Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970)[a] is an American actress,
author, and producer. She is the recipient of several accolades,
including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen
Actors Guild Awards. She is one of two women of color to have received
three Oscar nominations and the first black actress to receive two
consecutive nominations.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 Help, for which she won several awards, including
the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. For her performance in
Ryan Coogler's biopic Fruitvale Station (2013), she won the National
Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.Spencer received
further Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for
playing other women in 1960s America, the mathematician Dorothy
Vaughan in the biographical drama Hidden Figures (2016), and a
cleaning woman in the fantasy drama The Shape of Water (2017). She
also appeared in the films Smashed (2012), Snowpiercer (2013), Get on
Up (2014), The Divergent Series (2015â€"16), Gifted (2017), Instant
Family (2018), and Onward (2020); and had starring roles in The Shack
(2017), Luce (2019), and Ma (2019).
author, and producer. She is the recipient of several accolades,
including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen
Actors Guild Awards. She is one of two women of color to have received
three Oscar nominations and the first black actress to receive two
consecutive nominations.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 Help, for which she won several awards, including
the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. For her performance in
Ryan Coogler's biopic Fruitvale Station (2013), she won the National
Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.Spencer received
further Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for
playing other women in 1960s America, the mathematician Dorothy
Vaughan in the biographical drama Hidden Figures (2016), and a
cleaning woman in the fantasy drama The Shape of Water (2017). She
also appeared in the films Smashed (2012), Snowpiercer (2013), Get on
Up (2014), The Divergent Series (2015â€"16), Gifted (2017), Instant
Family (2018), and Onward (2020); and had starring roles in The Shack
(2017), Luce (2019), and Ma (2019).
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