One of The Boys season 4’s most NSFW moments was an "authentic" reaction from one of its actors

The Boys has its fair share of a-holes – but we didn’t expect the Prime Video series to make it literal.

In the first batch of The Boys season 4 episodes, VP-elect Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) parleys with Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and concocts a plan to obtain the footage of her popping heads in an abandoned Blockbuster-esque video rental store.

While Butcher initially agrees, he reneges on the deal in spectacular fashion: by sending a picture of a man’s rectum.

As creator and showrunner Eric Kripke explained on Twitter, the shocked response from Victoria Neuman was actually an "authentic" reaction from actor Claudia Doumit.

"This was Claudia's real reaction at seeing the picture for the first time. All authentic," Kripke wrote in reply to someone wondering if Doumit broke character.

Kripke later followed up: "Because hundreds of you asked: the butthole from #TheBoys Season 4, Ep 1 is NOT Butcher's (or Karl's). We hired a model (I don't know his name). I chose the pic, based on about 20 different butthole shots. Yep, Hollywood is a glamorous dream factory."

So, there you have it: the moment that made millions recoil in horror also made the actor at its centre do the exact same thing. Only The Boys could pull off a nudity jumpscare and make it work in such revolting fashion.

The Boys season 4 is currently streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes following weekly. For more, check out The Boys season 4 release schedule – plus our explainers on how Black Noir is back from the dead and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s mysterious CIA character.