Octavia Spencer is a hard woman to miss since she’s got the type of attitude that makes you remember her look and therefore she’s doubly hard to forget since she tends to become a person that you roll your eyes at or absolutely love, or both. Her career has been on the rise in a big way over the years, but she has plenty of acting credits that people might not even know about since as anyone can tell, she’s an actress that knows how to hustle and no doubt appreciates a hard day’s work quite often. But she does take on a lot of smaller parts in various movies as well and it could be that this is why some folks have forgotten about some of the roles she’s taken on over the years, as being an extra or even a supporting actor can be a forgettable role if the movie is big enough or if the leading actors are meant to capture all the attention. In any case, she’s managed to work her way into plenty of movies that have seen her come and go in a matter of minutes or kind of get drowned out simply because she’s surrounded by other actors. While she’s definitely a woman that stands out thanks to her various roles, there are times when even she can be drowned out by the storyline and by those around her.
Here are a few movies you might have forgotten that Octavia Spencer was in.
5. Blue Streak
It would be kind of impressive to think that a lot of people still remember this Martin Lawrence movie since it was one of the features that he dropped that didn’t really gain a lot of attention. Octavia had a very small role in this movie as she answered the door after Lawrence’s character, who had just come home after a stint in prison, came to see his girlfriend. When she answered the door he assumed that she was his girlfriend and had gained a tremendous amount of weight since let’s be honest without being cruel, Octavia is a bigger woman. But when she opened her mouth to call his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend to the door, Martin was obviously relieved.
4. Spider-Man (2002)
This was another small role that saw Octavia as the clerk that checked Peter Parker into a wrestling match with an obvious look of amused disbelief that a scrawny kid would be going up against the opponent of the hour, who was played by Randy “Macho Man” Savage. One thing about Octavia is that she’s one of the many people that can say a lot with just a look, and some of her looks, depending on the situation, can mean quite a few things since her expressions are great enough that they’re not limited to one meaning apiece. That’s why she’s such a great pick for some roles since she can take care of business with her looks and words.
3. Snowpiercer
It was hard to know what to think of this movie when it first came out since it was absolutely brutal and showed a society that had been segmented beyond all belief and turned into an us vs. them situation beyond anything that people know today. As one of those stuck in the tail-end of the train, Octavia was also one of the group that made their way from the tail section to the front, though she didn’t end up making it all the way to the front as one can imagine. The movie was one of those that didn’t appear to make a lot of sense at some points, but once everything was revealed it was even worse.
2. Coach Carter
While the movie definitely followed the story of the real Coach Carter there were many differences that tend to happen in every biopic that comes across the big screen. But Octavia, as one can easily guess since this is one of her common roles, played the mother of one of the players and was adamant that this was her son’s chance to get out of Richmond and away from the violent streets. The thing about Coach Carter is that he didn’t accept that, but he knew how much she wanted her son to succeed. Just playing ball isn’t enough though since young folks need to know how to survive as functional human beings as well.
1. SWAT
The role she played in this movie was one of those that you might have missed if you blinked since she was the woman that was giving LL Cool J’s character a rough time when he was putting a perpetrator in the back of a squad car, citing that he was just continuing the cycle. The problem with this line of thinking is that by haranguing police over arresting suspects, black or white, is that one is saying, in a way, that they’d rather criminals be allowed to run free since going to jail is too negative an outcome.
She’s definitely someone that stands out, at least if she’s given a big enough part.
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