Aldis Hodge Responds to James Patterson Turning Down Seven-Figure Deal for Refusing to Whitewash Alex Cross
Aldis Hodge read that James Patterson turned down a seven-figure deal for Alex Cross — and he is impressed.
The actor, who stars in Prime Video’s Cross update based on the prolific author’s novels, told Buzzfeed that he didn’t know Patterson had done that until the story was published in The Hollywood Reporter in November.
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“I was shocked, impressed and proud of that,” he said of Patterson’s reveal. “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.”
Hodge explained that he’s been lucky enough to be with the right team on the mystery-thriller series, citing showrunner Ben Watkins, who “prioritized celebrating all of the assets and facets of the Black community in different ways that we haven’t really seen, or that we rarely get to engage [with].”
“He made that the fabric of the show,” the Black Adam star added. “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. Stepping in his 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.”
Hodge’s comments come a month after Patterson revealed to THR that when he wrote the first Alex Cross book, he didn’t have a lot of money, and Hollywood came knocking on his door. They offered him seven figures for the character rights but with the caveat.
“They said, ‘We just want one change; we want Alex to be a white guy,'” the author recalled. “And I said, ‘Fuck you.’ It was painful, but I did it.”
It took a few years before an opportunity like that arose for him again. Then, Paramount approached him, and, together, they created two films about the character, starring Morgan Freeman: 1997’s Kiss the Girls and its 2001 sequel Along Came a Spider.
When asked why he refused to make the Black detective a white man, he simply stated, “That wasn’t who he was.”
He recalled growing up in the small town of Newburgh, New York, and how he befriended a Black chef named Laura, who was having problems with her husband and ended up living with him and his family for three or four years.
“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?” he said. “That was not my experience in Newburgh. So I started writing about this family that I knew and the town that I knew.”
Patterson is an executive producer on the Prime Video series created by Watkins, the latter who told THR he already has a four-year plan for the reboot. “We want this thing to go for 10 seasons, but in my head, I had already made a four-year plan, and it’s based on some things that I want to do to mine and pay homage to the characters that are in the Alex Cross book series,” he said. “Even though I’m doing new stories, I want at some point for there to be a dovetail between these characters, so I’ve been planting these seeds.”
Cross has already been greenlit for a second season. All episodes of Cross are now streaming on Prime Video.
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