Aldis Hodge

HipHopWired Featured Video

Source: MICHAEL TRAN / Getty
Aldis Hodge is emerging as one of entertainment’s top leading men and many are pointing to the success of his new show Cross as adding a big boost to his standing. At a recent Consumer Electronics Show event, Aldis Hodge and Lauren Anderson, head of content and brand innovation at Amazon MGM Studios, discussed the finer points of Cross, getting the authentic Washington, D.C. slang right, and more.

As reported by Deadline, Aldis Hodge and Lauren Anderson sat down and discussed how a producer for Cross “stamped” the show for sticking to the DMV area’s proper use of casual honorifics and how it gave weight to the show not only with area residents but the wider audience as well.
From Deadline:

When scripts for the Washington-set show underwent a “D.C. pass,” Hodge recalled, a producer hailing from the city insisted on a character calling another one “Slim,” as opposed to “son” or “dog,” as they might in other cities. “That one word generated, I would say, millions of viewership value,” Hodge said. “So many people commented and said, ‘The moment I heard “Slim” I was in.’”
Anderson said specific details can give a production “universality,” enabling it to be enjoyed by wider audiences. Hodge said Washington in particular gets reduced on screen to simple cutaways of the U.S. Capitol building or politcos walking down hallways. “We only see a political idea. Not a political truth, but just an idea. … That’s just one sector of what Washington, D.C. is.”
Fans of Cross have probably noted that the show has cut scenes of the Nation’s Capital and features an eatery that has played host to many celebrities, including President Barack Obama, over the years in Ben’s Chili Bowl.
Cross debuted last November and has been renewed for a second season.
—
Photo: Getty