Aldis Hodge gets candid about his on-set book club and action scenes

Corrupt billionaires get their comeuppance in the new season of “Cross,” with Aldis Hodge returning as the detective and forensic psychologist working complex homicides in Washington, D.C. This series, which arrives on Feb. 11 on Prime sees Cross investigating a violent vigilante targeting abusers who get away with bad behavior because they’re uber wealthy. While it’s not based specifically on the exploits of Jeffrey Epstein, the star thinks there are certainly some parallels.

“There’s a crazy sort of chance happening with the timing because, when the story was developed, this was prior to a lot of things that have been revealed as of late,” explains Hodge.

In fact, Season 2 was wrapped in 2024, long before the latest Epstein files were released. Hodge says he hopes to “bring a little bit more awareness to what’s going on so people can stop turning a blind eye to some of these things and at least try to move to make a real difference.”

The first season did so well the actor has been recognized as the TV incarnation of author James Patterson’s Alex Cross around the world, including by soccer superstar Thierry Henry (Hodge asked for a selfie or his mom would have killed him, he says.) The Associated Press spoke to Hodge about his on-set book club, action scenes and what he really wants for his birthday.

Aldis Hodge poses for a portrait in Los Angeles. Associated Press

How pleased were you with the success of Season 1?

I was very pleased and very surprised, to be honest. I’m particularly surprised about the international crossover. ... I’ve been between here (London) and Paris in my time these last couple of months, and there’s a lot of love for the show internationally, which is, I don’t know why it’s so shocking to me, but I just didn’t realise it would have that much crossover appeal. It shows me exactly how effective the right kind of storytelling can be across different lands.

The first season doesn’t shy away from the problem of being a Black man and a policeman — so how are the police reacting to you?

I was in Paris and there was a French police officer who came up to me and was like, “Cross!” I was like wait, what? It was cool to me because the fact that we do get to have that real honest conversation. I know a lot of police officers and servicemen and women who get into the game for the right reasons and want to do the job the right way. And they’re very open and honest about the challenges that they face within the regime. And a lot them are looking to feel understood or heard.

You filmed it quite a while ago. When you look back at it, what is it you remember from it the most?

It’s mostly the people. We have a fantastic cast, our crew is amazing. I actually enjoy spending time with my cast. And we have our own little pockets, you know what I’m saying, like I got a little book club going with my boys on there, you know what I mean? Then some of us, we get out, we go and do the training, or we go have some dinners. But we really just enjoy one another. We all support each other too,

There’s an excellent running scene. Do you have to work on it specifically?

I was channeling my inner Tom Cruise, you know. ... No, my mom actually, she used to be a competitive runner with track and field, and then she used to be a track and field coach. I was, like, I gotta make mom proud. You know, make sure that my arms is doing what they gotta do ... look - run once or twice, ah you good. To run about 10 takes in, you start to feel it. And that’s when your body says, “Hey, man, you getting old, sit down, OK?”

“Cross” is coming out around Valentine’s Day — do you think it’s a good show to watch as a couple?

Absolutely. The crazy thing is we get a lot of love from people who they watch this together. Or what I hear most often, usually from men, is that they’re like, “Yo man, I’ll be at work. I was waiting to watch it with my girl but when I came home she had already watched the episode so now we fighting because she was supposed to wait for me. ... So now I ain’t talking to my girl because of your show.” I’m like, “We trying to bring people together.”

This year you are turning 40; are you excited? Do you have different aims?

My biggest aim for 40 is just hoping that my knees and my back work. I’m going to tell you, it is not fun when you wake up and you hurt yourself just getting out of bed. Ain’t nothing cute about that at all. So I just want my knees to work. You know what I’m saying? I got a 4-year-old who always wants to be picked up, but she doesn’t understand daddy’s old, OK? Daddy’s body is broke, OK, so I’m trying to just be able to keep up with her. But that’s really it, yeah. I just need the knees.

Associated Press