Patrick Schwarzenegger, who portrayed Golden Boy in Gen V, recently opened up about how his failed audition for Homelander ultimately paved the way for his role in The Boys spin-off series. The Midnight Sun star played a pivotal part in setting up the tense atmosphere at Godolkin University as Luke Riordan, an up-and-coming Supe destined for greatness. However, per Schwarzenegger, he could’ve made his debut in The Boys universe as the cynical Homelander, if not for the creators’ decision to cast Antony Starr in the part.
Patrick Schwarzenegger says his Homelander audition got him cast in Gen V
In a recent discussion, the 31-year-old actor disclosed that he read for The Boys for the first time while vying for the role of the psychopathic leader of The Seven. Although Patrick Schwarzenegger failed to succeed in his Homelander audition, he went on to star as Golden Boy in the subsequent Gen V series.
While speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Schwarzenegger recalled the time he auditioned for John Gillman, AKA Homelander but failed to receive a callback. “It was nothing. We audition for hundreds of things, and we get one percent, less than a percent of what we audition for,” he noted. Unaware of what The Boys’ creators were looking for in the said character, The White Lotus actor decided to accept the decision as it was.
However, the team reached out to Patrick Schwarzenegger for the second time at the time of Gen V, saying, “We know you auditioned for that [Homelander], and we remember it, and we want you to audition for this Golden Boy.”
Per the California-born actor, Golden Boy was “going to be this kind of a miniature version of Homelander but he was honestly like a really good kid and a nice genuine person and he was kind of struggling with having to become that part of superhero and that kind of level of fame.” Knowing his character’s fate in the series, Schwarzenegger decided to give the role a try and ultimately made the part of Golden Boy his own.
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on SuperHeroHype.
