WORDS BY IRVIN RIVERA

Japanese-American actress KAREN FUKUHARA has been playing a solid array of strong, powerful women in film and TV throughout her career- she played Katana in Suicide Squad, Kipo in Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Glimmer in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and she also currently plays the role of Kimiko a.k.a. “The Female” in Amazon Prime Video’s “THE BOYS.”

Kimiko is one of the super powered humans in the series who tags along “The Boys” as they expose and take down super-powered humans abusing and using their powers to commit terrible things to humanity. Kimiko was introduced mute in Season 1, where her way of communication was limited to her facial expressions and the sounds she makes. Season 2 delved deeper into Kimiko’s storyline and also making her communicate better with sign language.

In this exclusive interview, Fukuhara talks about her Asian-American identity and how it affects her work, the challenges of playing Kimiko in “The Boys,” working alongside a sign-language coach, her favorite moment while filming the show, her YouTube channel, quarantine, and more.

How is this new normal for you?

I think the new normal is tough for everybody and I'm in the same position as everybody else out there. I am stuck at home, I'm at times frustrated that I can't see my loved ones, especially my family or my friends. But we're in it together and we have to, as a group, work together to beat this virus.

Although I think it's not as daunting as I thought it would be. I live with my friends and my boyfriend, so that's been a saving grace and I also think it really helps knowing that I have ‘The Boys’ season 3 filming coming up. I think for my entire life, I didn't really realize this but I connected my sense of purpose to my career, I guess. And if I didn't have ‘The Boys’, I wouldn't have any of the press related work that I'm doing right now or the hope that I'd be able to work on my passion ever again. You just never know, because the industry was shut down for a really long time. There's no guarantee for anyone. But knowing that someday it's going to get better- knowing that is what's kept me sane, and then just working out and cooking and trying new hobbies. I just picked up surfing this week.

That's amazing.

Yes, well, it's not so amazing. I haven't stood on my board yet. It's been about like, one foot waves for the past two days. So it's a very good learning condition for me. I didn't get swallowed by a wave yet but yes, just trying to keep busy here.

Yes, and I saw you just started your YouTube channel as well. So that's another thing that’s keeping you busy.

Yes, I have so much time on my hands right now. I felt like in the past, I was scared to start YouTube because I didn't want to jeopardize any of my chances going into audition rooms. I don't want people to know a certain side of me or to judge me before walking into the room. As an actor, I think its best when you can fully engulf in that character and become that person for them. So I was really scared starting a YouTube channel. I think I thought about it many times over the years and then I was like, No, I can't do that, this is going to be bad for my career. It's going to have a negative effect. But then I started realizing that a lot of the roles that I play have not shown a different side of me that I actually possess. You know, I play a lot of assassins and it's been so much fun. I love it and I kind of want to go down this path of like, playing murderers. It's a lot of fun, right? Because you don't get to do that in real life. But I thought even if I do this (YouTube Channel) I don't think it could hurt me because they would just see that I could play a different side. And I started putting a positive spin on the reasoning behind it.

It's cute though. It really shows your personality, so I really enjoyed watching it. 

Thank you so much.

How would you describe ‘The Female’ aka Kimiko's evolution throughout the seasons of the show?

Oh my goodness. I guess the most, the easiest way to put it is that she starts off as a feral creature that is trying to survive and that her survival mechanism never really changes throughout season one.

You find her in this cage- kidnapped and tortured. She definitely doesn't want to be there. It’s kind of anyone’s worst nightmare and she was separated from her family; her brother. She had to leave him behind to come to the States and for what reason? She has no idea.

She escaped and it's still about survival, she has to stay alive and she's fought for her own way of life because up till now someone else define that for her. And in season two, you see her humanized a bit more.

So Eric (Kripke) and I talked about this at the beginning of season one and he said that he wanted Kimiko to be different from the comics because in the comics, you don't really see a human side of her at all. She surprises you because you have no idea what she faces, her morals or, you don't think she has a moral compass. She's kind of doing her own thing and she's surprised with you a lot. She’s unpredictable, I guess. And in our show, Eric wanted her to be a normal girl that was put in a terrible situation. And I think we've achieved that through her story arc and his vision and the team of writers that we have that have created her story over the two seasons. I think, yes, it really is about a normal girl that was put into a terrible situation, and how she's dealing with all of the shit thrown at her and surviving.

I like that even though she's not really speaking. She's still very communicative and she's communicating a lot this season. So that's nice.

Yes, yes.  I'm so happy that she found a way to communicate and you know, she does sign language this season and that opened up a whole new door for me and Kimiko. It was a lot of fun to do all of that. So, yes. Season two was challenging and also very fulfilling, I would say.

