The team behind The Raid couldn’t be more excited to have Amanda Knox on the Peacock comedy series.
The drama, based on the Australian project of the same name, centers on Ruby (Stephanie Hsu), who discovers her former lovers are dying and tries to understand why this is happening. . Zosia Mamet co-stars as Ruby’s best friend AJ, and other cast members include Michael Angarano and Tommy Martinez.
One surprising member of the cast is Knox, who appears in the final episode of season 1, which is currently streaming. Knox became a public figure after being convicted and ultimately acquitted of the murder of her roommate in Italy in 2007. Co-showrunner Sally Bradford McKenna told The Hollywood Reporter that she is a huge true crime fan and thought Knox would be perfect for the role given the series’ storyline.
“I’m crazy about her,” Bradford McKenna says of Knox. “Just like AJ’s character, I’m also into true crime. AJ playing detective and trying to solve mysteries and work on cases was a really good fit for this drama.”
Amanda Knox in 2019.
Emanuele Kremaschi/Getty Images
The Goldbergs alum continues: First of all, it was set in Seattle, so I thought she was perfect. We didn’t even know she lived in Seattle. We were trying to think of someone who was a true criminal but was acquitted. She was very game and obsessed with it. She’s also into comedy and was really excited about this, which was great. She was also a really great actress. ”
Bradford McKenna, co-showrunner of The Raid with Nafnachika Khan, also saw a connection between Knox’s trajectory and the themes that influence Sue’s character. She says of Knox: “Her story is a very messed up story, with the darkest stakes imaginable juxtaposed against the theme of a 20-something college girl studying abroad and a woman just looking for love. It ties in really well with Ruby’s story.
Knox and his then-girlfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted in 2009 of murdering Meredith Kercher, Knox’s roommate in Italy who was found dead in her apartment two years ago. Their convictions were overturned in 2011, and after being retried and found guilty again, they were acquitted by Italy’s Court of Cassation in 2015. Margaret Qualley will play Knox in Hulu’s series about her life.
On Raid, when AJ tells Knox that he wants to hear about him being in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Knox quips about his situation, “Oh, I don’t recommend that.”
Additionally, Bradford McKenna praised Sue for helping viewers empathize with a “really unlikable” character like Ruby.
“When casting Ruby, we knew she needed to be someone you instantly liked and wanted to root for,” she says. “We tried to write towards that, and really, most of it was just casting Stephanie. She’s very charming and very likable.”
