Have you watched CROSS yet on Prime Video?
Source: Courtesy / Prime Video
We’re huge fans of the show, which follows Aldis Hodge as the James Patterson-inspired character Alex Cross as he juggles his responsibilities as a detective trained in forensic psychology, with raising two kids after becoming a widower. If that weren’t complicated enough, Cross has become romantically involved with longtime family friend Elle Monteiro (Samantha Walkes), but is still grappling with the grief of losing his wife. At work, Cross relies on his trusted colleagues Sampson (Isaiah Mustafa) and Kayla (Alona Tal) who both have expressed concern for his well-being.
GlobalGrind Sr. Content Director Janeé Bolden spoke with CROSS stars Samantha Walkes and Alona Tal about their characters’ relationships with Alex Cross.
Source: Keri Anderson / Prime Video
“It was important for me as Samantha, as the storyteller, to showcase the diversity in this role of tender love, of complex love, love that’s not all figured out,” Walkes told GlobalGrind. “It’s a mess and that’s just life. Just leaning into that, not having all my checked boxes and things be in a spiral and not linear and being OK with that.”
“There’s this beautiful stillness that Elle brings to the chaos,” Walkes added. “I feel like every interaction that I’ve been in as Elle and being apart from being in front of Cross I’ve noticed that as there’s a whirlwind around him and his heart and his mind, Elle seems to have this really beautiful breath and the calm within the storm and I feel like that is really what’s helped navigate a love story that is this complex. We’re dealing with a widower, you’re dealing with the man, a single father with two beautiful kids, and a detective and a psychologist wearing many masks.”
Source: Keri Anderson / Prime Video
Tal was careful to differentiate her character Kayla’s relationship with Alex, as part of his close circle of work family.
“Alex Cross is really split into these two kind of worlds and he’s very committed to both of those worlds and when he’s in the personal/private/widower/dad/husband world, Samantha’s character Elle brings such a like — we talked about a breath that’s much needed, because that other side of him, that detective side of him, that deals with really dark and intense subject matters needs that from her,” Tal explained. “Whereas my character… Kayla provides assistance, backup, a sounding board, where she understands the psychological terminology that he uses and the psychological analysis needed to find a serial killer. She’s not like Samson, she is a different type of a soundboard for him in the professional world. Kayla is more, like two athletes going back and forth with each other for a common goal.”
We love both of these women’s characters. Cross is lucky to have this kind of support in his life.
CROSS is streaming now on Prime Video.
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