Octavia Spencer on Her 15-Year “Overnight Success” & Defying Hollywood

Baby, this is Keke Palmer

In this empowering episode of 'Baby, this is Keke Palmer,' Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer reflects on her 15-year journey to 'overnight success' and shares how she

Key takeaways

• Octavia Spencer describes her Oscar win as a pivotal moment that allowed her to redefine her career on her own terms.
• She credits mentors like Melissa McCarthy and Whoopi Goldberg for guiding her through early challenges in Hollywood.

Main topics

• Octavia Spencer's career evolution from underrepresented actress to executive producer
• The role of mentorship and friendship in overcoming industry barriers

Notable quotes

"I was an 'overnight success' 15 years in the making."

"Put them in a blender and let things get chopped up and whatever lands in the new foam is what I get to be."

Conclusion

Octavia Spencer's story is a powerful testament to perseverance, self-worth, and the

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Today, I'm sitting down with the incomparable Octavia Spencer. She's a producer and Oscar-winning actress, and now she's starring in and executive producing the new Amazon Prime video series Ride or Die alongside Hannah Waddingham, an action comedy about friendship, secrets, and just how far you'll go for the person you love. It's the kind of role Octavia once had to fight to even be considered for. And now she's in a position to help decide which stories get told and who gets the chance to tell them. So today we're talking about the journey from being underestimated to knowing your worth, the friendships that carried her along the way, and what it means to use your success to create opportunities for others. So let's get into it because baby, this is Kiki Palmer and baby, this is Octavia Spencer. Speaker 1 (0:52) No matter what we doing in the car just chillin' Pop on Amazon Speaker 2 (0:54) Music sit back and listen Life, love, sex, science, covered it all Especially the bad cause money always involved No matter what it is we gon' make it make sense Nothing else to do but kick it with the homies and kids So grab you a drink and a snack you enjoy And get into the vibe that only one can Speaker 1 (1:09) smell Speaker 2 (1:09) Baby this is, this is kickin' Baby this is kickin' Today's episode is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Starbucks. Fall's most iconic beverage is here. The Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is back to kick off the season. Order now on the app. Speaker 2 (1:40) I'm so happy to see you. Look at you, a vision Speaker 1 (1:42) in red. You Speaker 2 (1:43) smell so good, too. Speaker 1 (1:45) Well, Speaker 2 (1:45) thank you. I Speaker 1 (1:45) showered today. Speaker 2 (1:48) How you doing? How's life right now? You been in town? Have you been relaxing? Has it been busy? I Speaker 1 (1:53) have been on tour for this project for a few weeks. And then I took a couple of weeks of sanity off and went to Speaker 1 (2:09) the grenadines and just got myself all the way checked. Now wait a minute, what's the grenadine? In the Caribbean, Mystique, this beautiful island near St. Vincent. Speaker 2 (2:19) Ooh, fabulous! It was Speaker 1 (2:21) wonderful, darling. Speaker 2 (2:23) And so when you said this tour, you were talking about your press tour for Ride or Die. Yes. I'm so excited for this. The trailer looks, I know we're Speaker 1 (2:29) going Speaker 2 (2:29) to talk Speaker 1 (2:29) about it, but that trailer looked too Speaker 2 (2:31) good, girl! Thank you. Yes! I Speaker 1 (2:33) did it. I did it all. But Speaker 2 (2:35) I feel like you always are finding these unique creative projects to do. You know what I'm saying? Speaker 1 (2:42) Like that Ma, girl, Speaker 2 (2:43) we Speaker 1 (2:44) know Speaker 2 (2:44) we Speaker 1 (2:44) gotta Speaker 2 (2:44) stop by Ma at some point, but that Speaker 1 (2:46) movie, girl, it gave us gifts for a lifetime. Thank Speaker 2 (2:49) you. Because, you know, Speaker 1 (2:50) the opportunities are usually not as varied for us. And so we have to seek those different types of projects out. Yes. Speaker 2 (3:00) So it's serious because, you