Kendrick Cross on Playing His 'Ambitions' Character: "Suddenly It Was Perfect"

Ambitions premieres Tuesday, June 18 at 10 p.m. ET on OWN. Kendrick Cross stars as Titus Hughes, a passionate attorney and dedicated husband to Amara (Essence Atkins). Titus has accepted the challenge of being in-house counsel for a big pharma company run by Hunter Purifoy (Brian Bosworth) to fight a class action suit brought by the powerful Carlisle family.

Cross explained how he eased into the role when We Love Soaps visited the Ambitions set in April.

"Initially, when I first got the audition all they gave me was the scene," he said. "I didn’t know the backstory or anything else. I developed that character. When I got on set, I had eleven different people telling me 'no, he's this" or “no, he’s that.' I was a little confused for the first two episodes."

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Essence Atkins Thinks You'll Become Addicted to 'Ambitions'

Essence Atkins stars as Amara Hughes in Ambitions.

Anticipation is building for the premiere of the Jamey Giddens-penned and Will Packer-produced primetime soap opera Ambitions, which debuts on Tuesday, June 18 at 10 p.m. ET on OWN. Ambitions is a multigenerational family saga centered around one woman who, having recently relocated and intent on revitalizing her marriage, finds herself going head to head with some of the most powerful and deceitful players in the city. Essence Atkins stars as Amara Hughes, a lawyer in the U.S. Attorney's Office who has newly arrived in Atlanta with her husband, Titus (Kendrick Cross). Originally from Texas, she is quickly gaining attention from the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a diligent investigator and prosecutor.

The all-star cast also includes Robin Givens as Stephanie Carlisle, the wife of Atlanta Mayor Evan Lancaster (Brian J. White), whose true loyalty is to her own family's prestigious law firm where she is the latest in a long line of distinguished lawyers; Brely Evans as Rondell, Evan's sister, who runs a not-quite-profitable restaurant called Thelma's Place; and Erica Page as Bella, a fashion designer in Atlanta who designs all of Stephanie's dresses for her.

Prior to taking on the role of Amara in Ambitions, Atkins starred in numerous television series and films including Half & Half, Smart Guy, Mr. Box Office, Marlon, Are We There Yet?, Girlfriends' Getaway, Deliver Us from Eva, A Haunted House, Dance Flick, and many more.

We Love Soaps caught up with Atkins when we traveled to Atlanta in April to speak with the Ambitions cast. Check out what she had to say in our exclusive interview below.

WE LOVE SOAPS: What was your first reaction when you read the script for Ambitions?
ESSENCE ATKINS: I loved the idea of telling the story, especially from Amara's point of view. I auditioned for Will, and originally auditioned for the role of Stephanie. They liked what I did but wanted to see me as Amara. When I read the pilot, Amara was the character that I immediately connected with because of her earnestness when it came to keeping her marriage together. I went through a divorce in 2016 so there is a lot of "would have, could have, should have" moments that I still wrestle with a few years later, and questions that I have. I put a lot of that into Amara's character.

'Ambitions': Meet Stephanie, Amara, Evan, Titus, Rondell & Bella

We are only 25 days away from the premiere of the much-anticipated drama series, Ambitions, which explores the sexy, deceitful machinations of love, power and politics in Atlanta. You can tune in Tuesday, June 18th at 10 p.m. ET/PT on OWN to catch all the drama.

Created by executive producer/writer Jamey Giddens (The Rich and the Ruthless) and produced by Will Packer Media in association with Lionsgate and Debmar-Mercury, Ambitions stars a dynamic ensemble cast including Robin Givens, Brian White, Kendrick Cross, Brely Evans, Erica Page and Essence Atkins.

The series centers around the intense rivalry between formidable legal eagles Stephanie Lancaster (Givens) and Amara Hughes (Atkins), former best friends from college who find themselves adversaries in both their personal and professional lives.

Find out more about the lead characters below.

'Ambitions' to Premiere June 18, New Trailer Released!

New steamy family saga Ambitions is set to premiere on Tuesday, June 18 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on OWN, following Tyler Perry's hit drama The Haves and Have Nots (9-10 p.m. ET/PT). The network also released a trailer for the series today.

Created by executive producer/writer Jamey Giddens and produced by Will Packer Media in association with Lionsgate and Lionsgate-owned distributor Debmar-Mercury, Ambitions stars a dynamic ensemble cast including Robin Givens (Riverdale), Brian White (Scandal), Kendrick Cross (Acrimony), Brely Evans (Being Mary Jane), Erica Page (Ozark) and Essence Atkins (Marlon).

