The Boys showrunner reveals how an Oscar winner wound up voicing an octopus

The Deep and Ambrosius from The BoysPrime Video

One of the biggest surprises from The Boys Season 4 may be the return of Ambrosius and the sly voice cameo from an Oscar-winning actor. Now showrunner Eric Kripke has revealed how the cameo came about.

The Boys Season 4 sees the return of Ambrosius, the Octopus that The Deep took on as a lover during Season 3’s infamous Herogasm episode.

Not only is Ambrosius hiding in The Deep’s closet, but now viewers can hear her for the first time as she communicates telepathically with The Deep.

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If she sounded familiar, there’s good reason: her voice is provided by Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton.

Speaking with Variety, showrunner Eric Kripke revealed Swinton’s cameo was little more than the acclaimed actor getting the joke.

“For Tilda, we didn’t know her — it was just that once we realized that Ambrosius was going to be a character this year, we in the writers’ room all said, ‘We need the classiest, Oscar-winningest, British actress we can get our hands on.’ And that’s a really short list. And Dame Judi Dench was unavailable.” Kripke explained.

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“We reached out to Tilda, and to her everlasting credit, she didn’t know any of us, but she was like, ‘That sounds hilarious, I’m in,’ and she did it.”

Swinton’s cameo as Ambrosius is one of several high-profile cameos that The Boys Season 4 has seen so far, including Will Ferrell appearing as himself, starring in A-Train’s gritty new film.

There’s also a plethora of cameos from Kripke’s other works, as usual, including Jim Beavers returning as “Dakota” Bob Singer and Rob Benedict in a particularly unsettling riff on Human Centipede.

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But if the show is any indication, Swinton’s character may not be long for the series. The Deep has an awful track record with his love interests, human or otherwise.

There are already signs of tension, too, as Ambrosius was last seen chastising him for not cleaning her tank. With this season ramping up the tension, drama, and stakes faster than ever, there’s no telling what gruesome fate The Boys Season 4 has for Ambrosius.

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New episodes of The Boys Season 4 drop on Wednesdays on Prime Video. Until then, check out The Boys Season 4 theories and read up on all the new Supes in The Boys.