know, Hollywood has archetypes. I mean, theater. Filmmaker, it all has archetypes. But the interesting part is to take those archetypes and put them in a new surrounding and a new environment. You know what I'm saying? I like to Speaker 1 (3:12) put them in a blender and let things get chopped up and whatever lands in the new foam is what I get to be. Speaker 2 (3:19) Yes! I want to taste the new flavor. Okay, let's start with this pre-show pull-up. I do it with everybody. What is your zodiac sign? Do you know? Speaker 1 (3:28) Gemini. But I'm a double Gemini. Gemini, sun, and moon. Oh, my God. So you get double the crazy for half the price. Speaker 2 (3:34) That's at my house. So do you feel very Gemini? Speaker 1 (3:38) No, I don't think anybody feels crazy. Speaker 2 (3:41) It just feels Speaker 1 (3:42) normal. Speaker 2 (3:44) And then what about your rising? Your rising is different. Speaker 1 (3:47) I'm sun and moon. Sun and Speaker 2 (3:50) moon and then you know your ascendant? I Speaker 1 (3:53) don't know my ascendant. I think people... Speaker 2 (3:54) I wonder Speaker 1 (3:54) what it is. I think it might scare people because if I'm a Gemini, sun, moon, and ascendant, there is some Speaker 2 (4:02) workery. That is hilarious. What is your love language? Speaker 1 (4:07) My love language is food and music. Speaker 2 (4:10) Okay. Speaker 1 (4:11) Food and music. I can't separate the two. Speaker 2 (4:15) Girl, you ain't never lied. I went on a date recently and this guy... ordered the food for me, and it was all good. I was Speaker 1 (4:21) happy as hell. First of all, the fact that he ordered, Speaker 2 (4:25) and I'm like, I can relax, and then Speaker 1 (4:26) everything Speaker 2 (4:27) was good. Speaker 1 (4:28) Okay, okay. I was thrilled beyond Speaker 2 (4:30) belief. So music, what's your music? Are we talking about a jazz club? Are we talking about... I Speaker 1 (4:34) like everything. I'm that person. I like jazz. I like hip-hop. I like country music. I mean, just everything. You have that line Speaker 2 (4:42) dancing up in there. Come on, you Speaker 1 (4:43) can Speaker 2 (4:43) take Speaker 1 (4:43) me Speaker 2 (4:43) to Speaker 1 (4:43) a Speaker 2 (4:44) country place. You know Beyonce has brought us all the way Speaker 1 (4:46) back. Got us in our boots. In a boot, in a hat. And some of us shouldn't be wearing boots. I'm thinking, I can only do this in my house with this cowboy hat. Speaker 2 (5:01) A mess. Too good. Okay, what is something your friends roast you for that they get on you, that they cad you about? Speaker 1 (5:08) Well, because I'm the first one to ask for a dinner party. But I'm never the one to host it. And I always, I used to bring a bag salad before they were faux pas. I live for the word faux Speaker 2 (5:26) pas. Speaker 1 (5:26) Yeah, you hear me? That's my middle name. Faux pas. Speaker 2 (5:29) Faux Speaker 1 (5:29) pas. Speaker 2 (5:34) That is hilarious. So you coming up to the dinner party, but you ain't got the right stuff. Speaker 1 (5:37) No, and I always, always have my to-go Tupperware. And Speaker 2 (5:41) that's a faux pas? No, not for me. No, Speaker 1 (5:44) it Speaker 2 (5:44) can't be. Speaker 1 (5:45) Not for me. But no, you shouldn't. Well, I've been knowing these people now for 30 years, so they know I'm going to show up with my to-go stuff. That's right. Because nobody eats leftovers the way I do. Speaker 2 (5:57) Okay. No Speaker 1 (5:58) one's going to love you the way I do leftovers. You Speaker 2 (6:01) know what I mean? And no, y'all not going to eat all this. No. Y'all not going to eat all this. So let's just cut it. Exactly. Okay, what is one movie you could watch over and over again? Speaker 1 (6:12) I do watch The Godfather. Speaker 2 (6:19) That's a long one. Speaker 1 (6:20) You know why? Because it is a lesson. You learn a new... acting lesson. Speaker 2 (6:27) That one scene, I don't know if this is the, which godfather this is, because there's also so many, but the one where the brother is going, getting ready to shoot them all up like that, I can't stand all that. Speaker 1 (6:40) I love it. Revenge. I hate Speaker 2 (6:43) that. Oh, the family, you know, power, Speaker 