Octavia Spencer
American actress, producer, and writer Octavia Spencer made her film debut in the star-studded drama A Time to Kill (1996). After this role, she received mostly minor roles in TV and film, until her breakthrough role arrived in 2011, when she was cast for the period drama The Help, based on a novel of the same name. Spencer won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her haunting performance in the film, among other accolades.
Following her success in The Help, in 2016 Spencer received another Academy Award nomination for her role in the biographical period drama Hidden Figures, and another Oscar nomination the following year for her role in Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017). She has made history as the only woman of color to receive three Academy Award nominations.