March 22, 2017 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Aldis Hodge: The ‘Underground’ / ‘Hidden Figures’ Interview
AH: I enjoyed the way
the story was written. I
was intrigued by the nar-
rative showing people
rising up and fi ghting for
their freedom.
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
A
ldis Hodge is per-
haps best known
for his role as Alec
Hardison on the
TNT series “Leverage,”
which nabbed a People’s
Choice Award in 2013, in
addition to his role as MC
Ren in “Straight Outta
Compton.” Furthermore,
he starred in the Amazon
pilot The Aft er and en-
joyed a recurring role on
the AMC Revolutionary
War drama “Turn: Wash-
ington’s Spies.”
Aldis appeared oppo-
site Alexander Skars-
gard and Ellen Page in
the eco-terrorism thrill-
er “The East.” And he
appeared in “A Good Day
to Die Hard,” the latest
installment of the “Die
Hard” franchise.
Aldis and his brother
Edwin were cast on “Ses-
ame Street” at a young
age. Later, they joined the
Tony-winning
revival
of “Showboat” on Broad-
way.
During that period,
he parlayed his success
on stage into a movie
career, debuting in Die
Hard with a Vengeance.
Aldis’ television roles
Aldis Hodge
include the critically-ac-
claimed series Friday
Night Lights, The Walk-
ing Dead, Bones, and CSI:
Crime Scene Investiga-
tion.
Here, he talks about
playing Levi Jackson
in the Oscar-nominat-
ed Hidden Figures and
about reprising the role
of Noah on the televi-
sion series Underground
about the Underground
Railroad which just start-
ed its second season on
the WGN America net-
work.
KW: Congratulations
on the second season of
“Underground.” What
fi rst interested you in do-
ing the series?
KW: What can we ex-
pect to see new this sea-
son.
AH: I’ll put it like this,
brother.
Everybody
thought it couldn’t get
crazier or more danger-
ous, but it does. Last year,
everyone was focused
on this idea of freedom
and just getting off the
plantation without con-
templating the harsh re-
ality of what that really
“
KW: What’s it like act-
ing opposite Jurnee?
AH: She’s awesome!
That’s my road dog right
there. Our characters go
through so much togeth-
er this season that we
have to depend on each
other emotionally as ac-
tors. We didn’t share a
lot of scenes together
because our story focus-
es on Noah and Rosalee’s
working a real-life icon,
Harriet Tubman, into the
story?
AH: It’s great that we
get to honor Tubman’s
legacy through a real-life
representation, although
we’d already paid tribute
to her last season. It’s
not really a diff erent ap-
proach. The only thing
that’s changed is that we
have a fantastic actress
in Aisha Hinds materi-
alizing Tubman. Aisha
does a fantastic job of en-
abling us to explore who
Harriet Tubman was.
KW: Congratulations
on Hidden Figures’ win
It’s great that we get to honor Tubman’s legacy
through a real-life representation, although
we’d already paid tribute to her last season
meant. At the end of the
season, we were pretty
much split up. Now, you
get a pretty introspective
view of each character.
We’re all dealing with
the consequences of what
transpired last season in
our own way. My charac-
ter, Noah, was learning
what it meant to try to
be a leader. This season,
he’s learning more about
who he is as a man. Right
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now, the strength of his
love for Rosalee [played
by Jurnee Smollett-Bell]
is more important to him
than freedom, where-
as last year was purely
about survival.
trying to get back to each
other. We see that their
love transcends their
situation. There’s still a
very powerful connec-
tion between them, and
we had to develop that.
So, we had to take a dif-
ferent approach, and
Jurnee was there 100% of
the way. She is an abso-
lute beast!
KW: What’s it been like
at the Screen Actors
Guild awards. Were you
surprised?
AH: It was a huge sur-
prise. We were all blown
away. The girls [Taraji P.
Hensen, Janelle Monae
and Octavia Spencer]
were all crying, and
I think I might have
dropped a tear or two,
too. The fi lm has gotten
so much love. It was awe-
some because this award
was coming directly
from a pool of several
hundred thousand ac-
tors. Our peers! So, we
were very grateful.
KW: Why do you think
“Hidden Figures” has
made the most money of
all the movies nominated
for the Best Picture Os-
car?
AH: It’s absolutely be-
cause of the message.
Granted, a big part is
that people will go to the
theater and enjoy it. But
I think the primary rea-
son it’s been so eff ective
is that it represents the
antidote to some of the
cultural issues we’re still
dealing with as a nation.
It illustrates what can be
accomplished when you
look beyond the preju-
dices and stereotypes
and allow equality to win
out overall. These wom-
en accomplished what
they did in spite of segre-
gated bathrooms, and not
having equal pay or the
right to vote. That made
it an inspiring fi lm for
both little girls and boys.
It’s exactly what America
needs right now.
Read the full interview at
TheSkanner.com