Getting Jeffrey Dean Morgan In The Boys Was Not An Easy Feat

For those lucky enough to have experienced this, think back to how you first managed to get your dream job. The painstaking process of gathering enough relevant experience over the years, looking for open positions, and sending out résumés to whomever will take them — not to mention all the rejections along the way — can turn even the best and most optimistic of us into cynical grumps. Actors, for all the glitz and glamor we see from the outside looking in, oftentimes have to suffer through similar moments of heartbreak over and over again. Not all actors, however, are Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Season 4 of the hit Prime Video series "The Boys" is rapidly approaching and, despite some casting turnover in recent years, the stars keep bringing viewers back again and again. Last season added Jensen Ackles to its formidable roster as the superhero Soldier Boy, while past guest appearances include the likes of Aya Cash's white supremacist Stormfront, Giancarlo Esposito's sinister Vought CEO Stan Edgar, and even Simon Pegg in the early going as Hughie Campbell's (Jack Quaid) father.

It's now "Watchmen" and "The Walking Dead" alum Morgan's turn in the spotlight as, well, a mysterious unnamed character that has remained suspiciously under wraps. Someone of his caliber doesn't exactly need to audition for new roles, but that doesn't mean his "The Boys" gig came easy. Morgan and series creator Eric Kripke, both of whom previously collaborated on "Supernatural," have flirted with making a reunion happen for years, but it wasn't meant to be ... until now. It's been a long and winding path to get to this point, starting with Morgan first becoming a fan of the violent superhero show and culminating with his hiring. In between, a Twitter interaction may have sealed the deal.

Who knew getting Jeffrey Dean Morgan to join "The Boys" would end up feeling just as difficult as the reality-show hijinks of getting a spot on the legendary supervillain superhero team The Seven? Okay, that might be overstating things a bit, but it certainly wasn't a straightforward line from point A to point B.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Morgan opened up about his own origin story as, appropriately enough, a mere fan of the subversive and bloody streaming show. As he explained, "When I first saw ['The Boys'], I just knew immediately, 'I gotta be on the show.'" When the series first dropped, it provided an oasis in a desert dominated by traditional heroes of the Marvel ilk. According to Morgan, the "deconstruction" aspect of this darker and more grown-up approach appealed to him directly. (There's a reason, after all, he gravitated towards Zack Snyder's "Watchmen" in 2009.)

But it took until 2020 for the wheels to grind into motion thanks to, of all things, a tweet. After taking his enthusiasm to Twitter (if you call it "X," you're a Homelander groupie), Eric Kripke replied with a public promise, saying, "I'll make you a deal. Season 3. I'll write it, and if you're avail, come shoot it!" Morgan's availability remained in question, however, stemming from his commitments to "The Walking Dead: Dead City." To Kripke's credit, he rearranged the season 4 film shoot to accommodate his golden goose and the pair made it happen. According to Morgan:

"I'm incredibly lucky that Eric and the crew allowed that to happen, because it's a pain in the ass. You can't lock a picture, you can't finish anything. They're just waiting for Jeff to f***ing show up to shoot a few scenes."

And now for the question of the day: Exactly who has Jeffrey Dean Morgan been cast as in "The Boys" season 4? After such a roundabout path to joining the series, Morgan's long-rumored role has inspired plenty of speculation among fans. Until Derek Wilson's diabolically kinky hero Tek Knight appeared on our screens in the debut season of "The Boys" spinoff series "Gen V," fans had pegged Morgan for the role. Now, with his briefest of appearances opposite Karl Urban's Billy Butcher in the latest "The Boys" trailer giving away absolutely nothing, we only have Eric Kripke's awfully vague comments to go on. While talking to EW, Kripke would only mention that Morgan's character is "an old colleague of Butcher's." He went on to tease:

"I can tell you that he shares a lot of Butcher's concern and hatred of superheroes. It really came from the notion of everyone else in 'The Boys' is always trying to pull Butcher back. So what would happen if he started working with someone who wants to push him forward?"

Whoever he turns out to be, there's no denying the thrill of seeing a veteran character actor as talented and quietly menacing as Morgan in the world of "The Boys" is thrilling in its own right. Season 4 debuts on Prime Video with the first three episodes on June 13, 2024.