We are eagerly counting down to the return of Cross.
Make no mistake — Cross Season 2 aims to build on a strong first season, and it succeeds in many ways.
We were fortunate enough to speak to the passionate and dapper cast of this series about what’s in store, and they have some juicy teases.
Jeanine Mason delivers an incredible performance in the second season, joining the cast as a vigilante character named Rebecca.
If you’re familiar with her work, you know how capable she is, but this particular role in Cross gives her an opportunity to play something we haven’t quite seen from her thus far onscreen, and it’s nothing short of gratifying.
One of the things about Cross is how unapologetic it is regarding identity, culture, and heritage, which lends itself to an authenticity in its storytelling that resonates with viewers.
It’s also something that resonated with Mason as she speaks passionately about the alignment between her and her character, Rebecca, who is poised to be the season’s “villain,” albeit more vigilante than not.
Rebecca is an undeniably complex role, and Mason? She was more than up for the challenge in that.
“The fact that you get to just be so furious and so clinical about enacting revenge and satiating frustrations that I think a lot of people feel, a lot of decent people, a lot of women, a lot of Hispanic people, so it just hit a lot of categories for me,” she shares about the role.
“I thought it was just masterfully done and would be a tour de force opportunity,” she added.
For Mason, there is an unflinching alignment with her and Rebecca, which is powerful and refreshing.
The opportunity to fully embody her cultural identity through intentionally crafted storytelling is something she speaks passionately about regarding Cross and its methodology.
“I was so excited to be about to be a part of a show that is in celebration of its Black and Brown audiences,” she shares. “I haven’t gotten to do that.”
Mason goes on to address how exciting it is to dive into her culture onscreen as well as play off Aldis Hodge as questions about right, wrong, and what justice really means unfold.
Check out what the stunning and intuitive Jeanine Mason has to say below!
Moving into the next morally grey characters in the bunch, Cross Season 2 will also see the return of Alona Tal’s Agent Kayla Craig.
What’s exciting about the new season is how it will explore the character and reveal a darker side to her.
One of Cross’s strengths is its ability to make its female characters as rich and complex as their male counterparts, and Tal expresses a similar appreciation of her character in this regard.
“I hope that women can find similarities even though she’s very different in a lot of her, you know, choices in life, her profession, from a lot of women. But the complexity that she comes with, the layers, the dilemmas that she has to face to define who she is and who she wants to be. And those two don’t always align,” Tal muses.
Much of Kayla’s complications will come in the dynamics explored this season.
Fans of Kayla and Cross’s dynamic won’t be disappointed as Tal teases.
“I mean, giddy up, if you know what I’m saying.”
Beyond that, she elaborates on how this dynamic evolves professionally, largely because the two are similar. She discusses how much they rely on one another.
But it’s not just her dynamic with Cross that intrigues this season. One of the most utterly fascinating is her dynamic with none other than Bobby Trey.
If you followed our thoughts on Cross Season 1, you’ll know how much we enjoyed the complex man that is Bobby Trey and the nuances that an incredibly talented Johnny Ray Gill brought to the character.
And the season will have Kayla and Bobby Trey becoming “mutual backscratchers,” as the pair teased, giving us a clear glimpse of the chemistry that’ll thrive on screen between them.
Trey, himself, will have some unexpected layers as well, more vulnerable than we’ve seen from him before. “Vulnerability is a close cousin to psychosis,” Gill shares.
We’ll see this particularly in how society often discards veterans.
Never missing an opportunity for enlightenment and reflection, Gill also elaborates on what inspired his performance, citing the Tuskegee Experiment and the conditioning that shapes his character.
Check out our full interview with the fashionable, charming, and talented duo of Alona Tal and Johnny Ray Gill.
Deeply enmeshed in Cross’s personal life are the dynamics he shares with longtime partner and brother-in-all-but-blood, John Sampson, and his relationship with Elle Monteiro.
Cross Season 2 aims to explore both characters in greater depth, expanding beyond who they are to Cross.
The season has many throughlines around identity and family, and it’s something that feels applicable to both John and Elle for different reasons.
For John, it’ll be a matter of learning more about what family is to him outside of the Cross family.
“I think John’s identity is very much tied to the Cross family. So you get this foundation of that loving family and that core unit.
“But that’s shaken a little bit once his mother is introduced and he has to kind of say like, “Oh, well, was this something that I always had that was available to me, but I, you know, wasn’t allowed to see it,” Mustafa shares with us.
He tries to avoid spoiling what that can entail for his character, but it’s safe to say that it’s good, albeit complicated.
Meanwhile, Elle is grappling with where she stands in relation to Cross and his entire family.
“I think Elle kind of loses herself a little, actually,” Walkes muses.
“I think it’s just so much of a whirlwind that she kind of loses her grounding. And when she comes back in in season two, there’s something new happening now because we’re now seeing her love the family like it’s her own, and these kids mean so much to her.”
This lovely pair goes on to describe what the season will be like overall and, specifically, for their characters, in our exclusive interview here!
If you haven’t already, check out our exclusive interviews with Aldis Hodge, Matthew Lillard, and showrunner and creator Ben Watkins, check it out here!
Cross will premiere on February 11 with the first three episodes on Prime Video. Then, tune in weekly for new installments.
We’ll have you covered with reviews!
Interviews like this take time and care — and we hope it shows.
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