'Ride or Die' Submits Waddingham, Spencer As Comedy Leads
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- Prime Video's 'Ride or Die' will be submitted in the comedy series categories at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards and upcoming guild races, following a genre-blending route also used this Emmy cycle by The Bear, Wednesday, Spider-Noir, Elsbeth, Ponies, Young Sherlock, The Lowdown, Widow's Bay and Margo's Got Money Troubles.
- Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer will both be entered in the Lead Actress in a Comedy category for the true two-hander, created by Tessa Coates, in which Waddingham plays assassin Judith and Spencer her best friend of more than 20 years, the MP's wife Debbie.
- The series has held Prime Video's No. 1 ranking since its July 15 debut and carries a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
- Ed Skrein (as Judith's mark-turned-partner Billy) and Bill Nighy (as her boss and father figure The Director) will be submitted as Supporting Actors in a Comedy Series.
- Waddingham's dual-track setup keeps Ted Lasso Season 4 on Apple TV in the Supporting Actress in a Comedy race, separate from her Lead Actress push for Ride or Die — she won the Emmy for Ted Lasso Season 1 and was nominated for Seasons 2 and 3.
- The show's ratings run came largely via word of mouth rather than the wide marketing campaign given to Prime Video's summer YA slate, and it has eclipsed some of those young-skewing titles — a notable feat for a series with two 50-something women as leads.
Why it matters: The comedy-category submission places 'Ride or Die' in a crowded pack of genre-blenders like The Bear and Wednesday pursuing the same FYC route. For Waddingham, already an Emmy winner for Ted Lasso Season 1, a Lead Actress nomination here would split her awards trajectory, with her Ted Lasso Season 4 role on Apple TV keeping her on the Supporting track.
