Ryan Eggold & Isaiah Mustafa Board Amazon’s Alex Cross Series

Ryan Eggold and Isaiah Mustafa Dorian Caster/Storm Santos

Ryan Eggold (New Amsterdam) and Isaiah Mustafa (It: Chapter 2) will star opposite Aldis Hodge in Amazon’s Alex Cross series, Cross, in series regular roles.

Eggold will play Ed Ramsey, whose humble Midwest roots are the core of his irresistible charm, but he’s got elbows sharp enough to carve out space in the elite social and political circles of D.C. and New York. Ramsey is described as smooth, well-connected and devious; he also can be physically imposing when he needs to be and has some very dark secrets. While initially a fan of Cross, Ramsey soon becomes a formidable adversary.

Mustafa will play John Sampson, also known as “Two-John” and as “Man-Mountain.” He is Alex’s partner on the force and best friend of 30 years. Full of swagger and larger than life, he believes that Cross is at a crisis point and needs to seek professional help.

From Paramount Television Studios and Skydance Television, Cross is described as a complex and twisted thriller created by producer and writer Ben Watkins and based on the best-selling Alex Cross book series by James Patterson.

Alex Cross is a detective and forensic psychologist, uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims, in order to identify — and ultimately capture — the murderers. He is brilliant, flawed, and full of contradictions. A doting father and family man, Cross is single-minded to the point of obsession when he hunts killers. He is desperate for love, but his wife’s murder has left him too damaged to receive it.

Watkins serves as showrunner and executive producer of Cross. Hodge, Sam Ernst, Jim Dunn, and Craig Siebels also executive produce, with Patterson, Bill Robinson, and Patrick Santa executive producing for James Patterson Entertainment, and David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Matt Thunell will executive produce for Skydance Television.

Eggold is gearing up for the conclusion of the NBC medical drama New Amsterdam set to air on January 17. For five seasons, he led the series in the role of Max Goodwin. On the feature side, he most recently starred in Tyler Perry’s A Jazzman’s Blues for Netflix. Other notable credits include Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always; Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman; and NBC’s The Blacklist and The Blacklist: Redemption on the small screen. He is represented by Gersh, Entertainment 360, and attorney David Matlof.

Mustafa recently wrapped work on the psychological thriller Boy Kills World opposite Bill Skarsgard, Andrew Koji and Michelle Dockery for Raimi Productions. His credits also include the horror film It: Chapter Two, indie western, Murder at Yellowstone City, Netflix’s Home Team, ABC’s Black-ish and Freeform’s Shadowhunters. He is repped by APA and Megan Silverman Management.