[Editor's note: The following contains major spoilers for Season 2 of Cross.]

In the Season 2 finale of the Prime Video series Cross, Detective Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) finally caught up with vigilante killer Luz (Jeanine Mason), but that didn’t keep billionaire Lance Durand (Matthew Lillard) from having to answer for his crimes. While Cross was able to find some sense of justice for the years of heartbreak Durand caused, it didn’t smooth over his clash with FBI Agent Kayla Craig (Alona Tal), who’s now gunning for him. And all of this led Cross to be deeply disillusioned over working within a system that feels like an ever-higher mountain to climb, leaving his own career hanging in the balance moving forward.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Hodge and Lillard discussed raising the ambitions for each season, the authenticity and relatability of the world these characters live in, the face-off between Luz and Lance, the experience of getting buried alive, and what could come next for Alex Cross in a potential Season 3.

Aldis Hodge Says the Team at ‘Cross’ Wants To Continue To Push and Evolve With Each Season

"We want to excel."

Collider: Aldis, after people loved Season 1, how did you want to change things up even further in Season 2, and then thinking ahead to a possible Season 3? Was there anything that you have asked your showrunner, Ben Watkins, to do or not do as you’ve gone forward?

ALDIS HODGE: No, actually, because we just didn’t know. We had Season 2 completely shot before we even aired the trailer for Season 1. Before anybody saw anything, we had grounds to play in this space. When we got the pick-up for Season 2, we just felt further emboldened to do what we were doing. We felt massive confidence moving forward because we know that’s a huge commitment from the studio and from our studio partners. If they saw something, and they felt that much faith in it, we felt like, “Okay, we’re doing our job.” So, we walked into it with comfort. Personally, I was like, “Okay, we hit a bar. Now, let’s raise it and let’s keep evolving.”

I’m amongst a team that is always ambitious about continuous evolution, so I didn’t have to worry about that. I highly anticipate what the response is going to be for the second season because the fans have been riding with us this entire time, constantly staying committed and loyal, asking for it. I feel a great deal of favor, moving forward. If a third season comes through, I don’t think that feeling is going to change. I think we’re just going to maintain the confidence but also maintain our ambitions for hitting high marks because those are things that we personally want to do. We want to excel. To do so with the freedom that we have comes from the confidence and trust that we have in our team.

So, it was or wasn’t your idea to knock out your showrunner in a scene?

HODGE: Honestly, when I saw that came up, I was like, “Oh, yeah, that was Ben. That was Ben, all day.”

Every lead on a show probably has that thought at some point during the run of their show.

MATTHEW LILLARD: For sure.

HODGE: Ben is mad cool. This is one of the easiest working relationships and partnerships that I’ve had in my career. The thing I love so much about Ben is he is an open and willing teacher. That’s what I told him. When we first got on this, and he was asking me about how I saw producing and executive producing, I said, “I’ll take that job seriously. That’s my first job before acting, but I want to learn how to be better. Can you teach me?” He said, “Yeah.” I said, “All right.” And he stuck to his word. That’s my man right there, Professor Watkins.

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By  Nate Richard

Matthew, Lance Durand feels so familiar, as far as the kind of person he is. How did you want to approach the character so that he was someone we could look at and say, “I know exactly the kind of guy he is,” but so that you could also set him apart and gave him his own identity? That seems like it would be really tricky, and you do a really interesting job of that over the season.

LILLARD: Oh, thank you. Every time you attack character, you’re taking your own point of view and adding it to the words given. The thing that’s great about Lance Durand, or playing this kind of character, he’s a billionaire, and he has this audacity of confidence that allows me, as an actor, to really lean into the choices. There’s no insecurity about him, and there’s something really refreshing about that. And also, he has a righteousness about him that I found really exciting.

When you’re on a show like this, you’re given so much to play with if you have incredible writers. I think one of the things that makes Cross so appealing is that there’s an authenticity about the show and the words and the given circumstances and how they’re presenting the world that really allows you to lean in, as an actor. That’s one of the things that makes the show so appealing worldwide. There were 40 million views in the first 20 days when Cross first hit. It’s an international smash hit. That sort of success you’ll see emulated again this season, which is exciting.

Aldis Hodge Explains That Whether a Good Man Like Alex Cross Can Survive in a Bad System Comes Down to Intention

"He understands the system is bad and broken, and the only way you can really change it is from within."

Image via Prime Video

Aldis, a lot comes at Cross in the finale. Kayla double crosses him, he gets arrested, and he turns in his badge and quits. How does a good man survive a bad system, like he says? How might that affect and change things moving forward? What are you most interested in seeing, as far as how that’s going to affect him?

