“There are jobs I didn’t take, auditions I didn’t go on. It all amounts to where I am now” – Aldis Hodge
City on a Hill star Aldis Hodge made his film debut in Die Hard with a Vengeance when he was only nine years old. However, by that time he had already been involved in acting for seven years having making his debut as a toddler in commercials and later appearing on Sesame Street and Showboat on Broadway. So while Hodge is only thirty-two years old, he is nearly a thirty-year veteran of show business.
When asked about his experience as he aged from toddler to adulthood during an interview with NPR, Hodge reflected on his changing role in show business:
“I’ve had to reevaluate my relationship with this industry. Because when I was a teenager, all I was getting was, like, thug role auditions and athlete role auditions. And I remember, I was always a science nerd. I was like: Black people are more than this. Like, that’s cool and all, but it has to have a purpose. It can’t just be for the sake of “this is all we see you as.” Now, 30 years in the game, I’ve spent this entire time trying to figure out … what I’m doing here, and demanding more of this career for me. So I’ve made sacrifices. There are jobs I didn’t take, auditions I didn’t go on. It all amounts to where I am now.
And you have to actively participate in your fate, in your future. So I got a mission. And make sure that when people see me, they see a man of content and moral fiber. And somebody who didn’t sell out. And that’s the path I hope to walk for the rest of my career.
