After TONS of anticipation, The Crossover is finally hitting Disney+ TOMORROW (April 5th)!
The eight-episode drama series, based on the bestselling graphic novel by Kwame Alexander, follows the lives of twin brothers Josh “Filthy” Bell (Jalyn Hall) and Jordan “JB” Bell (Amir O’Neil) and their struggle to balance their basketball career, their academics, their relationships and more throughout middle school.
While Filthy has always been determined to become the next big basketball star alongside his brother, JB’s focus starts to shift when Alexis (Skyla I’Lece) comes to town. JB’s newfound relationship threatens their twin brother bond, causing Filthy to take a step back and question if there is more to life than just basketball.
Aside from the drama surrounding the new girl in town, more conflict arises throughout the series…
Filthy and JB’s mother, Crystal Bell (Sabrina Revelle), doubles as the principal of the school, and their former NBA player father, Chuck Bell (Derek Luke), doubles as the basketball team coach. With each parent having different priorities for their children, the twins learn to balance the difference facets of life throughout The Crossover.
To top it all off, Chuck’s health starts to decline throughout the show, causing the twins to lean on their loved ones and shift their focus to what REALLY matters, ultimately creating a heartfelt series that is truly a must-see.
In an exclusive interview with Jalyn Hall, Amir O’Neil, Deja Cruz, Skyla I’Lece, Trevor Bush and Sabrina Revelle, Celeb Secrets reporter Melanie Rooten got ALL of the inside scoop surrounding The Crossover, and we even learned a few behind-the-scenes secrets 👀
When the cast was asked what they are most excited for fans to see in The Crossover, Deja Cruz wrapped the series up in a nice little bow.
“I’m most excited for them to see the drip, the poetry and the music,” she shared with a smirk.
“I think a lot of people who are going to watch the show have also read the book, and I don’t think they’re expecting to see as much poetry as there is in the book, because it’s a poetic graphic novel, so I don’t think they’re expecting to see a lot of that in this show, but I promise it is evident and it is there,” Skyla I’Lece revealed.
Trevor Bush bounced off of this statement and shared, “Everybody’s gonna read the book and be like, ‘Oh, it’s about the book.’ Well, there’s some turns and I think that they’re really gonna love it.”
While all of this is extremely prominent within the show, Jalyn and Amir had a slightly different approach as to what they are most excited for fans to see…
“Something that I’m excited for fans seeing this series is just the energy between all the co-stars and also the storyline and the plot,” Amir explained. “The writers did a great job. They wrote a beautiful script, and I feel like as actors, all of my co-stars did a great job at putting that into real life and putting those words on the screen.”
“I feel the same way,” Jalyn concurred. “The thing with, you know, kind of an episodic project is every day or every episode is an opportunity to, you know, be creative and invite something new, and I feel as though we did that, so I’m happy for the world to be able to see it.”
Even though The Crossover is a Disney+ series, some of the topics and messages covered throughout the show are much deeper than anything we have seen from the network before.
When asked to pinpoint a theme that really shines through within the series, Deja shared, “I would say the theme of diversity. It was on and off the camera, the crew and the cast, and it’s just very evident in casting as well.”
Aside from the prominent diversity highlighted throughout The Crossover, “I would say that family is the most important thing,” Skyla proclaimed.
“Everybody needs somebody who will support them for whatever. So yeah, being able to notice those people and find those people around you, because they’re not just gonna come like that, like you have to be with somebody, know somebody for years and years and years for you to build that trust and that communication and that understanding,” she continued.
Sabrina Revelle piggy-backed off of this statement, explaining that “family shines all through this story because it is essentially a family story.”
“I know basketball is at the center, but it’s really about family and about how you play together as a team and get through life when life is crossing you over, basically… All of that is seen in the series and I’m proud of it,” she concluded, beaming.
“Life’s a highway,” Trevor said with a grin. “You kind of can know what’s gonna happen, but you really don’t. So, you know, you just have to have that family member, have that friend, someone you can talk to because they’ll really help you get through it.”
Aside from highlighting the importance of family, there are some more mature topics that even adults can take away from The Crossover.
Given that Sabrina follows a slightly different storyline than the rest of the cast, a topic that she sees as being prominent throughout the show is “the balance in partnership in marriage, or relationships if even if you’re not married.”
“I want that to be way more balanced than it is in our culture, and I hope our relationship on screen shows that,” she shared.
As mentioned, The Crossover is unlike anything we have ever seen on Disney+ before in a wide range of aspects, however, the chemistry between the cast is what makes the show truly unmatched.
Even though Amir and Jalyn are not twins in real life, “Me and Jalyn are like brothers,” Amir gushed.
“When we were filming, we spent every single day together and we were always laughing. We were the jokesters on set. We were always laughing together. A dynamic duo,” Amir continued with a smile.
In regards to the entire cast, “everybody was in perfect cohesion,” Jalyn revealed. “We all had different backgrounds and different stories, so it was really great to like get to learn from each other and kind of get to know each other in different ways.”
“That’s what you need to make a great show work, is when you have a cast that is just loves to be around each other,” Jalyn concluded, passionately.
The bond Jalyn and Amir had with their television mother was just as special as their connection playing twins.
Sabrina revealed to us, “It was wonderful to tap into that motherhood, the nurturing side, and do some sort of guidance, but it did translate off camera as well. The chemistry was just there from the door, but I did get to mentor Amir a little bit.”
“He came to me quite a few times with questions,” she elaborated. “It was nice to have him confide in me in that way and for him to be vulnerable… The boys on the screen are vulnerable on the screen, but also off the screen, and I hope that that is an inspiration to young boys out there and young children out there that you can be vulnerable, and you could be vulnerable with your parents.”
Will you be tuning in to Disney+ to check out the brand new series for yourself? If so, let us know how excited you are to see The Crossover by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
In the meantime, be sure to check out our EXCLUSIVE interview with Jalyn Hall, Amir O’Neil, Deja Cruz, Skyla I’Lece, Trevor Bush and Sabrina Revelle below to get you extra excited for the show!
