A minor Black Noir character detail in The Boys is inspired by the real life actor Nathan Mitchell.
"We’ll be in scenes and he’s literally asleep. He’ll fall asleep," The Deep actor Chace Crawford said during a Happy Sad Confused live event.
Antony Starr, who plays Homelander on the Prime Video series, added: "He legit falls asleep. There’s a line in there – ‘Is Noir asleep?’ – and he goes, ‘I’m narcoleptic’. Which Nathan [Mitchell] is in real life. He’s fallen asleep at that table in that suit in real life."
The scene in question in The Boys season 4 involved Black Noir nodding off during a Vought/Seven briefing led by Homelander.
Narcolepsy is a brain condition that often causes a person to fall asleep or wake up against their will. It is estimated to affect one in 2,000 people in the US and millions of people worldwide.
This isn’t even the first time a health condition from Nathan Mitchell has made its way into the show. Black Noir’s nut allergy also mirrors the actor’s real-life severe allergy to nuts.
"The actors and I were at Comic-Con promoting season 1, and that was where I learned that Nathan Mitchell, the actor who plays Black Noir, has a super severe nut allergy," show creator Eric Kripke told TVLine back in 2020. "Like one of those people who can’t be in the same room with nuts, like a vampire with garlic."
"[Butcher actor] Karl [Urban] turns to me, laughing, and he says, ‘You know, we should give that weakness to Black Noir,’ and I just thought that was brilliant," Kripke explained. "When you think of superhero kryptonite, you think of things like kryptonite… I was just tickled by the idea that someone as strong and powerful as Noir could be taken out by something so simple and something that so many people suffer from."
For more on the show ahead of the finale, check out The Boys season 4 release schedule and additional coverage below:
- Homelander's dark past, explained
- The Boys season 4 takes full advantage of Prime Video’s most overlooked feature, and the result is hilarious
- Do I need to watch Gen V before The Boys season 4?
- Who is the new Black Noir in The Boys season 4? His return from the dead explained
- Who is Jeffrey Dean Morgan playing in The Boys season 4?
- Our writer’s opinion piece - The Boys season 4 plays heavy on cameos, and I'm worried it's becoming what it set out to mock
- Is this surprise A-list appearance in The Boys season 4 the show's best cameo yet?
- Who is Tek Knight and how the billionaire Supe is way worse in the comics
- What's the virus in The Boys season 4?
- Who is Webweaver?