HODGE: With Cross, in regard to how a good man survives a bad system, it’s intention. He understands the system is bad and broken, and the only way you can really change it is from within. You have to be in position to play a position. So, for as long as he can, he deals with all these things that necessarily need to happen to keep shaping his fortitude for how he wants to move through this world. He needs the challenges. What has to maintain is the consistency of his ethos and who he is to the core. Where are his ethics and morality going to be challenged? Is he going to change that? The reason that we root for him is because we want him to make the difficult but necessary choice in those moments. He could take it easy, just go along with it, and punch a clock or whatever. But he’s like, “Nah, what’s easiest is not always what’s going to make me sleep at night.”

That, to me, is something that’s admirable because in our daily lives, we deal with this all the time, trying to figure out, “Do I want to go do this thing over here that’s not going to make me feel great about who I am, but it may pay a couple bills, or do I want to take this risk on loving myself and believing in myself and knowing that I don’t need to invite negativity just to get by? I don’t have to be a part of the problem. I can create my own solution.” I think that’s what Cross represents. He understands the problem, but he is moving in a way that he is trying to be and can be the solution.

I just want to see what happens between him and Kayla because I feel like nothing good is going to happen there.

HODGE: I can’t spoil that, but I have some insight. I know some people who know some people, and I can say that it’s going to get interesting.

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By  Christina Radish

Matthew, in the finale, Luz finally catches up with Lance and holds a gun to his neck before burying him alive. How was it to finally have that face-off?

LILLARD: What is happening with spoilers?!

I’m going to hold this until the end of the season, I promise.

LILLARD: Okay!

HODGE: This is an interview that will not come out until the end of March.

LILLARD: I am very in control of this. Nobody else is.

I promise I will not get you or myself in trouble.

LILLARD: Okay. Sorry.

While He Was Nervous About Getting Buried Alive, Matthew Lillard Hopes the Season 2 Finale of ‘Cross’ Is Satisfying

"It was harrowing."

Image via Prime Video

How was it to finally have that face-off with Jeanine Mason? You were not in the same space for most of the season, so what was it like to have that moment?

LILLARD: She’s great. She’s an incredible actor. I thought the work that she was doing was amazing. I would go to work early and see her shoot another scene. And so, we did cross paths. We had dinner a lot. We became good friends over the course of the show. One of the great things about the show is, you drop the first three episodes on February 11th, and then every single week, you get a new episode. As that anticipation builds and the audience gets to sit in it, I had the same thing. I was waiting for that. I knew that, at the end of the [season], we were going to have that showdown.

For me, it was close to the end of shooting. And so, getting to know her and seeing her work, and then having that electric moment at the end of the [season] was really exciting. I was more worried about getting buried alive than I was working with Jeanine. I was like, “Okay, can we have a stunt guy do it? Why am I in the wet dirt? How much dirt is coming in?” They built this contraption that they had on top of me. It was harrowing. But at the end of the day, my hope is that, as the show plays along, you are ensconced in this question of the moral ambiguity and who is right. I’m hoping that this ending is exciting and very satisfying for people.

I watched it thinking, “Did they really put him under the dirt? Did they do that?”

LILLARD: I want you to know, they almost killed Matthew Lillard. I almost died. But I didn’t.

HODGE: When you come to this set, we ask for dedication, okay? Show up, or not at all. I don’t think we were asking a lot to say, “Hey, man, do you mind being temporarily buried alive?” That’s not a crazy question.

LILLARD: And hold my breath.

HODGE: And you’re complaining?

LILLARD: I’m not complaining. I’m not complaining. Listen, I’m glad they could resuscitate me.

HODGE: Granted, I was on the side, getting my massage and having my latte made. I was like, “I’m here supporting.”

LILLARD: Good luck!

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By  Christina Radish

When you knock out your showrunner, it sets a bar.

HODGE: Exactly!

LILLARD: Exactly!

There has to be a Season 3 so that I can find out what happens next, and I will be there watching it.

LILLARD: From your lips to God’s ears.

HODGE: Exactly. Thank you.

LILLARD: Season 3 is Lance Durand’s revenge.

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Cross

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Follow

Followed

TV-MA

Crime

Mystery

Release Date

November 14, 2024

Network

Prime Video

Directors

Craig Siebels, Nzingha Stewart

Writers

Ben Watkins

Franchise(s)

Alex Cross

Cast

See All

• 
  Aldis Hodge

  Alex Cross
• 
  Isaiah Mustafa

  John Sampson

Creator(s)

Ben Watkins

Seasons

2

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Cross is available to stream on Prime Video.