Octavia Spencer: podcast appearances and interviews

Octavia Lenora Spencer, born on May 25, 1970, is an American actress and author. Her career began with her film debut in the 1996 drama A Time to Kill. After spending a decade in supporting roles across film and television, she gained widespread recognition in 2011 for her role as a maid in the film The Help, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has received numerous accolades, including the British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for Primetime Emmy Awards. In subsequent years, Spencer was awarded the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the biopic Fruitvale Station in 2013. She also had a recurring role on the CBS sitcom Mom from 2013 to 2015 and starred in the Fox drama series Red Band Society from 2014 to 2015. Her portrayal of other notable black women, Dorothy Vaughan in Hidden Figures (2016) and a cleaning woman in The Shape of Water (2017), earned her consecutive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Spencer has appeared in several other notable projects, including The Divergent Series, The Shack, Gifted, Instant Family, Luce, Ma, Onward, and Spirited. She led the Apple TV+ drama series Truth Be Told from 2019 to 2023 and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal of Madam C. J. Walker in the Netflix miniseries Self Made in 2020. Additionally, Spencer is an author of children's books, creating the series Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective, with two published titles, The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit and The Sweetest Heist in History.