[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the first full season of Cross on Prime Video.]
After portraying the benevolent Dr. Max Goodwin for five seasons on New Amsterdam, Ryan Eggold decided to go very dark with his next role on Prime Video’s Cross as Ed Ramsey, the so-called “Fanboy Killer” on the James Patterson-inspired crime drama. According to show creator Ben Watkins, though, it almost did happen.
“It was a great sort of stars aligning type of moment to get Ryan into that role,” Watkins told TV Insider. “Ryan Eggold had been coming off of New Amsterdam in one of the most likable characters on television, and he was actually not looking to do anything. He just wanted a break.”
However, per Watkins, once Eggold heard a description of the role, everything changed: “It was such a departure that it caught his attention,” Watkins said. “Then he engaged, we talked about the story, and then next thing you know, he’s our Fanboy.”
As for what made Eggold so right for the role, Watkins explained, “I knew I wanted to go a different route with the serial killer. I didn’t want to play into what has become the archetype or the Hannibal Lecter mode of a serial killer. I wanted to see someone who is charismatic and seductive and incredibly intelligent. I wanted someone who could match Alex Cross and be believable in that way. And the last piece I wanted them to be was someone that when you saw them and you heard them, you could see how easy it might be for them to lure you into their trap if you didn’t know who they were. And that meant someone that has some likeability factor.”
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Opposite Aldis Hodge as the titular detective, Watkins added, it formed “one of the best cat-and-mouse games I’ve seen in years.”
Hodge himself echoes that sentiment, noting, “Ryan came to play! It was awesome working with him because whenever we needed to shift, whenever we wanted to take a risk and elevate a moment or push, he was always there.”
“He showed up and the work he does in this I think is a brilliant divergence from what people know of him,” Hodge added.
Cross, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video
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