The Boys Star Karen Fukuhara On Kimiko’s Character Arc, Karate, And More
Karen Fukuhara, best known for her starring role as the silent assassin Kimiko in Amazon Prime superhero series The Boys, isn’t just a great actor. She’s also a talented voiceover artist (she’s provided voices for The Boy and the Heron, Callisto Protocol, Pokemon Concierge, and Star Wars: Visions) and an accomplished athlete (she’s got a brown belt in karate, which she used not just in The Boys, but in Suicide Squad and Bullet Train, as well). So when she came into the Kotaku offices for an on-camera interview, we had a lot to talk about.
With The Boys season 4 finale recently airing, we had to touch on Kimiko’s arc for the season. Though Fukuhara’s character has been non-verbal since she was first introduced, which meant the actor has had to rely on her physicality in the role, she does eventually utter a single word during the season finale. “In season one we kind of just see her as this creature-like figure that was trapped, very violent. And then over the few seasons that we’ve had she’s really grown into this independent woman. Still trying to figure it out, but there’s a lot more to work with,” Fukuhara told us.
Though Kimiko finally speaks, the finale doesn’t end on a good note. Frenchie, under the influence of a superhero who can seemingly convince people to do what they please, walks away from her as she’s being restrained. But Fukuhara hopes Kimiko gets a happy ending, even if that’s unlikely in the The Boys universe. “My hope is that she ends up with Frenchie and they go to France together and they’re singing and dancing together and cooking through life and it’s all happily ever after. But I think in true Boys fashion we kind of have to be a little more dark and miserable, at least maybe before the end.”
I, for one, hope she’s wrong, and that Kimiko and Frenchie do end up happily ever after. Check out the full interview with Karen Fukuhara below.
