Happy Cross Season 2 release week!
Everyone’s favourite detective is back with a new case to solve in the new season of Cross. This time, Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) is on the hunt for a new killer, perfectly portrayed by Jeanine Mason. Of course, Cross has Elle and John to rely on, aptly played by Samantha Walkes and Isaiah Mustafa, respectively.
This season significantly raises the emotional stakes for both Walkes’ Elle and Mustafa’s John. It was a pleasure to speak with both actors about the new season and how they approached their characters this time around.
Ahead of the highly anticipated new season, Walkes and Mustafa chatted with me about returning to the cast for Season Two, navigating the mental and emotional toll the show can take, and much more!
Watch the full interview with Samantha Walkes and Isaiah Mustafa below:
In the second season, audiences meet Elle and John in very different emotional spaces than when we last saw them. Upon learning about some of the trajectories of their characters in the new season, Mustafa and Walkes told me how they revisited their characters in these new spaces for Season Two.
“It’s a great question. I’m trying to think back to when we got the first episode and when I discovered what the arc would be. I think it was maybe a couple days after we got to Toronto, and they explained to me kind of the brisk breadth of the arc. They didn’t give me everything, so, you know, because they don’t want to spoil it. But they gave me this, like, quick, ‘Okay, here’s what it’s gonna start with. We don’t know how it’s gonna end yet, because we’re still working on that, but here’s what’s gonna start it.’ And, you know, I don’t like to think that you’re ever really prepared for what your character is going to do, because you’re, you know, unless you’re the writer. But I looked at it like, wow. Okay, so this is challenging. I have to start to dig deep, because this is a subject matter that I’m not familiar with. But I have to breathe life into it as though I’ve done it, lived it,” Mustafa shared.
“Yeah, I mean, for Elle, I think that going into two – when I realized where we were starting from, I actually built in what led Elle there. So I just started to create memories, situations between Elle and the other characters, and creating those environments and those memories for her helped us. Because, like, the first day of shooting, I think we shot this really intense, emotional scene, and it was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ We took a long break, and I had to come in running. And so, it was really helpful to have these things that I’d prepared, because you never know what the shooting schedule is going to be like, right? And so what they’re going to choose to do first of the episode, that’s not always information we’re privy to. And so, when I realized that was what we were starting with, I was like, thank God we prepared something so that I could grab to have the through line from one to two,” Walkes explained.
A series like Cross deals with many traumatic things that can weigh on a person’s mind and take an emotional and mental toll. Walkes and Mustafa told me how they decompress after shooting some of these scenes, which Walkes calls “de-rolling.”
“Thank you for that question. I think people don’t remember that we are humans too, not just our characters, and we have to go and enter back into society, into our own lives, our families. And I think it’s really important. And, I’m just going to speak for myself, that you take time to – I call it de-rolling, and it’s basically like a psych term for just like coming back to centre baseline yourself. And it looks different for everybody, but just making sure that I’m not taking that back to my family, that I’m leaving it right there in that world for Elle, then I can pick it up again clean the next day.” Walkes said.
“I keep it light. So I’m either gonna have, like, an electronic Yahtzee that I play. I’ll mess with that. I’ll order some boba, you know, try to think what else – I like to get some things going on set that keep it real light and get people engaged and stuff. You know, for the most part, it’s appreciated. You know, sometimes people are like, ‘Alright, enough. Enough boba, we don’t need any more. I know you ordered the truck.’ But yeah, I keep it extremely light. So that way off set, I know that what I’m dealing with once I’m in that scene, or whatever it is – what I’ve prepared at home on my own, is what’s in that scene. But outside of that preparation that I have and doing the work there, I’m trying to have a good time. You know? I mean, I’m trying to have fun so that I can balance those really deep, emotional moments with some really fun family moments also,” Mustafa shared.
Lastly, had to make sure everyone knows I’m Canada down, especially when a familiar face like Mark Taylor’s (and yes, a Student Bodies series reference was made) pops up on-screen in the second season of Cross. Walkes was no stranger to sharing scenes with her fellow Canadian actor, having appeared alongside her in Murdoch Mysteries.
“Everybody knows Taylor! Actually, so we first met on Murdoch Mysteries. So, we were on set for that, which is a period piece, I know, you know, very Canadian. And so, when I found out – they had approached me first, okay, we think in this. And I was like, ‘Mark?! I know Mark! Let’s go ahead.’ So it was a lot of fun, because we already established this relationship as colleagues and friends, and so it was just like sipping tea, you know? It was easy,” Walkes said with a smile.
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