Early life

Born in Montgomery, Alabama, she has six siblings, including her sisters Rosa and Areka. Her mother, Dellsena (1945-1988), worked as a maid. Spencer graduated from Jefferson Davis High School in 1988, spent two years at Auburn Montgomery studying drama (1988-1989), and received a bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts from Auburn University.

Career

At nineteen, she worked as an intern on the set of The Long Walk Home, a film starring Whoopi Goldberg.

Spencer made her film debut as a nurse in Joel Schumacher's A Time to Kill based on the book by John Grisham. She was originally hired to work on casting, but asked Schumacher if she could audition for a small part. Other film credits include: Never Been Kissed, Big Momma's House, Bad Santa, Spider-Man, Coach Carter, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! and Pretty Ugly People. She has made a number of guest appearances on television series including Raising the Bar, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Big Bang Theory, Wizards of Waverly Place, Grounded for Life, ER, Titus, Becker, 30 Rock and Dharma & Greg, plus a recurring role on Mom. She is best known for her starring roles as Serenity Johnson on Comedy Central's Halfway Home, and Constance Grady, the amorous INS caseworker on Ugly Betty.

In 2003, she made her stage debut in Los Angeles, in Del Shores' play, The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, starring opposite veteran actress Beth Grant. It was her first and only play, as she told Back Stage Magazine that she suffers from "stage fright." Later that year, she starred opposite Allison Janney in Tate Taylor's critically lauded short feature Chicken Party.

In 2008, Spencer's brief appearance in Seven Pounds as Kate, Rosario Dawson's home care nurse, garnered her high praise and media attention. In April 2009, Entertainment Weekly listed Spencer in its list of 25 Funniest Actresses in Hollywood. In August 2009, Spencer appeared in Rob Zombie's Halloween II. She also had a role in the American remake of the Danish classic Love at First Hiccup opposite Scout Taylor-Compton. Spencer starred in the hit web series-turned feature film Herpes Boy alongside Beth Grant, Ahna O'Reilly and Byron Lane; and, can be heard as the voice of "Minny" on the audio version of The Help, the "New York Times Best Seller" by Kathryn Stockett. Later that year, Spencer's short film The Captain was honored by the CICFF as a finalist for the coveted REEL Poetry Award.

In August 2010, Spencer joined Viola Davis, Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard in Touchstone and DreamWorks' production of The Help, in which she played the feisty and unflappable domestic Minny Jackson. The film was written, produced and directed by Tate Taylor, and produced by Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, and Mark Radcliffe. Her role garnered her critical acclaim, and started talk of various awards nominations. She won the 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture for her work in The Help.

On February 12, 2012, she won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her Performance in The Help, and on February 26 she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the same performance; making it her first Oscar nomination and first win. Spencer was so thrilled to win that she could hardly speak at the ceremony and was given a standing ovation and was moved to tears during her acceptance speech. In June 2012, Spencer was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In 2013, she appeared alongside Michael B. Jordan in Fruitvale Station, a film chronicling the last day of Oscar Grant, who was killed at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in 2009.

In September 2013, it was announced that she would reunite with The Help director Tate Taylor in the biopic on singer James Brown Get On Up opposite her The Help co-star Viola Davis. The film was released in 2014. From September 2014 until February 2015, she starred in Steven Spielberg's Fox drama television series Red Band Society.

Spencer co-starred alongside Kevin Costner in drama film Black or White (2014) and co-starred as Johanna Reyes in the second installment of the Divergent series, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, which was released on 20 March 2015. She reprised the role in The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016). She voiced an otter, Mrs. Otterton in Disney's Zootopia, which marks her first animated film.

