Octavia Spencer Opens Up About Loving the Skin She Is in at 56 — and What She Said About Friendship and Aging Is Something Every Woman Needs to Hear

Jul 21, 2026 by apost team

Octavia Spencer has spent 25 years in Hollywood — from her breakthrough as Minny Jackson in "The Help," which earned her an Academy Award in 2012, to "Hidden Figures," "The Shape of Water," and most recently "Self Made" and "Spirited." She has been a supporting pillar in films directed by some of the industry's most respected names. She has also, throughout that career, made a point of not pretending that aging in Hollywood is easy — while insisting that it has been, for her, genuinely good.

"There's nothing better than loving the skin you're in," Spencer, born May 25, 1970, told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview ahead of the July 15, 2026 premiere of her new Prime Video action-comedy series "Ride or Die." She was speaking alongside her co-star Hannah Waddingham, born July 28, 1974, who plays Judith Burton — a secret assassin whose lifelong best friendship with Spencer's character, Debbie Claybourne, is thrown into chaos when her true identity is exposed.

The series, created by Tessa Coates and showrun by Matt Miller, follows Judith and Debbie as they go on the run across Europe after Judith's hidden life as an international assassin comes crashing to light. Both women are "of a certain age" — a phrase the show addresses directly when Judith's character is dismissed with exactly those words in the opening episode. Both Spencer and Waddingham serve as executive producers as well as lead stars.

"There's nothing more beautiful than going through life with your love partner and your sisterhoods," Spencer added. "That's one of the things we kept finding our ways back to."

Waddingham was equally candid about what the show was trying to do, and what she and Spencer refused to allow it to become. "One thing Octavia and I were adamant about was that these women had to call each other out," she told PEOPLE. "Otherwise it becomes too sweet. It has to be rooted in conflict and potential loss in order for the reconciliation to feel earned."

The friendship at the center of "Ride or Die" is not uncomplicated. It is not frictionless. It is built on decades of shared history, on the kind of bond that survives difficult truths — which is precisely what makes it feel real. Both women described the series as a deliberate effort to portray women their age with honesty rather than flattery. "I wanted to portray women our age honestly," Waddingham said, "including their insecurities and their strengths."

Spencer took the theme further in a separate press day interview, speaking about what the show's deeper message means to her personally. "One of the show's most compelling storylines follows Debbie as she begins to recognize how much of her life has been devoted to supporting someone else's dreams," she noted. At 56, the conversation is not abstract. "There's nothing better than loving the skin you're in," she said. "At 56, I can say that with everything I have."

All eight episodes of "Ride or Die" are available on Prime Video from July 15, 2026. The series also stars Bill Nighy, Ed Skrein, Sylvia Hoeks, Calam Lynch, Savannah Steyn, and Jamie Parker.

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Are you a fan of Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham? Do you think "Ride or Die" sounds like the show the summer needed? Let us know in the comments and pass this on to your family, friends, and other fans out there!