Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer talks Hollywood, her new movie
Musings on a new movie, being herself and harassment in Hollywood
OCTAVIA Spencer isn’t the type of woman to take too many chances. Start with the Best Supporting
Actress Oscar statue she won last year for “Hidden Figures.”
Yes, it stays hidden … some of the time.
“Most of the time, it stays right next to my fireplace,” says the actress who is also known for playing a certain sassy maid named Minnie in “The Help.” “I have this built-in shelf and keep it there, except when people come into the mix.” Workman in the house? No problem. “You just move the Oscar so it’s not visible. I don’t like anybody having that as a prop to hold.”
She might have to find a few more hiding spots since there is talk that her Oscar might be getting a twin. Spencer has a key role in Guillermo Del Toro’s new film, “The Shape of Water,” where she plays a determined cleaning woman dealing with a government experiment featuring a half man/half fish looking for love.
RJ: Tell us about your typical Sunday?
OS: If I’m home, I don’t sleep in. I’ll go to church or Sunday school and then come home and try to get a hike in. Or if I’m feeling lazy, I’ll get a massage. Sometimes one or two of those things get left out, but I try to fit them all into one Sunday.
How is life after winning an Oscar?
Life is the same, but it’s just a little busier. You gotta keep your life management going no matter what happens to you.
What do you recall about winning an Oscar?
It’s such a blur. It’s like time happened in slow motion when they got to my Oscar category. It was so wonderful when I heard my name called. The only problem was I stood, and I can definitely tell you that my knees stopped working. They wouldn’t bend at all due to the adrenalin. I was like, ‘How am I going to get up those stairs.’ But all of a sudden, my knees kicked back in and I ran up there.”
Word is you’re about to run around Vegas?
I do love Vegas, and I was there recently, and I’m coming back in the next few weeks. I find that I don’t like to spend a lot of money at the casinos, but I do love playing penny slots and so do a few on my team. We have a couple of birthdays in December, so I’ll be taking my whole office to Vegas, and we’re going to play penny slots all night. It’s so crazy, but I feel so much joy winning $60 bucks or knowing I just won 6,000 pennies.
How do fans react if they see you on a slot machine?
In Vegas, they just wave and let you do your thing. That’s great. It’s different when I’m walking
through an airport. Fans like to grab me from behind. It’s so odd. They’ll literally reach over my shoulder to pull me back to take a selfie. As a woman, you have your purse and you start to fight them off because at first you don’t know what’s going on. So the bottom line here is don’t ever approach a person from behind!
How do you feel about women coming out to name people who have harassed them in Hollywood?
What people fail to realize is it’s never easy to speak up. The feeling has always been you don’t gain anything by speaking up. But now that so many women are speaking up, these brave women are regaining a little bit of the dignity they were robbed of. I’ve heard, ‘It’s seriously taxing to read these accounts.’ To which I say, ‘Imagine what it was like for the victims to live these experiences.’ That said, it’s important we don’t go on witch hunts, but still allow the space for people to have their moment of reckoning.
What do you think should happen to the harassers?
I think anyone who holds another’s dreams hostage should lose their dream.
Do you have any advice for aspiring actresses?
First, I can’t judge an actress who goes to a hotel room at night for a meeting. This is the craziest business possible. But you have to put things into perspective. For instance, I’m a big flirt. It’s one thing to flirt. But if the person doesn’t respond, you don’t make physical contact. You don’t keep pushing the situation. I tell women I know to keep a fork in their purses. A knife is too dangerous. That’s why I like a fork. You can hit a vital organ without killing someone.
Describe your role in “The Shape of Water.”
It’s 1962, and I have a husband who doesn’t appreciate me, and my best friend is in love with a fish. She’s endangering our jobs and our lives by stealing the fish.
Can human-fishman love survive the 1960s?
I’m a romantic at heart. One of the overall themes in this movie is that there is someone perfect for everyone. That’s a beautiful message.
What was it like to work with director Guillermo Del Toro?
It was so wonderful. First of all, Guillermo has a standard of excellence and everyone has to live up to that standard. He’s a perfectionist. You better come in with your A-game or don’t come in. I also love that he’s a loyal director and keeps using the same people over and over again. You want to be in that company. Otherwise, it was like being on a Spielberg set. This was his opus. Plus, I’ve never been on a set where people weren’t on their cellphones between takes. Everyone was watching Guillermo direct. They were engrossed.
Actor Doug Jones, who plays Amphibian Man, was in a complex creature suit filming scenes for “The Shape of Water.” Did you bond between takes?
He had such a hard job. Doug was in freezing water in this rubber suit that featured back spots where the water could get in. Can you imagine? Three hours to get into that suit and do the makeup every single day. He only had two nostrils to breathe through, which must have been so tough. Sometimes, he would stretch his legs and come out of the water tank. We had to help put him back in.
Ever long to be the lead?
I figure that I’ll create some lead roles for myself in the future. I want to be a producer and facilitate roles for myself and others. I want to tell stories that perhaps otherwise wouldn’t be told. My main objective is I don’t want to limit myself. People say, ‘You’ve played a maid and now you’re playing a janitor. They’re support roles.’ My answer is they’re important roles because they’re crucial to the story and the women have very different, fully fleshed-out experiences. But someday I would like to be a lead.
You’ve played so many strong women. Where do you get that grit?
I don’t know if I’m strong. I’m definitely fearful of a lot of things, especially things I don’t know. My strength comes from being surrounded by a lot of people who have allowed me to be who I am. When you are given permission to thrive in your own way, you do find your confidence. Confidence is one of the best gifts in life. If someone gives it to you, grab it. If they don’t then find it.