Actor Isaiah Mustafa dives into his role as John Sampson in the new Prime Video series, Cross. In the interview, he opens up about the chemistry with co-star Aldis Hodge, how he prepared for his role, which included shadowing real detectives in Washington D.C., and the challenge of portraying a grounded, complex character.
The conversation explores how the series tackles real-world issues like police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, offering a more in-depth look at character relationships than previous film adaptations. Mustafa also talks about the emotional impact of Alex’s tragic past, the intense action scenes, and how the cast kept a light-hearted atmosphere on set. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For the full interview, watch the video above or check out our YouTube page.
I think what really made the show for me for me was the relationship between you and Aldis Hodge‘s Cross. I loved your little asides to each other, and it felt like a true long-running friendship. How did you guys bring that to every scene? Did you know each other prior to filming, because it seems so effortless.
Isaiah Mustafa: No, we had never met before. Of course I was aware of Aldis’ work, but I’ve never met him before. We did our chemistry test and honestly, we both said this, that we just had a mutual respect for each other. And so that’s how we went into the job.
And then we never talked about how we were going to portray these characters as it kind of went along. You know, you get you get more comfortable, and opportunities arise where you can throw something in, and some of the little asides that you hear or say are just things that we may have been talking about five minutes before we were shooting, and we decided to just throw it in and see what happens.
But a lot of it is the brilliant writing of Ben Watkins and his staff. They really understood that these two characters are brothers, and they need to talk to each other and act like brothers so that you can really get a sense of that bond that they have.
As an actor, there’s always that one scene when at first, you’re like, “I can’t wait to do this.” But, as the scene comes closer, you’re like, “Oh no, I really have to do this.” What was that scene for you in this show?
Isaiah Mustafa: We don’t get the scripts until a week before but there’s, I don’t want to give away too much, but there’s a scene where I have to get fairly close to someone. And I’d never done a scene like that before, so, for me, it was just something that I wanted to make sure that I was very respectful in doing that scene.
So, yeah, it was just something that I was like, ‘all right, let me just make sure that I do this the right way.’
What kind of preparation did you have to do? Both in terms of physical training and forensics?
Isaiah Mustafa: I do my best to stay in shape, so the physical part wasn’t all that difficult. And I had played a detective before, but he wasn’t grounded in reality, he was a werewolf detective, so there wasn’t much detecting. So, this time, I really had to kind of get into the mind of a detective in the best way that you do that is to talk to real detectives.
And we had the benefit of going to Washington, D.C., prior to shooting to kind of hang out with the MPD, Metropolitan Police and hang out in their detective division and get to know these detectives. We talked to at least a dozen detectives and really got to know what it was like to live inside and to walk in their shoes.
And we talked to a forensic psychologist who, just like Alex, knew the inner workings of a detective’s mind. What they what they go home with, their problems and when they can’t take leave the job at the job, and they take it home with them.
We had very personal conversations with this one detective who shared with us some really personal things that gave us such an insight into what it’s like to be a detective on the job and to experience tragedy. That just had such an impact on us that it almost made the job so much easier when we are on set talking about these things.
This is such an action-packed series, with these heightened emotions. How do you all shake off a long day of being on set?
Isaiah Mustafa: I drink boba tea, that’s my that’s my advice. I actually order it to set sometimes.
No, honestly, it’s a fun set. Nobody’s down, even though the subject matter might be a little horrifying or graphic at times. We try to make sure that there’s some levity, that we’re laughing. Somebody’s always doing something on set that’s funny, whether it be somebody in the cast, the crew, everybody’s trying to keep everybody’s spirits up.
We had such a fun crew in Toronto, they were so fun and great to be around. Our camera guys, just thinking about some of the things they would say to us. It’s just that camaraderie that you want in your workplace.
Was there something about Cross or the action and adventure that drew you to maybe this particular role?
Isaiah Mustafa: I think I’m just getting lucky. What I’m usually what I’m drawn to is the story but, in this case, I had a great storyteller, Ben Watkins. And then I also have Aldis Hodge, who, I mean you know his body of work, you know how good he is. So, I was just blessed with being able to have those two things in front of me.
I really try to put my best foot forward, get the job, and it worked out.
