While not quite a household name just yet, Aldis Hodge is one of the most respected talents of his time, with scene-stealing roles in many great movies and TV shows alike, including in the title role of the new Amazon Prime original TV show, Cross. His road to leading man status has been a long one, having started his career when he was just a child. Let’s review trace the actor’s journey by reviewing some of his greatest hits, below.
Cross (2024-Present)
Starring: Aldis Hodge, Isaiah Mustafa
What it’s about: Widowed forensic psychologist Alex Cross uses his ability to get into the mind of a criminal to solve complicated cases.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge TV shows: As the star of the entertaining crime thriller, Cross, which is available to stream with an Amazon Prime subscription, Aldis Hodge became the third actor (after Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry) to portray the eponymous, iconic Black detective, who was created by author James Patterson.
How to watch Cross
Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995)
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons
What it’s about: Lt. Det. John McClane and Harlem shopkeeper Zeus Carver are forced to play a game of “Simon Says” to appease a German bomber terrorizing New York.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: An Aldis Hodge appearance you may have missed was his credited acting debut in one of the best ‘90s action movies, Die Hard with a Vengeance, as Zeus’ young nephew, Raymond.
How to watch Die Hard with a Vengeance
Leverage (2008-2012)
Starring: Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, Aldis Hodge
What it’s about: A team of skilled hackers and thieves offer their services to innocent people who have been wronged by the wealthy and corrupt.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: Hodge’s first starring role on a series was as technologies specialist Alec Hardison on the fun TNT crime drama Leverage, which was briefly rebooted as the Freevee original, Leverage: Redemption.
How to watch Leverage
Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Director: F. Gary Gray
Starring: O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr., Aldis Hodge
What it’s about: The story of how gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A. came together, were torn apart, and changed the music industry forever.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: The actor stars as MC Ren in Straight Outta Compton, which is considered one of the best music biopics of its time for its stunning performances and wildly engaging dramatization of N.W.A.’s storied legacy.
How to watch Straight Outta Compton
Hidden Figures (2016)
Director: Theodore Melfi
Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe
What it’s about: Three mathematically gifted Black women are tasked with helping make sure young NASA recruit John Glenn has a safe trip into space in the 1960s.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: Also one of Glen Powell’s best movies is Hidden FIgures – another acclaimed biopic featuring Hodge as civil rights activist Levi Jackson, who was married to Mary Jackson.
How to watch Hidden Figures
Brian Banks (2018)
Director: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Aldis Hodge, Greg Kinnear, Sherri Shepherd
What it’s about: The true story of a Black aspiring NFL player who struggles to prove his innocence in a crime he did not commit and pursue his dream.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: An acclaimed sports biopic starring Hodge is Brian Banks, in which the actor gives one of his strongest and most inspiring performances in the title role.
How to watch Brian Banks
One Night In Miami… (2020)
Director: Regina King
Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.
What it’s about: Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gather to discuss their roles in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: Another film in which he delivers a stunning performance as a real-life football player (in this case Cleveland Browns fullback Jim Brown) is One Night in Miami… – a fictionalized account of one of the most important nights in civil rights history, based on writer Kemp Powers’ 2013 stage play.
How to watch One Night in Miami…
Underground (2016-2017)
Starring: Aldis Hodge, Jurnee Smollett
What it’s about: The harrowing struggles of the pre-Civil War United States, as seen through the eyes of a group of slaves seeking freedom through the Underground Railroad.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: Created by Misha Green and Joe Pokaski, Underground is a powerful historical drama in which the star plays a resourceful and freedom-hungry blacksmith named Noah.
How to watch Underground
Clemency (2019)
Director: Chinonye Chukwu
Starring: Alfre Woodard, Aldis Hodge, Danielle Brooks
What it’s about: A prison warden forms a bond with a young death row inmate that inspires her to reconsider her feelings about capital punishment.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: Hodge starred as a man seeking freedom in another powerful drama called Clemency, which is also one of Danielle Brooks’ best movies.
How to watch Clemency
The Invisible Man (2020)
Director: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge
What it’s about: After escaping her marriage to an abusive tech millionaire, a woman begins to suspect that her husband has figured out a way to continue taunting her without being seen.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: Leigh Whannell crafts one of the most intense, frighteningly plausible, and simply best horror movie remakes of all time with The Invisible Man, in which Hodge plays a cop and friend of Elisabeth Moss’ character who comes to her aid.
How to watch The Invisible Man
City On A Hill (2019-2022)
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge
What it’s about: A Black assistant district attorney forms an unlikely alliance with a corrupt FBI agent while collaborating on a revolutionary case in 1990s Boston.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: Once again, Hodge gives a wonderful performance in a historically significant series – in this case Showtime’s critically acclaimed period crime drama, City on a Hill.
How to watch City on a Hill
Black Adam (2022)
Director: Jaume Collett-Serra
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge
What it’s about: Thousands of years after he was imbued with godly powers, a powerful warrior is awakened from his tomb.
Why it is one of the best Aldis Hodge movies: Hodge stars as Carter “Hawkman” Hall, who is enlisted, along with the rest of the Justice Society of America, to help contain the title character of Black Adam – a DC villain who becomes the hero of the story in this Dwayne Johnson movie.
How to watch Black Adam
Aldis Hodge is currently working on a thriller called The Dutchman and an upcoming horror TV show called The Forever House. Until those are released, enjoy his best movies and TV shows so far!