About six years ago, oneAlex Crosspassed the torch to another.
The great Morgan Freeman played Banks prison mentor, an experience Hodge describes as awesome.
But there was one moment that especially stood out.
Aldis Hodge as Alex CrossKeri Anderson/Prime
Mr. Freeman leaned over to our director, Tom Shadyac, and he whispered something, Hodge recalls.
And I was like,Whoa, I guess Ive got whatever that is.
He steps into the role for Primes new series,Cross, which debuts Nov. 14.
Hodge, 38, has been acting since he was a kid.
Not that Hodges faith in himself has been shaken.
What appealed to you about playing Cross?His general moral compass.
He stands for real justice.
He loves his people, he loves his culture, he loves his family.
He doesnt play the game of politics, of trying to abuse his position to get ahead.
I think the show is brilliantly written.
Im really proud to be a part of this project.
But it was great for me to be able to start with a clean, blank slate.
Cross is a bit of a renaissance man.
Hes a cop, but also a psychologist, he plays the piano…
He seems good at whatever he tries.
You act, but you also play music and design watches.
Did you relate to him in that way?Cross to me looks like a normal human being.
Hes a brilliant savant.
Hes cultured, hes worldly.
And people need to acknowledge and accept that.
So he represents that as a normal standard:Hey, heres your potential.
Meet your potential.And that aligns with what I grew up aiming for.
Youre just supposed to be great.
Thats it, and thats what Cross is to me.
Thats why I really love playing him.
How much time you got?
I grew up on the East Coast between New York and New Jersey, before I got to L.A.
Lets take it to the school system, where my history was not taught to me.
True history was not taught to me.
They taught me, or they wanted to teach me to live in their scrutinized view.
My mom is the one who said, No, youre better than that.
Youre smarter than that.
Youre going to do better, because youre supposed to.
So again, bringing it back to Cross, to be somebody that represents that as a normalcy.
If I was a young minority looking at this character actually, not minority.
I cant stand that word.
Its not true, because were not minor in any capacity.
So for me, I had to fight for my potential.
I had to fight for my education.
I had to fight to believe in myself.
How did you and your brother get into acting as kids?
Was it something you wanted to do?
And I fell in line right after him when I was three years old as well.
I was just trying to be like my brother.
They are smart little mischievous negotiators.
What was that like for you?Man, I grew up rough.
I grew up in Clifton, New Jersey.
Some of the kids were cool, some would start fights.
WhenDie Hardcame out, I definitely got into fights at school, because kids were jealous.
We lived in a town that dealt with a lot of racism.
My mom took us out of school for safety reasons, because we were often targeted.
She said, Acting is the privilege, never the priority meaning that we had to earn it.
it’s crucial that you know whats in those contracts.
you oughta know how to handle your business.
So she didnt raise actors.
She raised entrepreneurs and businessmen.
So as far as my education, we were advanced.
We would come home from school and do more school.
But my mom would teach us at home.
I took my entrance exam for college, and I skipped all of high school.
I went in straight away, along with my brother.
He was 15 at the time, I was 14.
And you know, that was just that was our normal.
Were years into development, which is normal.
So onBlack Adam, I made a dummy model, specific for Carter Hall.
I wanted to wear my current model in the show now, but its not ready.
All eight episodes ofCrossbegin streaming Nov. 14 on Prime Video.
