[Video Interview] Aldis Hodge on ‘ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI,’ portraying Jim Brown and lessons of growth

Preston Barta // Features Editor

Regina King’s remarkable and brilliantly crafted drama ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI… will stream on Amazon Prime Video beginning on Friday, January 15.

Based on Kemp Powers’ stage play of the same name, the film largely takes place during one evening in 1964. Following a victorious boxing match, Cassius Clay (RIVERDALE’s Eli Goree), soon to be known as Muhammad Ali, meets up with three of his friends – Malcolm X (HIGH FIDELITY’s Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (HAMILTON’s Leslie Odom Jr.), and Jim Brown (THE INVISIBLE MAN’s Aldis Hodge). The four men gather to celebrate Clay’s win by reflecting on the accomplishment and engage in a series of in-depth conversations about their values, responsibility to civil rights, and position in history. It’s an emotionally powerful and incredibly insightful exploration of these men’s lives and humanity.

Hodge recently spoke with us via Zoom video about portraying former pro football player and actor Jim Brown. The 34-year-old North Carolina native discussed being in two Malcolm X stories (the other is Spike Lee’s 1992 biopic MALCOLM X), the wisdom he collected from the experience, and how Jim Brown’s nature can “open your mind to a sense of reason.”

Watch the video interview below, and stream the film this weekend on Amazon Prime Video.