Ahead of the release of Gen V, Dorkaholics received exclusive clips from the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community members (Shelley Conn, Derek Luh, and London Thor) starring in the series spun off from The Boys.
Do you need to have seen The Boys to enjoy Gen V?
DEREK LUH: You do not need to see The Boys to enjoy Gen V. Gen V is a perfect standalone show on its own. You will love all of the characters. And they’ve done such a good job at filling you in on everything that’s happened to where you’re not like, wait, wait, what’s here? It’s not this ominous, like, oh, well, if you didn’t catch this in the Season 3, minute five of The Boys, you’re not gonna understand Episode 3. No, no, they do a great job of integrating everything to where if you haven’t seen The Boys, you’re gonna thoroughly enjoy Gen V.
Can you tell us a bit about your character in Gen V?
SHELLEY CONN: My character, Dean Indira Shetty, runs the school. She knows where they’re coming from and what they’re going through, and she knows how to talk to them. And with these young people, she becomes kind of like a surrogate mother to them. So, they trust her. They rely on her. She reaches out to them and they take the hand. It’s a nice relationship.
What is your unique power called, and how does it play out in the story?
LONDON THOR: The power that we have is called shifting. And it really does play out in the story, both in fighting and in relationships as well. It adds to the dynamic and the complex idea of, you know, who you are in college and growing up and finding yourself. And then also it creates this just fantastic weapon.
Do you think it’s important for your character to be a hero or just to embody what a hero is supposed to be?
LONDON THOR: I think that’s what’s so interesting about Jordan and Marie being out of the fold; they are the two characters that want to be heroes. They’re completely optimistic that this is the reality of the world. They can work hard enough to be in The Seven and The Seven saves people. And that’s why it’s so fun to play these characters to try and manage the come down from the reality check and the characters that didn’t care much about The Seven or didn’t wanna be in The Seven. You’ve got Andre, who isn’t interested in that kind of responsibility.
Can you walk us through how Godolkin University positions itself to incoming students?
SHELLEY CONN: Godolkin University is the backdrop of the entire show. It’s an elite Ivy League type of facility, a school that deals with two main factions of what it would be to become an adult superhero. One of them is the kind of celebrity, entertainer, influencer kind of world. And the other is the serious crime fighter, this is you saving the world if that’s the route you wanna go.
Talk about the connective tissue that binds Gen V to The Boys’ universe.
LONDON THOR: The presence of Homelander and The Seven is very easy to see on the campus. We’ve got literal statues of Homelander looking down at us at all times and all the other superheroes watching. It’s a huge part of the school. I mean, I think they surround it almost like propaganda of “this is what you are aspiring to.” And it’s just all-encompassing, and it’s always there and you’re always aiming for it.”
Catch new episodes of Gen V every Friday on Prime Video.
