Jeanine Mason Goes Full-On Villain In Cross Season 2!
With such a warm energy, it’s no surprise Jeanine Mason is known for playing kind-hearted protagonists like Liz Ortecho in Roswell, New Mexico or Eva in WondLa. She made her first “little baddie foray” into a villainous character when she played the manipulative corporate executive Karina Silva in Upload season 3, but for Cross she gets an upgrade. “I like to say I got a promotion at Prime Video from just a normal baddie to a serial killer,” she laughed. In Cross season 2, she plays the ruthless vigilance Luz seeking vengeance on the wealthy perpetrators of child abuse. Needless to say, she’s a villain we can get behind. Speaking with Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado, Mason opens up about Luz’s why, her “actor super power,” and going full-on villain.
Luz is seeking revenge for her late mother in her mission to take out the corrupt higher ups that don’t care who they hurt to achieve their end goal. “It wasn't a giant leap for me to get behind her why and why she's so just furious with the world and the way that it's disregarded these innocents. She feels like a warrior, a warrior for her people, and I loved that about her,” Mason told me. “I think that's the big ask when you're an actor is to sort of justify why your villain does their villain-y. Her reason, her motivations are just so clear, so I loved that. That felt like such a gift from the writers to just give me such fertile ground with which to explore her.”
Nearly 17 years ago, Mason won So You Think You Can Dance season 5, which jumpstarted her career. Being a dancer really helped in shaping her fighting and physicality as Luz. “Oh man, it's everything. It's my actor superpower, I like saying. My favorite kind of actors are just so engaged with their bodies and use their full instruments. I was so excited about the idea that she's this chameleon. That was how Ben Watkins, our showrunner, laid her out for me. He was like, ‘Listen, she is going to use all these different kinds of skills she's acquired over the period of 10 years as she's planned out this revenge.’ She uses these skills to allow her to get closer to her mark,” she explained. “That was just the biggest physical challenge, which for an athlete-artist is so fun. I tried to get as proficient as possible in boxing and weaponry. I was walking around my apartment decompressing after a day of shooting with Gilmore Girls going on my laptop and I'm just playing with my knife, thinking like, ‘I wonder if one of my neighbors is going like, ‘What the hell is happening in there?’”
Mason raved about the “wonderful” support showrunner Watkins offers the cast, including dialect coaches and ways to use their “hidden talents.” “He likes to ask actors what their hidden talents are, things like that. He did not know me at all, which was so wonderful because it allowed me to get to convince him that that I could play bad. He didn't know about my dance background and he's like, ‘Oh, wait. Well, let's use that.’ I was a bit resistant off the top because it often can feel gimmicky,” she said, teasing an upcoming episode. “Then he was like, ‘Let me think about it,’ and he came back with this brilliant idea that I loved so much. I had such a good time rehearsing with the incredible dancers they hired in Toronto and our choreographer Hollywood who was just like so excellent. It was fun figuring out the mechanics on — I don't want to spoil anything — but how to make that scene work.”
Luz’s impact truly changes the trajectory of Cross, which Mason called “such an honor.” “I'm so grateful and I'm just such a fan of Aldis Hodge. I'm in awe of him and I'm so proud of him for how beautifully he has led the show and what it means for so many people. To get to come in and be like, ‘Hey, how can I help? How can I contribute? How can I propel this forward for your baby?’ It’s such an honor. I did not take it lightly,” enthused Mason. “For it to be a Latina who gets to help this hunk of a man figure out his journey as the protagonist of this iconic property is just really cool to me.”
You can watch Jeanine Mason tap into the ultimate baddie on Cross season 2 streaming on Prime Video.
