Octavia Spencer

Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1972) is an American actress and author. She made her film debut in the 1996 drama film A Time to Kill. Her breakthrough came in 2011, when she starred as Minny Jackson in the period drama film The Help, for which she won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA, and Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress. She had a critically acclaimed performance in Ryan Coogler's drama Fruitvale Station (2013), for which she received the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress. Spencer has received acclaim for her work in the films Smashed (2012), Snowpiercer (2013), Get on Up (2014), The Divergent Series (2015-2016), Zootopia (2016) and The Shape of Water (2017). In 2017, she received Academy Award, Golden Globe, and SAG nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as mathematician Dorothy Vaughan in the drama Hidden Figures. As an author, Spencer has started a children's book series titled Randi Rhodes Ninja Detective. She has published two books in the series, titled The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit (2013) and The Sweetest Heist in History (2015). 2Early life Octavia Lenora Spencer was born in Montgomery, Alabama, and has six siblings, including sisters Rosa and Areka. Her mother, Dellsena Spencer (1945-1988), worked as a mai