Colby Minifie and Aya Cash discussed their Season 2 storylines with CBR, and Cash talked about filming the Stormfront-Homelander 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scene.

Aya Cash’s Stormfront and Colby Minifie’s Ashley have quite distinct places in The Boys universe. On the one hand, Stormfront appears to be an almost untouchable superhero who controls the populace to win their affection while covertly pursuing a white supremacist goal. Conversely, Ashley, who was just elevated to the position of Senior Vice President of Hero Management at Vought Industries, is responsible for making sure the Seven keep up their positive public image, but she is regularly harassed, threatened, and ignored by the rowdy group of supes.

Cash and Minifie spoke to CBR about their storylines in the show’s second season and the dangers posed by Stormfront and Homelander’s romance, and Cash filled us in on what it was like to shoot that infamous 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scene.

CBR: Aya, you joined the cast this season. What’s it been like being part of the show?

Aya Cash: I mean, it’s been great. The cast and crew are so incredibly wonderful, and [Eric Kripke] the creator of the show and this writers room, I think, are really smart. And it’s been a great job. It’s been a hard job because of the character that I play, but it has also been joyous. So that’s very confusing because it’s been just a wild ride. But luckily, I’m surrounded by just wonderful actors and people.

CBR: Colby, your character was around in Season 1, but you’ve definitely had an expanded role in Season 2, and you got a promotion. What’s it been like to try to control the PR of all these superheroes?

Colby Minifie: Well, as an actor, it’s my dream job. I mean, …when you’re an actor and you’re auditioning for things, you’re like, “If I could just get on a show and be on a show for a long time.” It’s the dream. And for me to get to come back to a job that I didn’t know I would certainly come back to and to get an expanded role is just better than I could ever have hoped for.

In terms of being in charge of all the PR, it’s a very stressful job for Ashley. I mean, I think she’s trying her very hardest and sometimes her priorities are out of whack and she cares a little bit too much about shining off the light of the superheroes, and I think she cares a bit too much about optics. But all that aside, she’s trying her very best with the job that she’s given.

CBR: Aya, there have been some shocking revelations about your character’s beliefs and how far back they go. What has it been like for you to convey those disturbing belief systems that Stormfront cares so deeply about?

Cash: Yeah. I mean, it’s gross. There’s no Stormfront excuse. There’s no like, “Oh, what happened to her as a child and her blah, blah, blah.” She’s a disgusting — I want to say, human being — supervillain. But there’s also lots of fun times too. When I’m doing the fight choreography and all the big stunts or flying in the air, that’s a really fun thing to do as an actor. And then there are the moments where she says disgusting racial slurs and it’s not a fun moment on set. And it’s hopefully done with respect to the actor you’re playing opposite and thoughtfulness and judiciously and not promoting in any way. But it never feels good as a human to say those disgusting things to people.

CBR: But on the other side of it, she’s actually a good feminist. She’s actually fairly progressive when it comes to women being able to take the lead on things. How have you reconciled those two parts of her personality?

Cash: I mean, when I was shooting it, I definitely thought of it as there’s those moments that I can connect to, there’s those moments that I can say, “Well, I believe in this,” and that makes it easier. The Pippi Longstocking speech I loved, and I think is so smart and funny, and I grew up reading and watching Pippi Longstocking, so there was a connection there.

Now that [the show is] out, there have been some think pieces about the idea of the lack of intersectionality in white feminism and how this person who espouses this feminism can also hold hatred and be a white supremacist. And I thought that’s a really interesting interpretation of this character that I can take no credit for. I’m sure the writers thought about that, but [it] was illuminating to me to read that think piece and think about Stormfront in a different way. But it’s not necessarily that she is this good and then this bad, but that actually they can be held together and often are.

CBR: Colby, like you said, your character is probably the most stressed out on the show and she’s been intimidated by Homelander and some of the other characters. How has it been for you to balance your relationships with the other actors with Ashley’s relationships with the other characters?

Minifie: That’s interesting. I mean, what I love about these actors is that they’re so good and that they’re so playful, and as soon as you call cut it’s all fun and games again. What I will say is Antony Starr [who plays Homelander] is so convincing [Laughs], when they call action it’s like I don’t really have to do much acting, I’m just intimidated. And he’s really effective at scaring the shit out of me, and I think that’s great. He does a really good job at it. [Laughs]

CBR: At the end of Episode 5, we had quite an introduction to the coupling of Stormfront and Homelander. First, I’ve got to ask, Aya, what was that like to shoot that 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scene?

Cash: It was totally wild and silly. I was saying to someone that you do these 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scenes and everybody is on very good behavior, as they should be because it’s an uncomfortable situation. But, of course, I want to make jokes about it and nobody’s allowed to laugh. So I’m like the comedian bombing during a 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scene because I’m like, “Isn’t this ridiculous?” And everyone’s like, “We don’t see you. We cannot see the fact that you are in plastic underpants with a merkin on flying in the air.” [Laughs] And I’m like, “But it’s so silly.” So that’s probably the most awkward part of it.