Kwaku Alston for Prime Video
“Why prepare for success only to be surprised by it when you achieve it?”
Aldis Hodge’s career has been busy since his debut as a child actor in the 1995 film Die Hard with a Vengeance, but he says all that work has culminated in Prime Video’s Cross (November 14). “It just feels like the work that I’ve done in the past 35 years of my career has led up to this.” Hodge plays Alex Cross, a detective who uses forensic psychology to capture serial killers. The character was made famous in the popular James Patterson novels and film adaptations starring Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry. “If I wasn’t on this show, I’d be watching it, because it’s the kind of show I’ve been waiting for for a long time.” And Hodge is going to have that chance, because before the first episode even aired, Prime Video announced that they were renewing it for a second season. “That’s a huge leap of faith for them to step out for us, but it also validates the work that our entire crew, our cast, our producers and writers [are doing]. And it is very rare that it happens, but it just lets us know how special this project actually is, and how lucky we are to be a part of it.”
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Editor’s Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
How does it feel to be part of this massive show?
I haven’t really taken that in yet. I’m very grateful to be a part of the show, to even have an opportunity like this, that feels amazing. I know that I’m very proud of this work. This is the work that I’ve been most proud of. Really happy about that. And as far as the rest, we’re going to put it out to the world. We’ll see how it goes in November. I think it’s going to go amazingly. But it just feels like the work that I’ve done in the past 35 years of my career has led up to this, and it feels like it was worthy and worth it.
Keri Anderson/Prime.
I mean, it was already renewed for a second season before the first episode of the first season even aired, so that’s gotta be a boost of confidence?
It’s true, man, we did feel a great deal of confidence. I mean, that’s a huge leap of faith for them to step out for us, but it also validates the work that our entire crew put down, and our cast and everybody, our producers and writers. And it is very rare that it happens, but it just lets us know how special this project actually is, and how lucky we are to be a part of it. So we’re just going to try to keep that going.
What about this character appealed to you?
So this character represents a lot of things that I believe to be accurate about how I see not only myself as an individual, from the standpoints of my culture, but I felt like there was a respectful nod and approach to how we reflect my culture through this person, through the world and the people in this world. And then also it grants us an opportunity to have different conversations and ways about things that ail us now or that are divisive that help people to understand and not be so divisive, help empathize and help to approach certain scenarios with a different perspective, a more positive and progressive perspective. So, I felt like there were a lot of opportunities to do good by stepping into these shoes.
I think you’re right, and this does feel different, because often in true crime we don’t see narrators like you. Did that stand out to you?
For me, I know what my life is and I know that oftentimes, as it is reflected in media, the narrative is skewed, because it’s not coming from our mouths, right? The world that we live in as Black people, especially dealing with the United States, oftentimes is fantasized or remarked as hyperbole, in some cases, as though what we deal with isn’t real. This show brings into the forefront all of the things that we deal with in a relatively honest way, so that you can take away the characterization of what we go through, or the invalidation of what we go through, and you can present it as truth in a fun, exhilarating, thrilling way. People often ask why we address certain subject matters, and how did we decide what matters to address, and it’s like, well, this is real life. There is no decision on trying to figure out how do we go into it, we just deal with it the way we deal with it. But oftentimes, from other people who don’t deal with that, they don’t realize how normal, how common, how basic these things are in our daily lives, how these fears pervade. And so for us, it’s really as simple as breathing. We don’t have to think about it because we live it. And as it is presented, I believe, again, with purpose, there’s a chance and opportunity for people to start understanding that we are not a subject matter for choosing at one’s behest. We are normal, we are real, we are here, we are rooted and we invite you to the experience in a really awesome way.
But also, what I think makes us different from other true crime shows I’ve seen is that not only do we invest in the crime, we invest in the people. Our interest is piqued because of the crime, but we stay for the people. We get to learn who they are through their lives, through their relationships, and we get to learn how these crimes and these issues affect their daily life. So not only am I just seeing the journey of the mission, I understand why the mission is even valuable, because I understand the world around the mission.