1 (6:47) greed, all Speaker 2 (6:49) that stuff sends me into a tizzy. I get too attached to the characters. I do, too. Let me tell you Speaker 1 (6:54) something, but that tells you that we've been doing our jobs. If we mourn those characters. Girl! And that's one of the reasons I want to watch again because the ones that die, the only way you get to see them again is if you start over. You know? Speaker 2 (7:09) You got to keep watching the movie. You Speaker 1 (7:10) got to Speaker 2 (7:10) keep watching. It's so true. Yeah. That's Speaker 1 (7:12) so Speaker 2 (7:12) true. Where do you think it was that you first learned you had a love for acting? Was it watching movies and something like this? You know, going to see a show or something? Speaker 1 (7:20) I would say, you know, we used to watch TV all the time when I was little. And I... We didn't have money for television all the time, and especially one that had a remote. So I had six siblings. And at one point during the week, one of us had to stand next to the TV to change the channel. Speaker 2 (7:41) And Speaker 1 (7:42) on one particular night, and I want to say it was the Oscars, but it could have been the Emmys. It was my turn to change the channels. And everybody was all dressed up and sparkling and beautiful. And they won prizes. And, of course, that just made me happy. I said, what are they doing? What do they get the prizes for? I love the prizes. The prizes. The prizes. Well, you have to work hard for those prizes. Okay. And my mom didn't try to deter me from that. But it definitely made an impression just watching all of those artists in a room. Some of them being rewarded, some of them not, but all of them being beautiful and talented. Speaker 2 (8:27) I love that. I think that's the first time that I've heard that association with the awards in that way. But it is an interesting thing. When you do look outside of whatever it means to win or to lose, it's just we've all collected here something that we all find to be so important. Right. And that we're excited about sharing with each other. There's something beautiful there. Okay, so, I mean, 30 years in this business? You know, the only Speaker 1 (8:52) time I think about it is when I walk into a dark room and have to stop and walk slowly so I don't fall down. Otherwise, it just feels the same. It feels like no time is bad. But you know very clearly when... Speaker 2 (9:08) Well, now you've produced yet again, produced and starring in, yet again, another really cool and interesting project called Ride or Die. I mean, I watched the trailer. It looks so cool, exciting. I mean, you could tell us about your character, Debbie. I mean, she's accomplished. She's opinionated. She's funny. Really, just a messy modern mom that discovers that her best friend is a bounty hunter. Speaker 1 (9:30) Assassin. Speaker 2 (9:32) Assassin! She's an assassin. So tell me, like, how did you, what was the beginning of this? Did you find, like, the very rough version of the script? Or did you find the writer after you had the idea? Speaker 1 (9:42) It was all divine. So I, my development deal is with Paramount. And one of my favorite producers, Barbara and Andy Muschietti, their brother-sister team, they were developing this with... Yeah. And I got a call one day from my agent that said, hey, they're going to pitch you this idea just because you're going to deal with them. You don't have to say yes. If you like it, you know, just be noncommittal and and and we'll take care of the rest. Speaker 2 (10:16) Yeah. Yeah. I Speaker 1 (10:17) was like, guys, this is not my first rodeo. I know not to. get married on the first date. And sure enough, I heard the pitch and I went ahead and did it. I got married on the first date. Speaker 2 (10:29) It Speaker 1 (10:29) was that good. I hadn't heard a pitch that was that compelling. I don't think ever. I've heard good, good. It is Speaker 2 (10:40) really tough to get a really great pitch. Yeah. Speaker 1 (10:43) You know, it is. They had been developing it with the show creator, Tessa Coates. for a while. And so then to have Barbara Muschietti. I love that last name. Muschietti. Muschietti. Okay. Speaker 2 (10:55) They