The Boys stars are sending support to their co-star Karen Fukuhara after she was the victim of a possible hate crime. The Japanese-American actress is best known for her roles as Tatsu Yamashiro/Katana in David Ayer's 2016 Suicide Squad and as Kimiko Miyashiro, a.k.a The Female, in Amazon Prime's hit series The Boys. Other than these comic book roles, Fukuhara lends her voice to two Netflix series, including the character Glimmer in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and the titular character in Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts.
First premiering on Amazon Prime in 2019, The Boys has proven to be one of the streamer's biggest hits for its irreverent and cynical take on superheroes. The series has elevated the profile of much of its cast, many of whom were previously unknown. After making her screen debut in Suicide Squad, Fukuhara got the opportunity to showcase her acting chops even further as Kimiko, a former test subject who is involuntarily injected with Compound V and later rescued by the Boys. Because her character is mute, it's an inherently harder performance for Fukuhara to pull off, given she can only communicate through sign language and facial expressions.
Now, Karen Fukuhara is unfortunately making headlines as the victim of a hate crime attack. On Instagram, Fukuhara revealed that she was recently assaulted outside of an unnamed cafe, and she believes the attack was racially motivated. Thankfully, the actress was not seriously harmed and posted an impassioned plea calling for more awareness about incidents like these, accompanying her post with the hashtag "StopAsianHate." Many of Fukuhara's co-stars on The Boys sent their support and rallied behind her in the comments, including Jack Quaid, Chace Crawford, and Laz Alonso. See the post below:
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Fukuhara did not specify whether or not she has filed or plans to file a police report. Nevertheless, Fukuhara's account mirrors the troubling wave of anti-Asian violence that has swept across the country in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus was first discovered in Wuhan, China. The latest estimates put the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes at over 300 percent in just the last year. Fukuhara added in her post that this is not the first time she's had racial slurs directed at her, but it is the first time she's been physically harmed.
Fortunately, Fukuhara was not seriously injured during the encounter, and hopefully her speaking out will raise awareness about the issue at large. She adds her voice to several actors, including Shang-Chi's Simu Liu, The Office's Mindy Kaling, and Agents of SHIELD's Chloe Bennett, who denounced anti-Asian hate crimes last year. Fukuhara can be seen in The Boys season 3, premiering on June 3.
Source: Karen Fukuhara/Instagram