Source: Tommaso Boddi / Getty
Det. Alex Cross, the central character in the bestselling books-turned-Prime-Video series Cross, could have been white. But author James Patterson, who created the character, told studios with early interest that he would not change Cross’s race even after being offered a seven-figure deal. He said he told those suitors, “F-ck no,” and that he wouldn’t make the change because that’s who Cross was.
“I grew up in a small town, Newburgh, New York,” Cross told The Hollywood Reporter last month. “My grandparents had a very small restaurant, and the chef there is a Black woman, Laura, and she was having problems with her husband, and my family said, ‘Move in with us.’ She lived with us for three or four years. I spent a lot of time with her family, and they were great. I liked being with her family more than my family.”
He added, “They were smart, the music was great, the food was great, I liked to play basketball. And then I would watch Hollywood and, in those days, there was Sidney Poitier — OK, fine, he’s dignified — and then a lot of movies with Black people with boom boxes. Really? That was not my experience in Newburgh.”
Overseen by showrunner Ben Watkins, Cross was watched by 40 million people in its first 20 days on the streaming platform. The eight-episode series won acclaim not just for Aldis Hodge’s performance – he’s the third actor to play the detective after Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry – but for its nuanced representation of Black life. Cross has already been renewed for a second season. Hodge found out recently what Patterson said and complimented the best-selling author on his integrity.
“I was shocked, impressed, and proud of that,” Hodge told Variety. “For me to step into these shoes, any time I step into a position of power or representation, it feels like a privilege and a responsibility that I’m honored to even be tasked with. I just want to carry that the right way.”
He also credits Watkins for expanding on the character. Patterson had to approve Watkins’ take on the popular police detective who is also educated and solves problems with his brain, not his brawn, though Hodge is the most buff of the actors that have played Cross yet.
“I’m proud to be with a team that believes in the same values that I do, especially when it comes to the representation of the culture,” Hodge said. “Stepping in [Cross’] shoes is just another opportunity to disprove stereotypes, represent the truth of who we are, and help continue to open up doors of opportunity. That’s what it means to me.”
Patterson cites Watkins’ take as part of what makes the latest adaptation work.
“I think taking Alex from what he is in the books, which is for a little different audience for the most part, and really bringing him more up to date, especially in terms of the role of the police in big cities now, the controversies, and really making it real. Also — and it’s in the books to some extent, but it wasn’t in the movies — the conflict between his family. It’s really a big thing in this series, right from the opening scene, this conflict between his family and his life as a cop, and it’s big and all the way through this series you feel it.”
Cross, starring Hodge, Isaiah Mustafa as Samson, Samantha Walkes as Elle Monteiro, and Juanita Jennings as Nana Mama, has already been granted a second season. All episodes of the eight-episode first season are now available on Prime Video.
See how social media is reacting to Patterson’s move below.