Filmography

Film

Year	Project	Role	Note(s)
1996	A Time to Kill	Roark's Nurse
1997	The 6th Man	Nativity Watson
1997	Sparkler	Wanda
1999	Never Been Kissed	Cynthia
1999	Being John Malkovich	Woman in Elevator
1999	Blue Streak	Shawna
2000	The Sky Is Falling	Nurse No. 2
2000	Everything Put Together	Nurse B
2000	American Virgin	Agnes Large
2000	What Planet Are You From?	Baby Nurse
2000	Auto Motives	Rhonda
2000	Big Momma's House	Twila
2000	Four Dogs Playing Poker	Waitress
2001	Sol Goode	Unemployment Clerk
2001	The Journeyman	Black Belly
2002	Spider-Man	Check-In Girl
2003	Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde	Security Guard
2003	S.W.A.T.	Neighbor in Alley
2003	Chicken Party	Laqueta Mills
2003	Bad Santa	Opal
2004	Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!	Janine
2004	Breakin' All the Rules	Stylist
2005	Coach Carter	Mrs. Battle
2005	Pretty Persuasion	Woman
2005	Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School	Ayisha Lebaron
2005	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	Octavia - Bookstore
2005	Beauty Shop	Big Customer
2005	Wannabe	Lady Chanet Janney Jones
2006	Pulse	Landlady
2007	The Nines	Streetwalker
2008	Next of Kin	Grace
2008	Pretty Ugly People	Mary
2008	The Spleenectomy	Nurse
2008	Seven Pounds	Kate (Home Health Care Nurse)
2009	The First Time (Love At First Hiccup)	Mrs. Hambrick
2009	Drag Me to Hell	Bank Co-Worker No. 1
2009	Jesus People: The Movie	Angel Angelique
2009	The Soloist	Troubled Woman
2009	Just Peck	Detention Room Teacher
2009	Halloween II	Nurse Daniels
2009	Herpes Boy	Rochelle
2009	Small Town Saturday Night	Rhonda Dooley
2010	Dinner for Schmucks	Madame Nora
2011	The Help	Minny Jackson	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress African American Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Supporting Actress Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Cast BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Black Film Critics Circle for Best Supporting Actress Black Film Critics Circle for Best Ensemble Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble Gold Derby Film Award for Best Supporting Actress Gold Derby Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Hollywood Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble North Texas Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Palm Springs International Film Festival Award for Breakthrough Performance Satellite Award for Best Cast - Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Women Film Critics Circle for Best Ensemble Nominated - Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Ensemble Cast Nominated - Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Unforgettable Moment Nominated - Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Black Reel Award for Breakthrough Performance Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Nominated - Houston Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo Nominated - Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - San Diego Film Critics Society Awards for Best Ensemble Performance Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated - St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2011	Peep World	Allison
2011	Flypaper	Madge Wiggins
2012	Smashed	Jenny
2013	Fruitvale Station	Wanda	National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated - San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
2013	Snowpiercer	Tanya	Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress
2013	Paradise	Loray
2014	Get On Up	Aunt Honey Washington	African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
2015	The Great Gilly Hopkins	Miss Harris
2015	Black or White	Rowena Jeffers	African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
2015	The Divergent Series: Insurgent	Johanna Reyes
2015	Fathers and Daughters	Dr. Korman
2016	Zootopia	Mrs. Otterton (voice)
2016	The Divergent Series: Allegiant	Johanna Reyes
2016	The Shack	Papa	Filming
2016	Gifted	Roberta Taylor	Filming
2016	The Free World	Linda Workman
2017	Hidden Figures	Dorothy Vaughan	Filming
TBA	B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations	Captain Book (voice)	In production

Television

Year	Project	Role	Note(s)
1998	ER	Maria Jones	Season 5, episode 7
1999	Lansky	Evelyn the Maid	TV movie
1999	The X-Files	Nurse	Season 7, episode 4, "Millennium"
2000	Malcolm in the Middle	Cashier	Season 2, episode 9
2000	Missing Pieces	Elegant Guest	TV movie
2001	Follow the Stars Home	Hildy	TV movie
2002	Little John	Waitress	TV movie
2006-07	The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman	Cheryl / Female Security Guard	4 episodes
2007	Halfway Home	Serenity Johnson	10 episodes
2007	Ugly Betty	Constance Grady	5 episodes
2008	The Big Bang Theory	DMV Employee	Season 2, episode 5
2008	Wizards of Waverly Place	Dr. Evilini	2 episodes
2009	Dollhouse	Professor Jackie	1 episode
2009	Raising the Bar	Arvina Watkins	5 episodes
2010	Hawthorne	Emily Thomkins	Season 2, episode 4
2013	30 Rock	Herself	TV series; 1 episode
2013	Call Me Crazy: A Five Film	Dr. Nance	Lifetime Original Movie Pending - Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress: Television Movie/Cable
2013-present	Mom	Regina	8 episodes; Recurring role
2014-15	Red Band Society	Nurse Dena Jackson	13 episodes; Main role
2015	Drunk History	Harriet Tubman	Episode: "Spies"

Charities

Octavia Spencer supports the following charitable cause: Cancer.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]