In their new comedy-drama thriller, HBO Max has reimagined Chris Bohjalian’s The Flight Attendant for the small-screen. The compelling miniseries follows Cassie Bowmen (Kaley Cuoco), a first-class flight attendant who wakes up hungover in a swanky Bangkok hotel room with a dead man next to her. As Cassie tries to piece together the previous evening, she attempts to go on about her life as if nothing happened. As her co-workers and good friends, Shane (Griffin Matthews) and Megan (Rosie Perez) become increasingly suspicious; the FBI begins putting their case together.

Tasked to solve this murder mystery, Greenleaf alum Merle Dandridge stars as FBI agent Kim Hammond, a whip-smart woman who suffers no fools and has even less patience for Cassie’s convoluted story. Ahead of The Flight Attendant’s debut on HBO MAX, Shadow and Act chatted with Dandridge about the series’ twists and turns, and why portraying Kim has been a breath of fresh air.

“My character used to be a 60-year-old white man [in the book],” explained Dandridge. “So, I loved that they decided to take risks— they were thinking outside of the box. On top of that, the material is just great. It’s just fun. It’s a wonderful group of people, so I was really excited to get involved and to work with these people and also just do something that was so polar opposite to playing a pastor.”

Despite stepping into Kim’s shoes, Dandridge might not be entirely done with Grace Greenleaf just yet. “There are a lot of stories being tossed around about how we’re going to frame it and what it’s going to look like,” the Truth Be Told actor hinted. “But, we have the same team on board, and I just think it will be a very welcome return to the Greenleaf world. Possibly in a different framework. But it will be nice to see some of those characters again, and I think we all feel like it just went too soon, and we miss it.”

Watch the full interview with Dandridge below, beginning at the 1:25 mark:

The Flight Attendant will debut on HBO Max on November 26, 2020.

Photo: Wes Klain