sound like they some assassins. They are Speaker 1 (10:58) assassins when it comes to film and television projects. Brilliant taste. So I always trust the taste of the people that I'm in business with. And the pitch was there. Speaker 2 (11:13) And Speaker 1 (11:14) then it was about, okay. well, who do you see as my partner in crime? Speaker 2 (11:20) And Speaker 1 (11:20) we all immediately said, well, Hannah. And then a few weeks go by, we get a meeting with her, and she does exactly what I did. Of course, her team told her not to say yes. Yeah. And of course, she was leaned into the... Speaker 2 (11:38) She's saying, we married. Over Speaker 1 (11:40) that Zoom. And at the end, she said, of course, guys. I think I'm in. Oh, my gosh. Have we ever seen you play British? Well, if you watch episode four. I have to squeak a British accent out. Speaker 2 (11:55) Girl, because now I want a movie where you are literally somebody that goes undercover and solves crimes as this type of British guy. Here's Speaker 1 (12:03) the thing Speaker 2 (12:03) about my Speaker 1 (12:03) British accent. It encompasses all of the accents. I'm posh. Speaker 2 (12:12) I'm Speaker 1 (12:12) a chimney sweep. Speaker 2 (12:13) Actually, that's the undercover layer for this new movie. We find out during the midpoint of the film she's not Speaker 1 (12:20) British. She's not British. She's actually, she's actually. From the hood, no. Exactly. Speaker 2 (12:27) Yo, that is too funny. Okay, so you guys get in bed. You do this amazing project. I mean, what can we expect? Speaker 1 (12:35) I think you are going to... It's comedy action. It's comedy. I think at the outset, people were expecting it to be just a hard comedy. Speaker 2 (12:46) Yeah. Speaker 1 (12:47) But when you put actors in situations where one person is withholding a whole side of themselves, I'm like, guys, it's not all going to be fun and games. There's going to be some anger. And there's going to be betrayal. There's going to have feelings of betrayal. Speaker 2 (13:06) And Speaker 1 (13:06) we have to play all of that out and let the comedy come as it should. But just like life, I mean, think about one day in your life. Is one day in your life purely comedy? No. No, no. No. Even if you tried to say, you know, today, I'm just, it's just going to be horror. One day in your life isn't purely horror. One day in your life isn't purely drama. You have all of those elements, which is why horror is my favorite genre because it encompasses all the others. Girl, Speaker 2 (13:37) when you were just saying that, it was making me think about how, the reason why we all loved Masamu was because it was scary, but then also she was funny as hell. But then also it was like, these kids do need a masamu. Speaker 2 (13:46) These kids might actually do need her. So it's so true. I'm seeing that consistency. And even if we go all the way back to The Help, The Help had those same things too. Where it was like sad, but then it was also like, I love these, you know. And it was like, Speaker 1 (14:00) aha. And it was like, you know what, we good. It's Speaker 2 (14:03) all of those ranges of emotions where it really doesn't just, it's not just one genre. Exactly. So I love that. I really do love that. How would you describe your process of becoming, you know. producing and putting your own movies together. Because I think this is something that, you know, it's a lot more difficult than one might imagine. It is so Speaker 1 (14:22) difficult. Yeah, and I say Speaker 2 (14:24) it Speaker 1 (14:24) from my own experience. It's Speaker 2 (14:25) pretty Speaker 1 (14:25) tough. Don't you have a project that you've... been kicking about for at least 12, 15 years. You gotta dust that old chestnut off and take Speaker 2 (14:35) it back Speaker 1 (14:36) around, you know? Speaker 2 (14:37) It's so true. When do you, what are the signs? Because there's this big thing around packaging. You know, everybody's like, you gotta package everything. What are you, you feel like your top three things or two things even that let you know that something's gonna come through, that's gonna go through the other side? Speaker 1 (14:50) The most important