While “Underground” has been criticized by some — including Snoop Dogg — for its depiction of slavery in America, series star Aldis Hodge says that the WGN America show is about much more than that.
“It’s an amazing show that is really about the foundation of America; the foundation of American superheroes, the foundation of what it takes to persevere and really find your strength and your potential,” Hodge told TheWrap.
“A lot of people are afraid of the idea of enslavement and that’s because it’s tied to so much shame and guilt. … That is the big elephant in the room but a part of why we’re afraid to attack that subject matter is because of the way we’ve been taught about it,” he continued.
In “Underground,” Hodge plays Noah, the leader of a group of slaves who risk their lives on the perilous journey to freedom in the North along the Underground Railroad.
Yet despite the show’s serious subject matter, life on the “Underground” set is actually pretty fun.
“It’s usually fun 99 percent of the time,” he said. “The only time it gets a little shaky is when you’re dealing with nature. We’ve said it many times before but it gets real when we’re out there and you got tornadoes coming at you and thunderstorms and you got nowhere to go. You’re just like, ‘All right, take me, Jesus. This is my time.’ Aside from that, we just have a ball.”
Watch Hodge’s full interview above.
