An untitled TV series for Prime Video starring Oscar winner Octavia Spencer and Emmy winner Hannah Waddingham is currently shooting in Prague under the working-title acronym USW. The project had previously been registered with the Czech Audiovisual Fund under the title Well Behaved Women: The Assassin.
The untitled series is the latest large-scale TV production to film in the Czech capital, following Blade Runner 2099, which just wrapped in December, the second season of Interview with the Vampire, and multiple seasons of Apple TV+’s Foundation and Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time.
The Spencer-Waddingham project was first announced in December 2023 as a new series from writer and executive producer Tessa Coates, who previously appeared in front of the camera on UK series such as Feel Good and Starstruck. Her pitch for the new show reportedly resulted in a bidding war between multiple studios that was ultimately won by Amazon.
Produced for Amazon’s Prime Video, the eight-episode action-adventure series is being developed by Skydance Television in collaboration with Barbara and Andy Muschietti (It) for Double Dream and Spencer’s Orit Entertainment. The show marks the first project under Orit Entertainment’s first-look deal with Skydance.
The story follows Waddingham’s character Judith, who has secretly been working as a highly trained assassin. Her best friend Debbie, played by Spencer, remains unaware of Judith’s double life—until a mission goes wrong. Now, the two friends are on the run, forced to evade a mysterious enemy while also attempting to repair their fractured friendship.
Octavia Spencer is best-known for her supporting work in films such as The Shape of Water and Hidden Figures in addition to her Oscar-winning turn in The Help. More recently, she produced and starred in the lead role of the Apple TV+ crime series Truth Be Told, which ran for three seasons.
“I was in as soon as I heard Tessa’s stunning pitch,” Spencer said in a statement when the project was first announced. “To be able to dive into a role like Debbie is rare, and working with Hannah to bring this unique friendship to life is a dream.”
Hannah Waddingham recently starred in last year’s blockbuster The Fall Guy alongside Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, and voiced a main role in The Garfield Movie. She’s been nominated for three Emmys (winning once) for her role as football club owner Rebecca Welton on Ted Lasso, which is the most-watched original series on Apple TV+.
“I’m not gonna lie, a few expletives fell out of my face at the prospect of working with the magnificent Ms. Spencer, Tessa Coates’ hugely energetic, exhilarating script, Skydance, and Double Dream,” added Waddingham. “To then see the immediate, excited response from a mighty beast like Amazon… It’s all just incredibly exciting, and I can’t wait to get our collective teeth into it.”
In Prague, the untitled Spencer-Waddingham project will film in studio along with locations across the city center. In the coming weeks, the project is slated to shoot on location in the Czech capital’s Old Town, New Town, Vinohrady, and Žižkov neighborhoods.
Stillking Films, a frequent partner for major international productions in Prague including Nosferatu, Interview with the Vampire, and The Wheel of Time, is coordinating local production services on the untitled Spencer-Waddingham project. Filming for the eight-episode series is slated to run through June.
Additional cast details for the Spencer-Waddingham series, or official updates of any kind, have not been revealed since the show was first announced in 2023, but should come soon with production fully underway in Prague.
Lead photo: Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham in official White House press photos.
