Nathan Mitchell is used to being front and center. The 35-year-old Canadian actor has starred as superhero Black Noir on Prime Video’s “The Boys” for over five years, appearing as a lead actor across four seasons, and yet, no one has seen his face…until now. 

In “The Boys” season four, Mitchell removes his mask and performs verbal dialogue as Black “New” Noir. New Noir is technically a Vought actor who is playing Black Noir following the character’s death in season three. He is spirited, talkative, and inquisitive, questioning Black Noir’s past and the motivations of The Seven while following orders given to him by the series’ supervillain, Homelander. 

Before season four, Mitchell’s performance was non-verbal. Audiences never got to see the actor without his signature Black mask. Mitchell tells BET.com that he was prepared to stay masked through the series run, but is excited for his moment in the spotlight. Keep reading to see Mitchell’s thoughts on becoming the Internet’s newest boyfriend following his unmasking, what his mother said about his “The Boys” journey, and why he feels Black representation in the fantasy genre is essential. 

BET: I wanted to look back at those initial seasons when all of your scenes were nonverbal and you used your body to portray the story. How did you conquer that and approach those three seasons?

Nathan Mitchell: What I would do is, I would look at a scene, and I would say, ‘what are his thoughts? What does he hear? What would he say if he could?’ And then I took those words, and I put them into my body and said, ‘Okay, if I can't say these things, how would I express these things? How would I try to get what I want if I can't speak? How would I react?’ So I've physicalized those thoughts and sentences in my head. That was really my process.

BET: This season is very different from the past three seasons. You’re unmasked. How has it been for you now playing New Noir, who is vocal and an entirely different character in many ways? Could you talk to us a bit about that experience?

Mitchell: It was super cool. In getting this role, I was never told that I would be taking my mask off at any point. This character does not speak; we do not see his face. So I had embraced that, you know? When I learned that I would get to take off my mask and speak, I was so excited because the writers are so funny, creative, and witty that I knew we'd have so many cool scenes and dynamics and opportunities to play with that. There's an adjustment period when you are working on a show for the first time. It did feel like stepping into something for the first time because I'd never worked on a show in this way. But once I got into the scene with Chace [Crawford], the flow started. After a little while, it started to feel really natural and just a lot of fun because I hadn't gotten to do it yet.

BET: After four seasons, I'm assuming you know the character very well. Did you incorporate anything into his new personality or speak with the writers about where you would like him to go as a new character this season?

Mitchell: Our writing team and [showrunner] Eric [Kripke] are great in that they're open. If we have thoughts, questions, or anything we want to talk about, Eric is there to listen, you know? He'll talk with us [and] answer our questions. If you have ideas, he'll discuss them with us. And then often, even if we have a kernel of something, you'll take that and incorporate it and create something better than we could have imagined. Eric and the whole team are collaborative in that way. That's something that we all really appreciate and makes us feel valued and cared for as actors because it's a collaborative creative process. I think that's something most actors love to have. 

BET: Since you've removed the mask, you've been getting quite a bit of buzz on social media. How does that feel for you? How are you processing people who finally see your face and are quite excited when they do? 

Mitchell: It’s really special and really heartwarming. Noir has a different trajectory in the comics and a different story in the comics. There are some people who wanted to see that. I totally understand that, as a comic book fan, sometimes you want to see what's on the page on the screen. So I didn't have any expectations. But to see fans appreciate seeing me on screen, and say they love it and it was a long time coming, and being really glad that I'm still in the role. I feel just really, really grateful and supported. It's great to know that we have fans that care about us as actors and appreciate what we put into the roles that we do. And so, it's been really heartwarming and I'm really grateful.

BET: Can you give us any clues about whether this new Black Noir will lean into the violence of The Seven moving forward? Or is he gonna kind of do his own thing and adapt differently?

Mitchell: I think he's been asking for some direction into this character this entire time. He has his hesitations about committing acts of violence and that's what comes. But at the end of the day, he is an actor. I think the cool part of this show is we explore the darker sides of celebrities in the entertainment industry. With New Noir, we get to see what happens when an actor takes his role more seriously than morality. I think now that Noir has some direction, he has the choice of like, ‘Okay, now that I know what this character is about and I can lean into it, will I and how will I do that?’ I think he's in a place where if he knew what he was getting into initially, he might have been like, ‘I’m good.’ He's pretty there, so he might as well buckle down and lean in. We'll see him potentially inching more and more towards what is required of him and who he has been told old Noir was.

BET:  “The Boys” has multiple leads who are Black and people of color. It makes space for that. Why do you think Black representation within the fantasy and superhero genres is important to you?

Mitchell: It's important to me because it's important that we see ourselves. Growing up my mom had a toy store, where she had Black action figures and Black dolls because she recognized that it was important for our community to see ourselves and to have figures that we could play with and learn through. There is a [Black] character named Sun-Man. That was one of my favorite action figures as a kid. I've been fortunate that, as a Black man, there have been characters over the last 20, 30 years that I've been able to see myself in certain roles. That's not always been the case for Black women. It has only sometimes been the case for many other races. I'm aware of how that gave me a sense of belonging that told me, ‘Hey, I can be in this world.’ 

I think that having Black heroes and representation for everyone — for Black people, for different colors, genders — it affirms that you belong and affirms that you have a place.