Keri Anderson/Prime Video
And the fact that we go in knowing there’s going to be another season, it just puts more value on the stories and why they matter.
I think Ben [Watkins, creator], the true breath of his sagacity is the fact that he can bring all these worlds together. Ben Watkins, our show creator and showrunner, he does it in a way that is still entertaining. It’s still funny, it’s sexy, it’s scary, it’s thrilling, because at the root of its core, this show is a nuanced thriller, and I say that meaning that I have never seen a thriller done this way. I have never seen a thriller where we get to be invited into the mindset of the killer in this way. And granted, Cross is a forensic psychologist, he understands how killers think, and what the audience is able to do is to join Cross on that journey, to also understand and know how this killer thinks, because we understand the killer as a human being, right? And we’re going to learn about what pushes them and their motivations, the traumas they can’t come back from, what shaped them. So that makes it even more intense when you realize how sometimes that affects the home life, how sometimes that disrupts your own personal friendships, and how it permeates his entire being and his entire ecosystem. So for me, the fact that I’m getting a new formula of what a thriller is as an audience member, as someone who also loves true crime, man, it puts me in a whole different seat when I’m thinking about what a show like this could be.
That’s the other thing, the show is all the things, there’s the thriller element, it’s scary, but also sexy and funny. It has touches of everything. That said, the mask the killer wears is actually terrifying.
To the point about the mask, I’m glad you brought that up, because he does wear two masks. He wears the physical [one] that we see, that is terrifying. But he’s also wearing the, I would say, the ethereal mask, which is him presenting himself as he moves through life. And that’s the scariest part, is that everybody has the capability, and a lot of people do wear masks as we move through the world, whether it’s going to work and putting on a smile when you’re not having a good day. But the way that he uses his mask, the power that he’s able to amass because of his mask, the people he’s able to control because of his mask. And then the fact that, yes, with the rest of the show, we get the world, which is the sexy bits, the funny, the honesty, the earnest, the heart, all of those things rolled into it to make it something that drives me [as Cross]. Because now I want this team to win. I want these people to be happy. I want these people to make it because they deserve to laugh. And maybe the killer’s inching around the corner. We don’t know if they’re going to make it right? So I’m sitting there at the edge of my seat. Man, if I wasn’t on this show, as in any capacity as a performer or whatever, I’d be watching it, because it’s the kind of show I’ve been waiting for for a long time.
Keri Anderson/Prime Video
The legacy of this character is long, originally made famous by Morgan Freeman and then Tyler Perry. How does it feel to be part of that legacy now?
It feels appropriate. It feels normal. It feels like what should happen. My friend and my brother from another mother, he also happens to be my barber on set, his name is Art Williams, and he says, “We didn’t come to be good. We came to be great.” I’m never surprised by succession, right? Nor am I intimidated. I’m like, “Okay, what did Morgan have to do to get to that place of reverence where he was able to take on this role? What was the value of it thereafter?” And that’s what I’ve been chasing and achieving my entire career. So it just feels normal. I don’t even regard it as an intimidating factor, because why prepare for success only to be surprised by it when you achieve it? And the idea of success here is a responsibility to not only myself, but to the audience, and I’m going to uphold that responsibility. So it just feels normal.
Without giving anything away, what can people expect from this season?
There’s a lot. The audience has the opportunity to go on the most exhilarating cat-and-mouse game that I have seen in years. We invite people into the whole breadth of the world of Cross, the true world of Cross, the story that was in the books but was written in-between the lines. Ben took that and put that on screen. And if you’re looking for that next show that is going to have you at the edge of your seat, is going to have you calling your mom and saying, “Hey, what happened? Did you see that?” If you want to have a real debate with your friends about what you think is about to happen next, and who you think is doing what and how. That is the show. It’s so much fun, it’s so much excitement, it’s so scary at certain points, but it’s all because of how brilliant it actually is.
There’s also a different sensibility to the format of the show. There’s almost a British sensibility, but more thrilling. There’s a slowness to figuring out the crime, spending time with the people involved.
