Octavia Spencer was awarded the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal of Minny Jackson in The Help. Playing Minny gave Spencer challenges faced by any actor in a role that includes characteristics bordering on stereotype—finding the humanity where archetype seems prominent. It could have been easy to lose that sense of humanity, especially in the main storyline involving the writing of the tell-all book. The subplot involving Jessica Chastain’s character, Celia, who hires Minny as her maid, is where the humanity in both of those characters shines through.
Spencer also won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role of Minny.
She has been working in the film industry for years, sometimes as a casting director for extras, and sometimes in small parts in television and movies. You have likely seen her before, possibly in one of the following films:
A Time to Kill (1996)
Seven Pounds (2008)
The Nines (2007)
Bad Santa (2003) (See our review.)
Spider-Man (2002)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
She also made the most of her brief role in Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School (2005), starring Robert Carlyle, Marisa Tomei, and John Goodman.
Spencer has several projects in the works for this year:
Smashed (2012)
The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife (2012) (post-production)
Lost on Purpose (2012) (post-production)
Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0818055/bio
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_Spencer
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