“The Boys” star Erin Moriarty, who plays Annie January a.k.a Starlight in the show, revealed her health troubles while shooting for the series.
The actress detailed how she battled a severe staph infection while shooting a sex scene for the show.
Erin Moriarty was battling a severe staph infection while filming an intimate scene in Season 2 of The Boys
According to E! News, Moriarty recalled her difficult times on Christina Applegate’s MeSsy podcast. She said, “I had one night for example early on in the show, season two, where I was so run down that I developed a really, really bad staph infection.” Adding, “I couldn’t move my right arm but I had a night shoot and I told production.”
The 32-year-old recalled, “I was like, ‘Guys, I have a second head growing out of my armpit—even if we wanted to go through with this, this is what it looks like.’” The actress went on to the night shoot and completed the intimate scene with Jack Quaid’s character, Hughie Campbell, who played her love interest. She, however, did not move the affected arm during the scene.
Moriarty gave herself a pat on the back for pushing through the pain. She said, “I will show up, and I will do whatever I have to do to show that I’m a good sport and a good player.”
The actress was ultimately diagnosed with Graves’ disease after her best friend insisted that she get her bloodwork done during the last season of the show in 2025. As she looks back, Moriarty realizes that her “identifier” through the autoimmune disease was that she was ready to “suffer for my art,” as per E! News.
The actress said that the diagnosis came as a relief after her long struggle with the disease. In an essay for TIME, Moriarty wrote that she wishes that others had learnt from her situation and gotten checked out earlier than she did.
DO YOU FEEL INSPIRED BY MORIARTY’S HEALTH JOURNEY?
