Fatherhood changes a man in the best of ways. Aldis Hodge, who’s starring as a detective and doting father in the new Prime Video series Cross, shares it makes you thoroughly protective of the people you love the most.
“I played parents before, and it was always from a perspective of, ‘Oh, this is what my mother did for me, so this is how I think this would go—the idea of a parent,” he shared.
“Now that I am a parent, my relationship with my TV children is more authentic. What I get to reflect is a bit more earnest, honest and intimate in that I know what this really means to me.”
Hodge is the real-life doting father to a precious little girl. “She is my place of peace, calm and joy, even when she’s being crazy,” he exclaimed. “She’s three, and she runs my house, but it’s the most joy and happiness I’ve ever felt in my entire life.”
The actor revels in the fact that his TV persona gets “to show the truth of what it means to be a Black father because we get to dispel the myths and the narratives that we’re not in the home, or that we don’t care about our kids. I’m a loving father. [Our series creator and showrunner] Ben Watkins is a loving father. We’re speaking our truth here, and I love that.”
This father has a daughter who is in her Moana phase and loves to sing and play the guitar. He might also have a future prosecutor on his hands. “My daughter is already in the space of negotiating and debating,” he said with a chuckle. “All two feet high telling me that she runs things. She prioritizes things for me in my life: what’s really important and what doesn’t deserve my time.”
That comes full circle for his onscreen persona. “The kids are the anchor for Alex Cross and his drive for what he does, why he does it and why he fights so hard. It all comes back home because he knows who he’s fighting for.”
And, just like Cross, Hodge feels most powerful when providing for and protecting his family. “When I see my daughter full of joy, I know that comes from a place of safety,” he said.
The skill was passed down from his own mother. “She fought for us constantly throughout our lives. She made us feel safe in a very dangerous world. It’s something I’ve always admired in my mom and something I always wanted to emulate.”
Cross is now streaming on Prime Video.
