The Boys star Erin Moriarty calls out ‘trolling’ of character Starlight: ‘I do feel silenced and dehumanised’-Ruth Lawes-Entertainment – Metro

Erin Moriarty has played Starlight since the show started (Picture: Getty/ Amazon Prime)

The Boys star Erin Moriarty has spoken out about the ‘trolling’ she receives for portraying character Starlight/Annie January.

The Amazon Prime drama follows a group of corrupt superheros who abuse their powers, known as The Seven, while The Boys are a team of vigilantes determined to keep their misbehaviour in check.

Starlight is a member of the Seven, but rather than use her special abilities for corruption, she is determined to help save innocent lives.

However, since joining the fan favourite series when it debuted in 2019, alongside other stars including Karl Urban and Jack Quaid, the 28-year-old has revealed she has suffered from misogynistic abuse from ‘fans’.

The Jessica Jones actor shared a Medium article titled ‘#IStandWithStarlight?: The betrayal of Erin Moriarty by The Boys “fans”‘ written by Instagram user @butcherscanary.

In it, the author penned: ‘As it turns out, you can dedicate an entire season of a television show to exploring how the toxicity of masculinity crushes and controls women, and seemingly a majority of the audience will still fail to employ the lessons learned– or worse, not have recognised there was a message at all.’

Erin shared a post on Instagram (Picture: Instagram)

The True Detective performer captioned the post: ‘I do feel silenced. I do feel dehumanized. I do feel paralyzed. I’ve put blood, sweat, and tears into this role (over & over & over again), I’ve grown UP in this character’s shoes (*emphasis on grown up – we change & evolve mentally AND physically).’

She continued: ‘So with that I say: a) thank you to @butcherscanary b) this does break my heart – I’ve opened up a vein for this role and this kind of trolling is exactly what this role (Annie) would speak out against and c) everyone’s going through their own battle(s); let’s not add to that.

Erin with co-star Anthony Starr, who plays Homelander (Picture: Amazon Studios/ Prime Video)

‘I will never intentionally (and ESPECIALLY) publicly add to yours. This has only strengthened my empathy muscle and to anyone who comes at me: I see you, I don’t hate you, I only empathize and forgive.’

Erin’s co-stars flocked to the comments to share their support, with Antony Starr writing: ‘[I] support you and what you say here 100%. Well put 😉 Your work on the show is and always has been stellar and you are beautiful inside and out. Keep shining 😉 xo/.’

Erin’s co-stars flocked to share their support (Picture: Jan Thijs/Amazon/Sony/Kobal/REX)

Jack Quaid said: ‘Love you Erin. We’re all here for you. You’re such an incredible, talented force of nature and I consider myself incredibly lucky to know you. Keep shining bright. Leave the trolls to us. We got your back.’

Chace Crawford added: ‘Love you ! @erinelairmoriarty.’

Harry Potter star Bonnie Wright also commented: ‘Knowing you as I do, I know with every bone in my body how much dedication you bring to your work, your character, the story and your collaborators. I love and respect you so much. You have given everything to Starlight, like you you always do.’

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The Boys season four is currently in production, with Karl, Jack and other stars sharing behind-the-scenes action.

Jack, who plays Hughie, posted a photo to Instagram alongside The Butcher actor Karl Urban with the caption ‘it begins’.

The 30-year-old actor also posted a picture of himself on an airplane, writing: ‘Ah s**t, here we go again. #season4.’

The Boys is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video now.

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