Crossing over into a new medium and pushing boundaries within her works, Samantha Walkes connects with each of her characters and delivers amazing performances in every project. Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Walkes’ journey in theatre took her across Canada. When the pandemic hit in 2020, she was in Brooklyn, working on Broadway’s The Book of Mormon. With stages struggling to remain open, her passion for storytelling found a new home in TV and film. Now, she plays Elle Montiero on the latest Prime Video crime-thriller series Cross.
Walkes is best known for her series regular role as Rose King on The Kings of Napa, her first major TV credit. She has also been on various shows like Murdoch Mysteries, Good Sam and The Big Cigar. In the realm of cinema, Walkes has appeared in films such as Orphan: First Kill, The Holiday Switch, and Deadly Estate. CGMagazine was able to virtually sit down with Walkes to discuss her character Elle in Cross, and how Walkes brought Elle to life throughout the series.
You portray Elle, one of the most interesting characters in Cross. We are introduced to her in the first half of the series, and her character is quickly established. She is an executive director of a non-profit and a true community advocate and leader. But she is more than just her titles. She is both a calming and challenging force for Alex. How did you blend what Ben Watkins had in mind for Elle with what you wanted to portray in the character?
Samantha Walkes: Well, thank you for doing your research. First of all, there’s a couple of things I did. Ben’s writing is fully formed, It’s complex, it’s rich. I didn’t have to imagine too much more, but what I did do, was I went and read the first couple of instalments of James Patterson’s novels to understand how he liked to write the love interest. Knowing that he’s a widower, has two kids and the invitation that they led with, they were the love interests who were kept quite separate in the beginning. I wanted to know the world in which I was working.
Approaching Ben’s work was really about creating a fully formed character of a woman who had richness and depth to her. This meant creating memories from their childhood and how Elle and Alex first came into contact. It was the first thing that she remembers from their time, back up into the present day.
That was helpful to have a baseline established that they had grown up together, and they had been doing life together and then apart, and then together again—always in the periphery of each other. Even the fact that Elle knew Maria, knew the loss, and had felt a loss with Alex, it was so delicious for me to play in that world [of complexities]—having established all of those nuances.
I love that because Elle is not some random love interest that comes in after Cross’ wife Maria is murdered. She’s someone who’s been around in his life. That’s a really important element to emphasize at the beginning. One of the most shocking episodes, without spoiling as much as possible, was the reveal at the birthday party at Ramsey’s house. What were the key emotional moments for Elle in this scene?
Samantha Walkes: That’s one of my favourite episodes, and it’s because as humans we really like security, right? You think about being comfortable. A lot of people just want to be comfortable. They don’t want to look behind the curtain, step out on a limb, or risk too much out of fear of loss, hurt, grief, whatever the case may be. So, in that moment, I think Elle was asking if this was the right choice. We gambled on something; we believed in something.
Do we come back from that? Can I tell who a person really is? There started to be this [line of] questioning of whether I can trust myself to understand someone when I first met [them]. Experiencing this moment was from an organic place of this is new news. I don’t know what this means for me, and then the confusion of that and being shell shocked and not sure how to navigate a way through is real life.
I remember times in my life when I was like, I don’t know how to get through. I don’t know how to move through this, and I don’t know that we can. And so, that was very important for me, just to be able to be truthful and authentic to that experience and allow it to hit the way it needs to hit. I said this before: I think people are the best investments and that’s me as Samantha.
For Elle, she is a beautiful person who loves the community and loves to build them up. So when she banks on humans, and she banks on people, and it doesn’t roll through, what does that mean? Because that’s her whole life. That’s her whole system: loving people.
Last question, throughout this whole journey, this show has accomplished so much in its story and social commentary on Black lives, Black hardships, Black love and family, and Black storytelling. What do you hope audiences will take away from season one—putting the news aside the news that season two has already been greenlit?
Samantha Walkes: I love being able to continue the conversation, right? I’m an artist and activist, which kind of goes hand in hand with me. And so being able to portray this role, and knowing the kinds of content we are bringing to the forefront to our audiences. I’m hoping that you take that, and you take it to your dinner table or yoga class or wherever you’re going, and we start to have these conversations again to expand our minds and hearts.
Talking about social justice issues, men’s mental health, mental health in general, blended families, and broken families. As we hold up a mirror to society, I want us to be able to reflect and say we got a hole over here, or there’s a blind spot over here, and talk about it and bridge the gap with your community. [In doing so], there can be assistance in us reaching our goals together to be better humans in this in this world.
That’s a perfect way to put it! Thanks again so much Samantha.
Samantha Walkes: Good to meet you too! Take care.
