“Being back with Martin and Will is just the absolute best,” says Vanessa Hudgens about being back on the Bad Boys set with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for this year’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die. Hudgens first joined the franchise as Kelly in 2020’s Bad Boys for Life.
“The two of them really just light up a room. When I came for the table read, Martin saw me and he goes, ‘Vanessa!’ And I was like, ‘My heart!’ shares Hudgens with a laugh. “He’s just the sweetest and so complimentary, always. And then we’ve got Will who is such a light, such a force.”
Hudgens says that going back on set for Ride or Die “felt like another go at our little summer camp here at Bad Boys,” especially because she got to spend time again with the franchise’s cast and crew after several years since they all worked together in Bad Boys for Life.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die sees Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) in the biggest jam they’ve ever faced: when new evidence comes to light implicating the late Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) in a lifetime of drug-related crimes, the Bad Boys vow to clear his name… even if it means coming in the crosshairs of the cartel and the cops. As for Hudgens’s character Kelly, she’s now in a secret romantic relationship with her Advanced Miami Metro Operations (AMMO) colleague Dorn, played by Alexander Ludwig.
Ludwig says that this film offered the chance to reveal more about a character that at first was a bit of a cipher. In Bad Boys for Life, he says, “I loved the idea of playing this unassuming bad ass, a tech nerd that has a history that you don’t really know about. At first glance, he just seems like this big puppy dog, and you realize that he’s had a tortured past.” As he approached the character for the new film, he was excited to dig back in. “On this new film, we get to play a little bit more into that – especially as the work relationship and his home life blur.”
Hudgens teases that Ride or Die will deliver a good time for everyone. “This is a movie that you can rely on time and time again, to have a good laugh, to get some serious action, and a whole lot of heart,” she says. “I think that’s the thing that really sets it apart. First and foremost, it’s a brotherhood story. And you get to see them do some crazy things, get into some wild situations, but their brotherhood always prevails.”
Don’t miss out on explosive action and laugh-out-loud humor Bad Boys style when Bad Boys: Ride or Die, distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International, opens in cinemas June 5. #BadBoys @columbiapicph
Photo & Video Credit: “Columbia Pictures”
