Steven Prusakowski
Aldis Hodge brings a coolness to Cross, portraying Alex Cross with a presence that blends his intellect and emotion. In person, Hodge is just as engaging, his easygoing nature and openness creates an instant connection during our TV Topics conversation. Yet, beneath this charm lies a surprising depth that carries into his acting – a passionate artist whose strives to portray authentic human experiences, making his performance resonate.
The character of Alex Cross, the serial killer hunting detective, has a long history starting with popular series of books, then in film where he was most famously played by Morgan Freeman. For his Cross, Hodge wanted to deliver an Alex Cross with layers, making it his own by being honest to the character’s situation.
Hodge’s efforts shine through on screen where his focus emphasizes the human journey over mere crime-solving, injecting the emotional weight of the grief his character carries at all time as well as a brotherhood which helps him power through. The layers he brings to Alex Cross reveal a man deeply invested in his craft, with a nuanced understanding of Cross’s struggles, from fatherhood to justice. As layered as his take on Cross is, Hodge revealed layers of his own through our conversation about television.
During our wide-ranging TV Topics portion of the conversation, the actor could not hide how television has influenced him as a person and artist: from his joy and laughter he got from classics like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Martin to his respect for filmmaking craft seen in Adolescence’s stunning one-shot episodes. His passion could not be contained when it came to anime, as he vividly shares series, characters, and moments that affected to the core, sparking envy even in an anime novice like me. That passion for his art is thinly hidden behind the cool exterior but comes out in every frame of his work.
Be sure to listen to our entire TV Topics podcast conversation to hear about all this and much more (below). Here are some highlights from that convseration.
On Hodge’s Approach to Playing Alex Cross
“I didn’t have any direct goals about trying to make it my own, because I knew as an actor, whatever role we do, whatever we step in is always going to automatically be ours. So what I focused on was how do I make him honest? How do I make him a full human being and layered and sincere in what he was going through, how he was trying to navigate through the trials of being a man, being a father, and then having to step up to the plate to be what he represents to the people around the city that he protects. What is the nucleus of his honesty? And then, you know, I move out from there. So it wasn’t Alex Cross. It was who this man is, but what this man is dealing with.”
On the Emotional Depth of Cross
“I love the way that grief was handled because it is real and it’s not something that you would pass over. I love the fact that they kept it throughout the storyline, instead of maybe tossing it off in one or two episodes. It’s like, no, this is what really shapes him. This is what really motivates or deflates whatever he does and how he does it. Because this is the human journey. It’s not about the situation of cops running around catching bad guys. It’s people who happen to have these jobs and they’re trying to get through their life and what else affects them around who they are as human beings.”
On the brotherhood in Cross:
For me, that was one of my favorite moments and it was obviously motivated by the previous fight where we are blowing up in the locker room scene. And to me, that was my favorite scene to actually shoot was the locker room scene, because we had built this and established this beautiful relationship of brotherhood between these two. And now, it may all just crumble. And I was imagining how the audience is going to receive that and take it. And Isaiah and I, we had a great deal of fun shooting that scene because we were like, yo man, let’s go harder. Let’s make it crazy. Let’s do that. So we were pushing each other, every time we did a take, people would get emotional. Some people were crying.
On the appeal of Anime:
There’s something hidden within anime that is a beautiful sort of like coded secret to their success. They get to balance so many tones in terms of the drama, the comedic aspect of it, also great narratives. But their action sequences, when done right, are incredible. I mean, there’s an anime called The God of High School and their fight sequences, I could take those frame by frame, put those into a live action movie. And you’re looking at something you’ve never seen before. They have so much creative freedom that I love. And it just informs me. The way I walk through the world is I look at artistic things that inspire my creative sort of knack for what I want to do and how I want to do it. And that’s what my language is. You know, I walk through arts.
Check out all of Hodge’s intense and nuanced work on Cross season one, streaming now on Prime Video.
Be sure to subscribe to TV Topics podcast for an array of guests, a variety of shows discussed, and of course, more TV Topics.
Also available Apple Podcast and wherever you listen to your podcasts.
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