to leave him like she did. So to have her come back really dredges up a lot of stuff for him. To get to work with Rosemarie Dewitt was unbelievable. She’s a legend. I got to work with Simon Pegg again, playing my dad, and he’s a hero of mine and continues to be. I’m really excited for audiences to see the Campbell family chaos that ensues this season. And as an actor, it’s very cathartic to really delve into the core of what makes your character tick. Those scenes, watching the two of them work, I learned so much, and I hope audiences enjoy them because I had such a ball playing around with those two. That was really cool.
The Boys fans, are you excited to meet Hughie’s mom? Hit the comments!
