Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
May 25, 1970
Place of Birth:
Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Social Media
Octavia Spencer
Biography
Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Spencer made her film debut in the 1996 drama A Time to Kill. Following a decade of brief roles in film and television, her breakthrough came in 2011 when she played a maid in 1960s America in the drama film The Help, which won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In ensuing years, she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Ryan Coogler's biopic Fruitvale Station (2013), had a recurring role in the CBS sitcom Mom (2013–2015), and starred in the Fox drama series Red Band Society (2014–2015).
Spencer's roles as other black women in 1960s America, as Dorothy Vaughan in the biopic Hidden Figures (2016) and a cleaning woman in the fantasy The Shape of Water (2017), earned her two consecutive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first black actress to achieve such feat, as well as the first, and to date only, to be nominated twice after winning. She has since starred in The Divergent Series (2015–16), The Shack (2017), Gifted (2017), Instant Family (2018), Luce (2019), Ma (2019), Onward (2020), and Spirited(2022). She led the Apple TV+ drama series Truth Be Told (2019–2023). She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for portraying Madam C. J. Walker in the Netflix miniseries Self Made (2020).
As an author, Spencer created the children's book series Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective. She has published two books in the series: The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit (2013) and The Sweetest Heist in History (2015).
Description above from the Wikipedia article Octavia Spencer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Tow | |
| 2025 | Smurfs | (voice) |
| 2024 | Becoming bell hooks | Self |
| 2022 | Spirited | Kimberly |
| 2022 | The Quest for Sleep | Narrator |
| 2022 | Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter | Self |
| 2021 | Thunder Force | Emily Stanton |
| 2021 | Encounter | Hattie Hayes |
| 2020 | Onward | The Manticore (voice) |
| 2020 | Roald Dahl's The Witches | Grandma |
| 2020 | Dolittle | Dab-Dab (voice) |
| 2020 | Superintelligence | Octavia Spencer (voice) |
| 2019 | Luce | Harriet Wilson |
| 2019 | Ma | Sue Ann |
| 2019 | HOMECOMING: A film by Beyoncé | Self |
| 2018 | Small Town Crime | Kelly Banks |
| 2018 | A Kid Like Jake | Judy |
| 2018 | Instant Family | Karen |
| 2017 | The Shack | Papa / Elouisa |
| 2017 | Gifted | Roberta Taylor |
| 2017 | The Shape of Water | Zelda Fuller |
| 2017 | Car Dogs | Mrs. Barrett |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Mrs. Otterton (voice) |
| 2016 | The Free World | Linda Workman |
| 2016 | Allegiant | Johanna Reyes |
| 2016 | Hidden Figures | Dorothy Vaughan |
| 2016 | Bad Santa 2 | Opal |
| 2015 | Fathers and Daughters | Dr. Corman |
| 2015 | Insurgent | Johanna Reyes |
| 2015 | The Great Gilly Hopkins | Miss Harris |
| 2014 | Black or White | Rowena Jeffers |
| 2014 | Get on Up | Aunt Honey |
| 2013 | Snowpiercer | Tanya |
| 2013 | Paradise | Loray |
| 2013 | Fruitvale Station | Wanda |
| 2013 | Call Me Crazy: A Five Film | Dr. Nance |
| 2013 | Lost on Purpose | Nurse Keller |
| 2013 | Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy | Narrator (voice) |
| 2013 | Jesus People | Angel Angelique |
| 2013 | Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters | Martha (voice) |
| 2012 | Smashed | Jenny |
| 2012 | Blues for Willadean | LeSonia Robinson |
| 2011 | Flypaper | Madge Wiggins |
| 2011 | The Help | Minny Jackson |
| 2011 | Just Peck | Detention Teacher |
| 2010 | Dinner for Schmucks | Madame Nora |
| 2010 | Small Town Saturday Night | Rhonda Dooley |
| 2010 | Peep World | Alison |
| 2010 | Love and Distrust | Rhonda (segment "Auto Motives") |
| 2009 | Halloween II | Nurse Daniels |
| 2009 | Love at First Hiccup | Mrs. Hambrick |
| 2009 | Drag Me to Hell | Bank Co-Worker |
| 2009 | Herpes Boy | Rochelle |
| 2009 | The Soloist | Troubled Woman |
| 2008 | Seven Pounds | Kate the Home Health Care Nurse |
| 2008 | Pretty Ugly People | Mary |
| 2008 | The Spleenectomy | Nurse |
| 2008 | Wizards of Waverly Place: Wizard School | Dr. Evilini |
| 2007 | The Nines | Streetwalker |
| 2006 | Pulse | Landlady |
| 2006 | Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School | Ayisha Lebaron |
| 2005 | Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous | Middle-Aged Woman |
| 2005 | Coach Carter | Mrs. Battle |
| 2005 | Beauty Shop | Big Customer |
| 2005 | Pretty Persuasion | Woman |
| 2004 | Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! | Janine |
| 2004 | Breakin' All the Rules | Stylist |
| 2003 | Sol Goode | Unemployment Clerk |
| 2003 | Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde | Security Guard |
| 2003 | S.W.A.T. | Neighbor in Alley |
| 2003 | Chicken Party | Laqueta Mills |
| 2003 | Bad Santa | Opal |
| 2002 | Spider-Man | Check-In Girl |
| 2002 | Little John | Waitress |
| 2001 | Follow the Stars Home | Hildy |
| 2001 | The Sky is Falling | Nurse #2 |
| 2001 | Missing Pieces | Elegant Guest (as Octavia L. Spencer) |
| 2001 | Everything Put Together | Nurse B |
| 2001 | The Journeyman | Black Belly |
| 2000 | Big Momma's House | Twila |
| 2000 | American Virgin | Agnes Large |
| 2000 | Four Dogs Playing Poker | Waitress |
| 2000 | What Planet Are You From? | Baby Nurse |
| 1999 | Being John Malkovich | Woman in Elevator |
| 1999 | Never Been Kissed | Cynthia |
| 1999 | Blue Streak | Shawna |
| 1999 | Lansky | Evelyn |
| 1997 | Sparkler | Wanda |
| 1997 | The 6th Man | Nativity Watson |
| 1996 | A Time to Kill | Roark's Nurse |
| 1996 | Valley Girls | Cheerleader |
| Nobody Nothing Nowhere | ||
| Untitled Holiday Comedy Project | ||
| The Heart | ||
| Ma 2 | Sue Ann |