Speaking of the challenges, what are the challenges and the highs that you experienced while filming?

I think I feel the most high whenever I finish a scene that I had been kind of nervous about. You know, there are definitely some scenes in there that are challenging and you have to be vulnerable and you have to open up that side of you that you never know. I mean, you do it because it's your job and at the end of the day, I love doing it. But there's a part of you that’s also a bit scared and you have to get over that hump in order to finish the day, and once you accomplished that, that's when I feel the most high because you're just elated.

I think that would be like the emotional vulnerable side of season two, I felt really high over those scenes, but also, I feel really great when I finish a good stunt. Yes, that's also a challenge, right? You know, you're nervous that you might hurt yourself or you might not be able to do the right thing or you might not get it in like a few takes and you're running low on time or something. I don't know, I feed off compliments. So when the stunt coordinator comes up to you, and he's like, Oh, that was perfect! That looks so good! And then you look back on the monitors, and it's just good, I don't know, all the action that I get to do are really, really exciting to me as well.

That's great! I know you have a background in martial arts, right? So does that help you a lot in doing all these action scenes in the show? 

Yes, definitely. I used to compete in the forms division for karate. So that is a lot of choreography and memorizing and I think that helped with the stunt choreography. And then I think knowing how to spar has helped with you know, knowing how hard to go against someone or the distance between people. You kind of have an intrinsic way of knowing that, but that came through years of training and I think if I were to jump into it today and start all over, I don't think I would be as good as I could be. But yes, and then everything else you learn on the job, right? So for Suicide Squad, years ago, I never knew how to sword fight but I was trained for months during pre-production and even during shooting with the best people in the industry.

That's the beauty of this job, you know, you get to learn from the best of the best and everyone on set is the best of the best. Not just the stunt crew and not just the director and the cam-mops and everything but everyone like wardrobe, hair, makeup, everyone is so passionate about what they do, and they're the best of the best, so working with them is really inspiring as well.

That's so nice to hear.

Yes, for sure.

It just makes the whole experience so much better. Especially if you have the best people around you. That's great.

Yes, I mean, every day on set I learn something new or I'm surprised by the workmanship. I love it when I go on set and “The Deep’s” gills are in the makeup trailer and the prosthetics team is showing us how the gills are going to talk, like this pump thing that you have to press and it looks so real. And even all of the scenes where I do the eye gouging or the face ripping or the head tearing off, it all sounds great. But doing all that, you know, it would look so bad if someone that didn't know how to do it, do it. It's the details that really make the storytelling be as realistic as possible.

Even the wardrobe. I don't feel like my character if I don't wear the wardrobe with my hair and makeup. Until then I don't truly feel like Kimiko. Even the makeup team, like if I ever have a scar on the show, It looks so real. I'm in awe every day. I love what I do, and I really miss it.

There's so many memorable scenes in the show this season that will absolutely shock you.

Is there a specific moment in the show that resonates with you the most? Like in this season, what's your favorite moment?

Oh, there's so many. I think some of my favorite moments this season were with my brother. His name's Abraham Lim, and he plays Kenji, who's my little brother on the show. And reading the script, it was a big surprise to know that he was coming in and you know, returning back into my life, and that was a big, big catalyst for Kimiko for sure. So that was -- even in the show, it was already amazing, and then I met Abraham in person, and he just brought this sort of hilarious energy onto the set and every day with him, and it was just so much fun. We joke around all the time, and yes, so a lot the scenes that we did together, it was such a pleasure to be on set with him. I was very lucky to be in his presence and if I were to pick a scene, oh, there's so many. I think the swing set scene was my favorite one.

Yes, that was very tender. I remember that.

Yes. It's actually really funny because we shot that on a Friday night in Toronto, and the swing set were right next to a club, a nightclub.  There were so many people, you know, enjoying their Friday night, drunk and coming in and like walking towards the line right next to our set. It was so funny because we're obviously shooting and we have big cameras and the lighting setup and everything. And while we're doing the scene, there were a couple of people that would just go in front of us and like do dances from far away and try to make us laugh and as you know, this scene is very emotional, and it's very charged. So, there were some take where we're like, oh, man, we have to try extra hard and we have to work extra hard to keep it together.

You both did a great job though, because I couldn't tell.

Thank you. That's good. I mean, it was distracting but when you're so in it, you almost don't see it, so it worked out for me, but it was just so funny because like the music was pumping. I'm surprised we didn't have to correct the sound and the dialogue, we could hear, it was like deep bass sounds coming in with like drunk club goers going around and they go, oh, what are you guys shooting?

