Octavia Spencer (born May 25, 1970, in Montgomery, Alabama) is an acclaimed American actress and author who has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, and a Golden Globe. Her breakthrough came in 2011 with the film The Help, where she played a maid in 1960s Mississippi, earning her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She made history as the first Black actress to receive two consecutive Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations for her roles in Hidden Figures (2016) and The Shape of Water (2017). Beyond film, she starred in the Apple TV+ series Truth Be Told and earned an Emmy nomination for portraying Madam C. J. Walker in the Netflix miniseries Self Made (2020). As an author, she created the children's book series Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective, publishing two books in 2013 and 2015. Raised by a mother who worked as a maid and overcoming dyslexia, Spencer graduated from Auburn University before making her film debut in A Time to Kill (1996).