Entertainment Weekly reports on the secret role Samuel L Jackson played in the fifth and last season of The Boys. *Spoilers ahead* In the Prime Video original series, it was revealed that Jackson voiced Xander, the hammerhead shark animal companion and oceanic Uber to Chace Crawford’s (The Hunting of Molly Hartley, The Covenant) The Deep. Although the character was seen earlier in the season, it did not speak until the most recent episode.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Jackson’s voice acting on the series joins a list of cameos by other actors. Charlize Theron (The Old Guard, Monster) was featured in the third season of the series as Stormfront in a movie based on The Seven. The fourth season featured Josh Gad (The Wedding Ringer, Frozen), Ashton Kutcher (No Strings Attached, The Butterfly Effect) and Mila Kunis (Black Swan, Bad Moms), Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games, Cocaine Bear), and Rose Byrne (Instant Family, Insidious) in a spoof on the pandemic-era “Imagine” video

As per Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Eric Kripke (Vought Rising, Supernatural) shares that Tilda Swinton (The Room Next Door, Doctor Strange) was cast as the voice of The Deep’s cephalopod love interest, Ambrosius, which inspired Jackson’s role.

“Wouldn’t it be hilarious if every time we hear from an ocean animal it’s just the biggest possible, classiest actor we can possibly find, like Tilda?” he tells Entertainment Weekly. “There’s always a chance of getting them because it’s usually just an hour or two in a recording booth. They can do it wherever they are.”

It is stated that Jackson was their first choice for the Xander role, via Entertainment Weekly.  Though the initial response from the actor’s team was, as Kripke paraphrases, “We’ll ask him, but don’t get your hopes up.” To everyone’s surprise, Jackson is a fan of The Boys and said yes, barring any scheduling conflicts.

“There was just a morning. He was free in New York City, and we brought him into a booth. I was in L.A. but video conferencing and was able to watch him do it,” Kripke recalls via Entertainment Weekly.. “That’s a bucket-list thing, man, watching Sam Jackson read your dialogue. And I think it makes the scene just so funny because The Deep is getting told off and Sam Jackson’s very, very good at that.”