Ride Or Die: Hannah Waddingham Recalls The Moment Octavia Spencer Offered Her The Prime Video's Series

For Spencer, Waddingham felt like the only choice for Judith from the very beginning. Talking about how quickly she knew Waddingham was the right person for the role, Spencer shared, "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 Wattingham.' And they were like, 'thank God, because that's what we think as well.'"

For Waddingham, the offer came as a complete surprise during a Zoom call with Spencer and writer Tessa Coates. She recalled, "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."

Directed by Peyton Reed, DeMane Davis, Allison Liddi-Brown and Lauren Wolkstein, the action-adventure comedy series also stars Ed Skrein, Calam Lynch, Savannah Steyn, Jamie Parker and Sylvia Hoeks in key roles. Produced by Amazon Studios, along with Tessa Coates, Matt Miller, Peyton Reed, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, and others, Ride or Die premieres globally on July 15, 2026, exclusively on Prime Video.