thing, this is why I love writer-directors. I love them with my whole being. Because... You can like a project, but if you get the wrong take on it and the wrong writer writes it or adapts it and it's not what you envisioned, it's not any indication of what the source material was, it's like, oh, we are back at square one. So it is always finding the right writer. And sometimes the right writer hasn't graduated college. That's real. Sometimes. That's real. The right writer has been put out to pasture because they've reached a certain age. Sometimes the right writer doesn't know that they have it within themselves to create that project. So I believe in the good Lord's time. Yeah. You get it out there. And if it's something that is. extremely meaningful to you, then you wait. You wait and it'll get to the right people. Speaker 2 (15:57) What you just said right there, I feel like that's something that I've learned with age. You know what I mean? Some of these things I feel like in my earlier, in my 20s, I would be like, you know, you always feel like you're running out of time or you feel like there's, you know, you're not, you're putting pressure on yourself because you're not doing enough. But it's so true that some things just come with time, with patience, with age. What do you feel like are some of those things for you now at this time in your life that have only come with age? Speaker 1 (16:22) Being good. And recognizing that I'm good at certain things because we can listen to a lot of ambient noise, right? Speaker 2 (16:33) And Speaker 1 (16:33) that ambient noise is only there to distract you, only there to deter you from what you know that you're capable of. And so now it's like, is that noise? Let me turn that down. What were you saying? How great I was. But Speaker 2 (16:51) also, you know, Speaker 1 (16:53) but but and Speaker 2 (16:54) then again, you Speaker 1 (16:56) also need to know that there's a discernment that you have at a certain age where, you know, this isn't good for me. I need to let this go. So a Speaker 2 (17:07) lot of Speaker 1 (17:08) things happen and come with age. A lot of things, you know. Yeah. Speaker 2 (17:12) Something else that you said in AARP is you, you know. Success isn't about what you accumulate. It's about who's sitting around your table, which ties beautifully with what you were just saying. So who's around your table? Maybe it's not the people, right, but the type of person. Who are at your table these days? The type of Speaker 1 (17:30) people around my table are the type of people, A, all of my siblings. Okay, Speaker 2 (17:35) family. You know, Speaker 1 (17:36) family, you get to love each other warts and all, and sometimes it's very warty. Yes. Speaker 2 (17:42) Sometimes it's just Speaker 1 (17:43) too many Speaker 2 (17:43) warts. Too funny. You know what I mean? It's like, ah, this is a lot of warts today. Speaker 1 (17:50) But they love you, warts and all. Speaker 2 (17:52) And they Speaker 1 (17:53) will be there for you regardless of need. And then I would say the same thing of my friend family. I don't want you there if you're only there when the sun is shining. I don't want you there. I need you there when it's a flood and we all know I can only donkey paddle. I need somebody who's going to throw the rope out because we know that if I turn over on my back, I might be going under. So, you know what I mean. It's Speaker 2 (18:25) too funny. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean because so many people are there. I was just talking about it with my mom. So many people are like, I'm with you, I'm with you, I'm with you because you're risking it all. The moment that it means that they have to risk something, you don't know where to find them. Speaker 1 (18:38) Exactly. Speaker 2 (18:38) You know, they're suddenly scared. Speaker 1 (18:40) Yeah. You know, but they're ready Speaker 2 (18:41) for all the shine when it's time for things to shine. So, yeah, I Speaker 1 (18:44) could Speaker 2 (18:44) agree with you more. Yeah. Speaker 1 (18:45) And I want creatives around Speaker 2 (18:48) my table because Speaker 1 (18:49) it gets dull out there if nothing is being invented. You know, if all