Spencer wants more Hollywood diversity
Even though Octavia Spencer is pleased with the record number of blacks nominated for acting Oscars this year, she’s still disappointed by the lack of recognition for other people of color.
“Diversity doesn’t mean just black,” Spencer said in an interview to promote her new film, “The Shack,” coming out March 3. “I’m excited that more black people are being recognized. That’s what I would like to see arrive for other people of color, because they are so valued and underserved. I think when we ask the public, the paying public, to support films that don’t portray them on screen, that’s hypocrisy.”
Spencer is one of six black actors up for an Academy Award at Sunday’s ceremony in Los Angeles. Dev Patel, who is of Asian descent, is nominated for best actor. Spencer is nominated for her role in “Hidden Figures,” which is nominated for best picture.
The diverse slate is a far cry from the past two years, when all-white acting nominees led to the social media protests and a national conversation on race in Hollywood. It also compelled Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the president of the academy, to implement a plan restructuring the organization’s membership to make it more reflective of women and minorities.
Spencer played Dorothy Vaughan, a pioneering black mathematician who worked at NASA, in “Hidden Figures.” She won an Oscar for best supporting actress six years ago for playing a maid in “The Help.”