Ambitions explores the sexy, deceitful machinations of love, power and politics in America’s hottest urban mecca, Atlanta, Georgia. The series centers around the intense rivalry between formidable legal eagles Stephanie Lancaster (Robin Givens) and Amara Hughes (Essence Atkins), former best friends from college who find themselves adversaries in both their personal and professional lives. Full descriptions of ensemble below:

* Robin Givens is the sophisticated ‘Stephanie Lancaster.’ Hailing from a long line of distinguished attorneys, Stephanie desperately wants to be in charge of her family’s prestigious law firm and will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

* Brian White is ‘Evan Lancaster,’ the Mayor of Atlanta, who is married to attorney Stephanie Carlisle. Evan’s dream is to be the first African-American governor of Georgia and there’s no line he won’t cross to get there.

* Kendrick Cross stars as ‘Titus Hughes,’ a passionate attorney and dedicated husband to Amara (Essence Atkins). Titus has accepted the challenge of being in-house counsel for a big pharma company run by Hunter Purifoy (Brian Bosworth) to fight a class action suit brought by the powerful Carlisle family.

* Brely Evans stars as ‘Rondell Lancaster,’ the sister of Atlanta Mayor Evan Lancaster and manager of the Thelma’s Place restaurant. As the new face of an anti-gentrification campaign, she never thought she’d become a crusader for the people, but it’s a badge she wears with pride – and nobody is removing it.

* Erica Page plays the role of ‘Bella (Tru) Trujillo,’ Atlanta’s newest and trendiest fashion designer. She’s the exclusive dress designer for First Lady Stephanie Lancaster (Robin Givens) but has set her sights much higher.

* Essence Atkins plays the role of ‘Amara Hughes,’ a lawyer in the U.S. Attorney's Office who has newly arrived in Atlanta with her husband, Titus (Kendrick Cross). Originally from Texas, she is quickly gaining attention from the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a diligent investigator and prosecutor.

In addition, Brian Bosworth (What Men Want), Matt Cedeño (Days of our Lives), Deena Dill (Conrad & Michelle), Gino Anthony Pesi (Shades of Blue) and Kayla Smith (Star) will appear in recurring roles.

Check out the newly released trailer below.

Sneak Peak of New Jamey Giddens Soap 'Ambitions'

"Lovers, competitors, enemies, friends, scandal, and that's just for starters," teases Robin Givens in a new first look video for Ambitions, the upcoming primetime soap opera created by Indie Series Award nominated writer Jamey Giddens. Givens stars as Stephanie Lancaster in the OWN series, which premieres in June. Check out the preview below.

'Ambitions' Production Underway with Stars Robin Givens, Essence Atkins, Brian White, Kendrick Cross, Brely Evans & Erica Page

Production is now underway in Atlanta on the much-anticipated drama Ambitions, created by Jamey Giddens and produced by Will Packer Media in association with Lionsgate and Lionsgate-owned distributor Debmar-Mercury. The multigenerational family saga features an all-star cast including Robin Givens (Riverdale, The Bold and the Beautiful), Essence Atkins (Marlon, Half and Half), Brian White (Ray Donovan, Scandal), Kendrick Cross (Acrimony, Tales from the Hood 2), Brely Evans (Turnt, Being Mary Jane) and Erica Page (Ozark, Bad Dad Rehab). Multiple award-winning writer/EP Kevin Arkadie (The Quad, New York Undercover) has joined as showrunner. Created by executive producer/writer Jamey Giddens (The Rich and The Ruthless) from an original idea by Packer, Ambitions will debut on OWN in March 2019, with the pilot episode directed by Benny Boom (All Eyez on Me, Black Lightning).

Ambitions is centered around one woman who, having recently relocated and intent on revitalizing her marriage, finds herself going head to head with some of the most powerful and deceitful players in the city.

Robin Givens stars as ‘Stephanie Carlisle,’ the wife of Atlanta Mayor Evan Lancaster (Brian White), whose true loyalty is to her own family's prestigious law firm, where she is the latest in a long line of distinguished lawyers. Stephanie desperately wants to be in charge of the Carlisle family law firm and quietly fumes about her father Stephen's condescending assertion that she's simply not ready yet. Givens is represented by PANTHEON.

Essence Atkins plays the role of ‘Amara,’ a lawyer in U.S. Attorney's Office who has newly arrived in Atlanta with her husband, Titus (Kendrick Cross). Originally from Texas, she is quickly gaining attention from the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a diligent prosecutor but disappoints her supervisor by turning down the offer to run point on a major local case. Atkins is represented by Buchwald and Kathy McComb Management.