meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

Octavia Spencer

Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

NBC News

News, Celebrity, Society & Culture, Movies, Interview, Music, Tv, Pop Culture, Broadway, Politics, Tv & Film, Technology

4.54K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2020

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Octavia Spencer's rise to fame may seem like overnight success, but she actually worked for over 15 years in Hollywood before her breakout, Oscar-winning performance in The Help. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to the actress about her journey from Production Assistant to three-time Academy Award nominee, and her latest leading role in the Netflix series Self Made about the life of Madam C.J. Walker, America’s first female self-made millionaire.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sitdown Podcast.

0:06.2

My thanks is always for clicking and listening along.

0:08.7

I know you guys are cooped up at home right now.

0:11.6

I know this hasn't been easy to last a couple of days and weeks.

0:14.9

Certainly, hope you guys are all healthy.

0:17.0

Hope your family and friends are healthy.

0:19.6

And hope you're taking care of each other looking out for your neighbor.

0:22.2

This is not easy, but hopefully this hour or so gives you a little bit of a break from

0:26.3

what's been on your mind.

0:27.7

And you can get lost in a good conversation with an Oscar-winning actress, Octavia Spencer.

0:34.3

She broke through with an Oscar-winning in 2012 for the movie The Help.

0:39.1

Remember she played Mini Jackson, the 1960s era Mississippi made, who famously made that

0:45.2

pie.

0:46.2

You know the pie I'm talking about right now.

0:47.8

I don't need to get into it.

0:48.8

You can google it if you don't know.

0:50.8

The funny thing about Octavia is a lot of people thought that was overnight success

0:55.0

for her when that movie came out and when she won that Oscar.

0:57.9

But like most overnight success stories, Octavia's story is not overnight at all.

1:02.6

In fact, she'd been working for about 15 years getting to that moment.

1:06.9

She dreamed growing up in Montgomery, Alabama as the sixth of seven children of being an

1:11.9

actress.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NBC News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NBC News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.