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The Boys star Erin Moriarty said she hurt herself several times while filming the latest season as the shoot coincided with her Graves’ disease symptoms peaking.
Moriarty, who plays Annie January aka Starlight in the Prime Video series, shared the details on her social media shortly after the release of the fourth episode of the fifth and final season.
“Okay, so: season 5, episode 4 of The Boys is one of the most important episodes I’ve ever shot,” she wrote on Instagram, over a picture of her bandaged leg.
“Unfortunately, that part of the season coincided with my health issues peaking before my diagnosis. I am saving you the gnarly part of this picture but not long after this episode, I started to lose the ability to walk.”
“The numbness in my feet led to a lot of falling,” she continued. “The night before we shot my segment of this episode, I fell and shredded up my knee.”
Erin Moriarty says she hurt herself several times while shooting for ‘The Boys’ (Instagram/Erin Moriarty)
The actor revealed her Graves’ disease diagnosis in June last year, saying it had left her nauseous and exhausted. “One thing I can say: if I hadn’t chalked it all up to stress and fatigue, I would’ve caught this sooner,” she said at the time, adding that she felt her strength increasing within 24 hours of beginning treatment.
Graves’ disease is a form of hyperthyroidism. It is caused when the body’s immune system produces antibodies that disrupt the thyroid gland to make excessive thyroid hormone.
According to the NHS, symptoms may include a fast heart rate or palpitations, tremors, diarrhoea, difficulty sleeping, weight loss, irregular periods, and feeling hot, hungry, or anxious.
Some patients may experience neck swelling or bulging eyes, known as Graves’ ophthalmopathy.
Erin Moriarty plays Annie January aka Starlight in The Boys (Prime Video)
On Thursday, Moriarty said her injury and the worsening symptoms affected her ability to fully enjoy the production.
“I barely have any [behind-the-scenes] shots of this season, especially as things worsened,” she said.
“This isn’t a pity post. It’s mostly to say: f*** autoimmune disease. F*** it so hard. F*** the ignorance surrounding it, too. I can’t remedy that ignorance but not being outspoken about it occasionally feels wrong.”
The Boys, which debuted in 2019, explores what happens when superheroes become as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians, and as revered as gods – and abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good.
The series also stars Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell and Antony Starr as Homelander, alongside Jessie T Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, and Karen Fukuhara.
Moriarty shared a tearful picture of herself after wrapping up her final scenes last July. Her post came after she was forced to take an “extensive if not permanent” social media break following harassment over “reductive assumptions” about her appearance.