Octavia Spencer Academy Awards 2012 Best Supporting Actress Winner

Octavia Spencer plowed through awards season as the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress, and the veteran character actress didn't disappoint on Oscar night. At the 84th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, Spencer won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "The Help." She becomes the fifth black actress to win an Oscar in the category; Hattie McDaniel (1940), Whoopi Goldberg (1991), Jennifer Hudson (2006) and Mo'nique (2009) were previous Supporting Actress winners.

The announcement of Spencer's win was greeted with a standing ovation. "Thank you Academy for giving me the hottest guy in the room," she said before breaking down in tears. "I share this with everybody."

In "The Help," Spencer played Minny Jackson, a brash and outspoken maid in Jackson, Miss., who -- pushed by her friend Abileen (fellow Oscar nominee Viola Davis) -- helps a young white journalist (Emma Stone) write an expose about the living conditions of black domestic workers. In Spencer's most memorable scene, she does a "terrible awful" to the racist Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) by giving her a contaminated pie.

Spencer, who also won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award, defeated fellow "Help" star Jessica Chastain, as well as Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids"), Berenice Bejo ("The Artist") and Janet McTeer ("Albert Nobbs"), to win the award -- her first Oscar.

She'll next be seen in "Smashed," which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

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Comments

[CaliTLC]

12:56 AM on 02/29/2012

Octaviaaaaaaaa!! You go GIRL. Congratulations.

[chris428]

10:08 PM on 02/28/2012

You look stunning in that dress, a nice fit for your body type...Nice!......but now that you have won an Oscar you do not have to take those roles anymore.

[Film Shark]

07:07 PM on 02/28/2012

'The Help' was so overrated. If you really want to see a good film with strong African-American characters, go see the film, 'Pariah.' The script is excellent.

[adnull29]

10:28 AM on 02/28/2012

They got the actress awards half right - Viola Davis should have won Best Actress, not Meryl. It seems they were just concerned with how long since Streep had won last time and not the performance that Viola gave. Shame on the academy.

[DeloresT]

11:21 PM on 02/27/2012

I loved her performance in "The Help". I am disappointed that Viola Davis did not win.

[lizr]

10:09 AM on 02/28/2012

me too.

[Evan Joseph Ringle]

10:23 PM on 02/27/2012

Still think Midnight in Paris should've won best picture, but that's just me.

[MyrtleJune]

06:30 PM on 02/27/2012

I loved her dress! Flawless!

[mrscrutty]

07:15 PM on 02/27/2012

Agreed! She looked lovely.

[DennyCrane]

05:12 PM on 02/27/2012

Hopefully, she'll get better roles now. What kind of work has Jennifer Hudson done since her Oscar?

[Greenblue]

09:41 PM on 02/27/2012

Weight Watchers:D

[DeloresT]

11:22 PM on 02/27/2012

"Sex & the City"........but thank God she's really a singer.

[dorzic]

04:59 PM on 02/27/2012

I was so happy Octavia won, I spilled my wine on the tablecloth, but no worries, I got the stain out with Crisco.

[Evan Joseph Ringle]

10:22 PM on 02/27/2012

She's not FAT.

[DeloresT]

11:23 PM on 02/27/2012

She's not your typically thin actress, but she's not fat.

[G Goo]

12:12 PM on 02/28/2012

Agree !
She looked beautiful and I am happy for her.
I really wish she would do something about her teeth. She seems to be self conscious about it, because when she smiles, she puts her hand up to her mouth.
Beautiful teeth make a beautiful smile !

[sacmom3]

04:28 PM on 02/27/2012

I like Octavia Spencer and think she is more than worthy of a Oscar. It saddens me that the only way she can be awarded one is by portraying a role where she bucks her eyes and declares to her white employer how much she loves fried chicken. Viola Davis on the other hand, who portrayed a strong, dignified role was overlooked by the academy. Interesting.

[cwaged1002]

06:10 PM on 02/27/2012

It was not role that was up for the award, but the actress who played it.

[DeloresT]

11:24 PM on 02/27/2012

Viola was wonderful in "The Help" and in "Doubt".

[G Goo]

04:14 PM on 02/27/2012

Congratulations Octavia !
You looked Beautiful, and so Happy.

I have a comment that some might take offensive to, but it will help you so very much. PLEASE make a dental appointment; everything about you was so beautiful until you opened your mouth to smile. I feel that it must make you self conscious, as you put your hand up to your mouth when you smile. Beautiful teeth will be such an improvement for a Beautiful Smile.

[ILB]

05:48 PM on 02/27/2012

Maybe she feels good about the way her teeth look. Did that ever occur to you?

And good for her if she's comfortable with the way they look. She's adorable.

[RareBlackBird]

03:29 PM on 02/27/2012

I was rooting for Melissa McCarthy but i'm happy Octavia won. She looked beautiful as well.

[BlackPrincess]

03:25 PM on 02/27/2012

I'm ECSTATIC Octavia Spencer won for Best Supporting Actress.

I wanted Viola Davis to win Best Actress, badly...Have to admit, Meryl Streep was SUPERB as Margaret Thatcher.

[abuja19]

03:16 PM on 02/27/2012

Congrats to Octavia Spencer! Well earned!!!