I’m glad you said that, because when I said nuanced, I think that’s what I mean. In terms of the narrative, there’s a very stylistic way that Ben approaches it, from something that has been uncommon from projects I’ve seen and grown up with in the past, particularly in the States, there’s a different style to it. I feel like Cross, he is a forensic psychologist, that’s his superpower, the ability to get inside the mindset of a killer and understand how they think and what they do. I believe that Ben, to a degree, came at how to narrate this show from a psychological standpoint of understanding how he wanted the audience to live in the show. This is an invitation into our world and an invitation to wholly different experience that I know he and I as audience members and lovers of this genre really wanted. So he worked exponentially hard to not give you something that he wanted to give you something familiar, but at the same time unknown, untapped. And that’s what I love about the style of the show.
There’s also the true crime element that really brings a certain type of audience in. What is it about that genre that appeals to you? And because it’s often based in very dark material, what about us wants to watch these darker stories?
You know, I don’t even think something is wrong with that. I think it’s subconsciously rooted that we are interested in these things, not necessarily from a point of being excited about somebody who is doing terrible things. I think there’s a sense of curiosity that’s ingrained from childhood. We grew up watching the news. We grow up being taught how to survive, how to look out for certain things. I grew up rough, and I know that growing up, part of my childhood was, “Hey, make sure that if you’re ever in a pinch, you know how to get out of that pinch.” Make sure you’re looking for the signs, make sure you’re aware of this, that and the other. So I think there is a fabric of life that is common with these kind of things. Not always does it touch our home front, but there is something that is really quite common about these scenarios that constantly hit us. And now I think the curiosity of it all is trying to explore that familiarity in ways that challenge how we even think about it. “I think I know this thing, but can you present it to me in a different way?”
The fact that you got your start on Die Hard with a Vengeance is kind of insane. What memories do you have of that? And looking back, from that to this now leading this show, what does that feel like?
Die Hard was awesome. I remember my brother actually had that audition, and then Sam Jackson was in the room auditioning everybody. And Sam poked his head out the casting rooms like, “Is anybody else here for it?” And then my mom was like, “Go ahead, study these lines real quick.” And we had to hustle for different opportunities. So I studied real quick. I think was like 8 at the time. I went in there and auditioned, and lo and behold, we got it. I wasn’t aware of the magnitude of Sam Jackson or Bruce Willis at the time, because I wasn’t allowed to watch their movies, except for Coming to America, which is classic, Sam was in it. But it was awesome. Working with Sam was great. Bruce was great. I remember we were doing a table read, and I leaned over to my mom, and I said, “I’m hungry.” And I think Bruce overheard it. So he paused everything and he ordered pizza right there on the spot so that I could eat. It was pretty awesome. But we shot that back in, I want to say, I felt like we were in Harlem. I remember my tooth fell out in the middle of shooting, so one day I’m shooting the scene full teeth, next day I’m shooting the scene, I’m missing teeth. It really was a wonderful experience. It’s just something I carry greatly to this day, because I wasn’t aware at the time of how poignant that movie was, or how I was touching a little bit of history. So it was awesome.
And to get to this stage right now in my career, to be the lead of a show, that’s definitely one of the goals, but what is the value of said goal? And for me, I have missions within this industry to accomplish that this serves, and you have to be in position sometimes for those things, I aim to always diminish some of the barriers that I had to go through for the next generation. I aim to lead fairly. I aim to give people opportunity, and when I step into a position, I want to be able to solve problems equitably in a way that is also fair, where everybody wins at the end of the day, because I have things to do. And, as an executive producer, you’re responsible for anywhere between 200 to 300 people at any one particular time. And that is what gives me the greatest challenge and greatest pride, is to be able to fix a problem, to hopefully help somebody have a better day. To be such a precedent for fairness and respect and acknowledgment that we, all the co-captains, follow, and it’s something that I’m able to delve into from a very special seat, and I’m really happy to have that opportunity. But this positioning is one small step to a bigger, bigger picture, and it’s a great magnanimous step. And I understand the value of it, so I understand how to use it and how to manage it moving forward. But again, at the end of the day, it’s not about me, it’s about why I’m here and what I’m here to do through purpose.
