Jessie T. Usher has shared his emotional journey of saying goodbye to the character A-Train after seven years on the show. His experience highlights the deep connection actors can form with their roles, especially when a character’s story comes to an end.
Usher took to social media to express his feelings about the conclusion of A-Train’s story in The Boys Season 5. He wrote, “&& loved every mile!!!” in response to the show’s official handle appreciating A-Train’s “helluva run.” This sentiment was echoed in interviews he gave following the Season 5 premiere, where he described the emotional weight of the character’s death.
During an interview with Nerdist, Usher reflected on his time playing A-Train. He said, “I really did love playing this character,” and added that the experience felt different because of the deep bond he had developed with the character over the years. He described the moment when the character’s story came to an end as one where everything felt meaningful.
Filming the death scene was particularly challenging for Usher. It took place at 4 am on a sheet of ice in winter in Toronto, and he described it as a moment where everything landed at once. “I just had this breath, where I felt relieved that we’ve built this thing up and we cared about this thing for so long, and now we’re presenting this character’s end in this way,” he said. “I’m feeling it now.”
The mourning, according to Usher, was not just about the character but about the relationships he had formed with the cast and crew. He revealed that he kept the secret of A-Train’s death from his castmates for a full year before finally telling them when they started reaching out after reading the scripts. “I had a hard time letting go of this character,” he admitted. “I had to sit down with myself and say, ‘Okay, it’s fine. We’ve done it. This is what we dreamed to do with the character from the very beginning.’”
When creator Eric Kripke first told him how the character’s story would end, Usher was moved to tears. “Honestly, tears in my eyes. I can’t thank him enough for taking the time to have this character make these real changes and have these real moments that play out on screen.”
A-Train’s story began in Season 1 when he accidentally killed Hughie’s girlfriend Robin. In his final moments, he swerves to avoid hitting a pedestrian, choosing someone else’s life over his own escape. Homelander snaps his neck, but not before A-Train gets to look his former oppressor in the face and call him a pathetic loser. “He finally gets a moment to catch his breath after running for so long,” Usher said. “He just couldn’t do it anymore.”
When Antony Starr posted his own farewell to the show on Instagram, calling it the highlight of his career, Usher dropped into the comments simply to say, “You did a damn good job as Homelander.” Seven years of shared screen time, and that is exactly the right thing to say.
You May Also Like:
Jensen Ackles reveals true feelings on Soldier Boy in ‘The Boys’
