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celeb bio
Octavia Spencer
A versatile, award-winning actress
Occasionally, a veteran actor,
midway through a relatively suc-
cessful career, will secure a role
that redefines their skill set in the
eyes of audiences and critics. That
sort of transformative moment
occurred for Octavia Spencer in
2011, when a performance in a
popular, culturally relevant film
helped her transition from a repu-
tation for small comedy roles to
being trusted with carrying seri-
ous dramatic heft.
Spencer was born in Mont-
gomery, Alabama, into a large
nuclear family that included six
siblings. Tragedy impacted the
family when Spencer’s father
Octavia Spencer in “Truth Be Told”
Fill in the grid so that every row, every column,
and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.
Solution
page 20 19
Solution on
on page
died when she was only 13 years
old.
After completing high school in
1988, Spencer enrolled at Auburn
University at Montgomery, where
she graduated with an impressive
list of credentials: an English ma-
jor and a double minor in theater
and journalism.
In the late 1990s, Spencer
began working in and around
the movie industry, relocating to
Los Angeles in order to be close
to opportunities. Spencer initially
worked in non-acting roles; she
served as an on-set intern, and
she got her first on-screen speak-
ing role after initially being hired
to help cast the film.
Throughout the late ‘90s and
early 2000s, Spencer secured
a number of small roles in
comedies and began building a
reputation for being funny. She
appeared in films that included
“Big Momma’s House” (2000),
“Spider-Man” (2002), “Bad
Santa” (2003) and “Win a Date
With Tad Hamilton!” (2004).
Spencer also made guest appear-
ances on a number of television
series, including popular shows
such as “The Big Bang Theory,”
“30 Rock,” “ER” and “CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation.”
In 2011, Spencer’s dramatic
breakthrough occurred when she
appeared, along with a powerful
ensemble, in the period drama
“The Help.” Spencer played Min-
ny Jackson, a charmingly forth-
right maid in a 1960s household,
and her performance was one of
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the standouts of the highly ac-
claimed film. “The Help” received
a large amount of attention from
the awards circuit. It was up for
four Academy Awards at the
2012 ceremony, including a Best
Supporting Actress nomination
for Spencer, who ultimately took
home the award.
Spencer’s Oscar victory en-
sured that new opportunities
would open up for her in Hol-
lywood. In 2013, she appeared in
director Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale
Station,” a critically acclaimed
drama about a fatal police shoot-
ing, and also began to diversify,
appearing in movies such as
the dystopian science fiction
film “Snowpiercer” in 2013 and
2016’s animated animal movie
“Zootopia.”
In 2016, Spencer co-starred
in “Hidden Figures,” a historical
drama about the contribution of
black women to NASA during
the Space Race, and received her
second Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award nomination. The
following year, Spencer played
a supporting role in director
Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy ro-
mance “The Shape of Water” and
received a third Best Supporting
Actress nomination, becoming
the most nominated black actress
in the history of the awards (a
title she shares with Viola Davis,
who co-starred with her in “The
Help”).
On Friday, Dec. 6, Spencer
makes a return to television
when the series “Truth Be Told”
premieres on Apple TV+. Spencer
co-produced the series and also
stars in it, playing a true-crime
podcaster who gets reinvolved
in the case of a notorious serial
killer.
FACTS:
- Born May 25, 1972, in Mont-
gomery, Alabama (age 47)
- Is dyslexic
- Moved to Los Angeles in
1997 on the advice of her friend,
the filmmaker Tate Taylor, who
would later go on to direct her in
“The Help”
- Was originally hired to help
conduct casting on what became
her first film appearance, before
inquiring about an audition
- Was included in Entertain-
ment’s Weekly’s “25 Funniest Ac-
tresses in Hollywood” list in 2009
- Has performed in one play
(2003’s “The Trials and Tribula-
tions of a Trailer Trash House-
wife”) but avoids theater work
due to stage fright
East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald | November 27, 2019
Screentime | 13