For the team of Prime Video's upcoming action comedy series, Ride or Die, the number of options for the role of Judith, was just one. Be it writer Tessa Coates or star Octavia Spencer, all of them agreed upon Hannah Waddingham to step into Judith's shoes.
Speaking about the decision, Spencer said, "It's funny because she was the person on all of our minds, you know, I did what I wasn't supposed to do. They pitched me the show, and it's like someone asking you to marry them on the first date. And I said, ‘Absolutely, I will.’ Then they, they literally asked, well, who do you think should be Judith? And I said, ‘Hannah Waddingham.’ And they were like, ‘Thank God, because that's what we think as well.'"
Meanwhile Waddingham recalled her first conversation with Spencer and Coates fondly, and said, “We were on a Zoom call, and it's not every day you have Octavia Spencer's face on a Zoom call and Tessa Coates, our writer, they kind of read the treatment of it, all the plot line to it. And I hadn't really kind of concentrated on what the week was about. I was just so overwhelmed to be on this meeting. And I said, ‘Oh, you know, what do you want to do?’ Like, you know, say something about the script, help you with that or whatever. And her whole face fills the screen. She goes, ‘WE WANT YOU TO PLAY JUDITH, YA DUMMY!’ and I just thought I have to do this.”
The cast of Ride or Die also includes Ed Skrein, Calam Lynch, Savannah Steyn, Jamie Parker and Sylvia Hoeks, among others.
While Coates developed the series for Prime Video, Ant-Man director Peyton Reed serves as a director on the series. Reed also serves as a producer along with Coates, Spencer, Waddingham, and Matt Miller.
Ride or Die is set to premiere on Prime Video on July 15.
