Gen V exploded onto television and brought all the energy of The Boys universe to a university. The show’s first season follows a group of college supes at Godolkin University who discover dark secrets at their school. At the heart of this collective is Marie Moreau, a freshman with the power to manipulate and weaponize blood. While adjusting to campus life and grappling with her heartbreaking past, Marie soon finds herself in conflict with Jordan Li, a fellow student and genderfluid supe who’s determined to rise up the school’s rankings. Their initially terse relationship soon evolves into a romance as they redefine what it means to be a hero. We caught up with Gen V actors Jaz Sinclair, Derek Luh, and London Thor to chat about their characters’ evolution and that explosive fight in the finale.
Nerdist: The final scene at God U was absolutely chaotic and super explosive. What was it like for each one of you to prepare for and film those scenes?
Jaz Sinclair: Episode eight was insane! It was so much action and so much happens back to back to back to back. And I just remember being on set those days and being shocked at the scale of everything. You think you know what it’s going to look like, and then you get there and it’s so much bigger and bloodier and crazier. And the stunt guys were amazing.
London Thor: Yeah, the setup for that day was insane. For days, it stayed the same on the campus. There were fake bodies everywhere and blood everywhere, and it really kept you in the moment. For sure.
Jaz Sinclair: And there’s so much happening with each of the characters. Over here, Andre and Sam are having their big fight and then [over there are] Marie, Kate, and Jordan. It’s just like anywhere on campus, some crazy action packed thing is happening. So [the filming crew] had to consider that when they were filming. They were like, we can’t turn too far this way because that’s where Sam and Andre are supposed to be at. So we had to angle it all around that stuff too, which is pretty cool.
Oh my god, it was so wild. So Jaz, it’s interesting how Marie Moreau’s powers tie into menstruation and the confusion and shame associated with that. She ends up facing all of those things and breaks through her guilt, which lets her manifest and unlock new layers to her powers. Can you talk about some of those connections and how Marie’s journey led to her finding her personal power?
Sinclair: I think you just made some really beautiful connections. I do think that for someone who carries as much shame as Marie does about what she did and what her powers mean, it makes sense that she would assume that she would have to hurt herself to be powerful. And then as the show goes on, she butterflies a little bit and realizes that she can tap into other sources of power. [There’s also] her having love for Jordan and that unlocks different levels of just out of sheer desire to protect someone she cared about. I thought that was really cool.
I love the spots in which the writers chose to evolve Marie’s powers. I thought it was really impactful and meaningful, and I think they did a great job of tying what she can do with her emotional state, which I thought was amazing.
I loved her character arc. Now, for you London and Derek, Jordan goes on this journey of trying to find their place in the world and acceptance within themselves and others around them. Can you both talk about how you two partnered together to really help bring Jordan’s journey full circle?
Luh: Yeah. Well, I think we got very fortunate that we were just so similar and in a beautiful way, so different at the same time. And we had a bunch of open discussions about Jordan… I think we read lines together one time and then we just, I mean, had a lot of dinners together and kind of just took on each other’s personalities. From the moment that we both got the role and read the first script, we fell deeply in love with Jordan and wanted to protect that story.
Thor: Yeah, I think it’s a character we both understand fully. And I mean, we’ve both dealt with our own struggles that relate to Jordan and our own relationship to that stuff. And I think that being able to talk about it together helped a lot.
Your characters have come together for a beautiful romance! There’s so much fandom love for Marie and Jordan. How aware are you of the fan edits and fanfiction floating around in the world?
Thor: I’m aware of it! I love it. I’ve seen some really cool stuff. Some of the artwork that’s been made is amazing, and the love for this relationship is so beautiful and nice and it warms my heart.
Sinclair: It’s a good relationship.
Thor: It’s a good one.
Sinclair: The people love it!
It brings me joy! Last question for the crowd. What would you say was your strangest filming experience on set?
Sinclair: The freaking scene with Rufus. It was awkward. It’s like, yeah, amazing when you’re watching the scene, it’s like a whole 30 seconds of weird closeup penis stuff… that was half the day [of me] getting flashed. Anyway, bless Alexander [Calvert]. It’s great. But that was a day where I was like, “What is my job?!”
Luh: I think the strangest for me would’ve been anytime there was a kiss, because we’d lean in and then they’d be like, all right, stop, swap out. And then I’d have to go in and then I’d have to match. It was onion skinning where I’d have to…
Thor: Yeah, so [the crew would] put a light image of whoever was there first, and you’d have to match the exact position that [the other person] was in. And then they’d have to put apple boxes everywhere. And Jaz just had to stand there and not move.
Luh: …They’re like, “Okay, action. Now be super romantic and super in it and make it believable!”
Sinclair: You guys killed that though!
Luh: It was a great day.
Gen V season one is done but thankfully the show will return for a second season. We can’t wait to see where Marie Moreau and Jordan Li’s story goes next. Sophomore year is going to be diabolical.