Antony Starr Reveals 85-Foot Gen V Stunt Height Fear

antony starr’s Gen V stunt went from routine wire work to a real test of nerves when he was lifted to about 85 feet in the air. The The Boys actor said the setup exposed a fear of heights he did not realize was this strong.

He said he was clipped in about 40 feet up before the scale of the shot hit him, and the highest point reached around 85 feet. Starr later described the moment as “genuinely” surprising and said he was glad he “didn’t pee the suit. Or worse.”

Gen V wire work

Behind-the-scenes footage from Gen V showed Starr suspended on wires during the flying stunt, then repeatedly signaling that he wanted to come down. He said he probably should have let a stunt double take over instead of doing it himself, a practical call that fits how superhero productions usually split risk between principals and specialists.

Starr wrote on Instagram, “Face of regret. The place I went that caused the regret….high….The boss, [who] also regretted putting his actor that high.” The clip spread as a viral blooper, turning a technical set piece into a quick read on how hard it is to keep an on-screen flyer comfortable when the actor playing him does not like being off the ground.

Turbulence and panic

In a Wired interview, Starr said, “I think the more you do something, the less afraid you get.” He also said a recent flight brought that lesson into question when turbulence made him panic and he grabbed the arm of the little old lady next to him.

“I’ve been flying a lot lately, and I just flew in yesterday, and there was a big bump, and I grabbed the little old lady next to me. I literally grabbed her arm because I don’t like heights and I thought I’d dealt with it, but I haven’t,” he said. For a franchise built on flight, that is the wrinkle: the actor behind Homelander can sell the visual, but the stunt itself still pushed him into a genuine panic response.

Homelander and the stunt double

“I never thought (…) that’s a long way off the ground. So they clipped me in, harnessed me up about 40 feet up, which was halfway. I started going, ‘Oh, this is not good.’ And I started swearing a lot,” Starr said of the Gen V shoot. He added, “I was freaking out. That was actually a moment that really enlightened me as to, like, I really do have a fear of heights that I didn’t realize I had. Look, I’m still here,” which leaves the cleanest takeaway: for this kind of shot, the better production decision is probably to put the stunt double in the harness first.