The year is off to a great start for Octavia Spencer. The Academy Award winner’s latest film, “Hidden Figures,” has dominated the box office two weekends in a row, and now the actress has been named Woman of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the Associated Press reports.
Spencer will be honored with a parade through the streets of Cambridge on January 26, with a roast and the presentation of her pudding pot to follow.
“The Pudding is proud to honor an actress whose depth of talent has captivated audiences with her comedic wit and her graceful portrayals of the underrepresented,” the student group said in a statement.
Awarded annually since 1951, the award is given to those “who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment.” Previous recipients include Meryl Streep, Amy Poehler, and Kerry Washington.
Spencer earned a Golden Globe nod for “Hidden Figures,” and will potentially nab an Oscar nomination for her role in the drama, which is based on the true story of Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), brilliant African-American women who played an instrumental role in the space race at NASA.
“Two years ago, my agent told me I was meeting with Donna Gigliotti about a project about these three female mathematicians that helped get John Glenn in our space program,” Spencer has revealed. She thought it was “historical fiction like ‘The Help.’” “I’ve seen just about every movie about the space race and not only have they not mentioned women, they definitely haven’t mentioned African American women,” she explained. “And then she told me no, it was a true story. I was astounded. I told her I wanted to be a part of this no matter what — because if it took this long for these stories to be told, the least I could do is throw my name in the ring.”
The actress emphasized, “There is no precedent for this movie. Even with ‘The Help,’ it was three African American maids with the protagonist being a white girl,” she observed. “It has not been done. There’s an underserved audience for stories of women like this working, and succeeding. There is a kind of fatigue on slave stories, on subjugated stories, which for some reason there is still a plethora of in Hollywood. I think this movie will be impactful in a lot of ways because African American women have contributed so much and have been regarded so little. But there’s still a lot of road to cover, a lot of stories to tell.”
Spencer won an Oscar in 2012 for her supporting role in “The Help.” Her other credits include “Zootopia,” “Mom,” and the “Divergent” franchise.
