Octavia Lenora Spencer is an American actress, voice actress, and producer. She is best known for her role as Minerva "Minny" Jackson in the 2011 Touchstone Pictures period drama film The Help, in which she received a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Screen Actors Guild, and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; and was nominated in the same category for her roles as Dorothy Vaughan in the 2016 biographical drama film Hidden Figures and Zelda Delilah Fuller in Guillermo del Toro's 2017 romantic fantasy film The Shape of Water. She also voiced Dab-Dab the duck in the 2020 Universal Pictures film Dolittle.
Her other notable roles include Ryan Coogler's biographical drama film Fruitvale Station, Bong Joon-ho's sci-fi action film Snowpiercer (both released in 2013), Tate Taylor's 2014 biographical musical drama film Get on Up, Marc Webb's 2017 comedy-drama film Gifted, and the 2019 horror film Ma.
For Disney, she played Dr. Evilini in the Disney Channel Original Series Wizards of Waverly Place, and voiced Mrs. Otterton in the 2016 Disney animated feature film Zootopia and Corey the Manticore in the 2020 Disney/Pixar film Onward. She also portrayed Nativity Watson in the 1997 Touchstone Pictures film The 6th Man.
Roles[]
(The Help)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- At the 2012 BAFTA Awards, Spencer and director Tate Taylor talked with Miss Piggy for the latter's Orange Film red carpet show. Piggy told Spencer that she was "splendid as Ringo Starr" in The Help, referring to The Beatles' song "Help!". Going along with the joke, Spencer corrected the pig, saying that she was actually "going more towards John Lennon," and felt as though she must have failed miserably.