Oh my God

Can you keep quiet and please go away? (laughs)

Was it like ever a challenge to you that Kimiko doesn't really talk but you sign language instead or do you think that adds up more to the character?

I think the sign language was definitely helpful this season. Last season, there were definitely limitations to being mute. You know, you have to communicate through body language and facial expressions and that is difficult to do. So yes, there are challenges and I'm really thankful that sign language was a part of season two. I think one thing that I didn't even realize in the beginning when I started working with my coach is how powerful signing can be.

And I worked with Amanda Richer who is the sign language coach for Shape of Water for Sally. And she has a hearing aid, but she's deaf and she shared many stories with me about how she grew up with this trait, I don't even want to say disability. It's just a trait. And hearing her real life experiences really helped me with Kimiko's, to know where Kimiko might be emotionally. What kinds of things would she think about, what would she struggle with? Even though she's not deaf, to live with that kind of thing, to live as an outsider in other people's worlds essentially, because our society is catered towards people that can do everything like, you know, people who has control over all five senses. Or I guess, not just the five senses, but people who can talk.

But, yes, and to give a specific example, for one of the themes that we shot, Kenji and I were having an argument under the boat. And when you have an argument with someone, you don't really want to listen to the other person, I think. And so I asked Amanda, I said, what happens if he just won't look at me? Because if he doesn't look at me, then he doesn't know what I'm saying. So as someone that has lived with this, how do you deal with someone that's unwilling to listen because it's really difficult to force someone to look at you and then sign, right? And so those are the kinds of small details that you would never really think about. You just start to go down this rabbit hole of questions of, oh, so if we were to go and hang out at a restaurant or a bar, what would be difficult for you? And she said, it's difficult at a bar because everyone's yelling and you can't hear anything and most people are yelling, it's just loud places are difficult for her because with her hearing aid, she can kind of hear a little bit but she still has to read lips, but then at a bar it's dark.

So you know, and even to this day, I haven't asked her this question, but, you know, during Coronavirus, we're all wearing masks. So how does she communicate? Is that difficult for her because she can't read lips and it's harder because our voices are muffled and it's harder to hear.

It was really an awesome experience to work with someone that is an expert in the field and not just an expert but someone that's lived it because…where would I get these answers from, you know? 

That's really beautiful because you speaking to me about this right now just adds layers of meaning to the character, into Kimiko that maybe a lot of people don't realize until you actually sit down and think about it. That's beautiful, to think about these things. 

Yes, that's the same reaction I had when I started because I didn't think about these things when I first read the script and then when I started working with her, there were so many discoveries.

Kimiko is amazing, but out of all the roles that you played, is there any role or character that resonated with you the most and why?

I think they all resonate with me in a different way. You know, surprisingly, Kimiko resonated with me right from the audition. I don't know why but, you know, the feeling of desperation and needing to survive, that's something I kind of connected with. Even though I've haven't had real life experiences like that. It's a very basic need. And it was easier than I expected to tap into that.

For Katana, you know, I'm very Japanese. I think growing up, I was more Japanese than American and over the years, over the past few years or 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years, I've grown into fully being more American than Japanese and right now I'm probably very half and half, 50-50 Japanese-American, but I went through waves of not being able to figure out which one I was. My identity was wavering all the time and then I realized oh, I don't really have to pick one, I can just be both.

We speak in Japanese at home and growing up with Japanese media, television movies and those have meanings. Japanese media has probably different takeaways than American ones. Yes, very different. So, you know, growing up with Japanese media have shifted my worldviews probably a little bit and that really helped with playing Katana and I really understood what the hierarchy of Japanese society is in terms of class, the respect that you must show people, the honor, the loyalty- things like that, I kind of knew growing up so that helps with Katana.

I think Glimmer was just fun to play. At least her voice was very similar to mine, a little bit higher, but yes, Glimmer, and Kipo as well.

Karen, final question. If you were a book, what book would you be and why?

If I were a book, I would be an open book. 

I love it. 

A part of me is saying that because I don't really read that much, but also because I think -- I hate talking about myself and I'm Asian, so I don't like taking compliments and I don't compliment myself.

I feel you.

Yes, you know, it's like a thing. But I think one thing that I do pride myself in or what I like about myself is that I'm open to different opinions and I'm open to learning something, even if I believe one thing, I'm completely open to learning about the other side. Yes, so I would say that if I were a book, I would be an open book.

The entire Season 2 of THE BOYS is now available and streaming at AMAZON PRIME VIDEO