Octavia Spencer thinks the diversity in this year’s Oscar nominations is "wonderful".
The ‘Hidden Figures’ star is one of six black performers shortlisted for acting honours at the upcoming Academy Awards, and while she doesn’t believe people will vote based on race, she thinks there has been a step in the right direction following last year’s #OscarsSoWhite controversy.
She said: ""I don’t see Oscar voters going: ‘Oh, here’s a black performance. I’m going to vote here for this black person. Oh, wait. Here’s Dev Patel. He’s Indian. I need to vote.’ That’s not how people think in there.
"But the wonderful thing is, there are a lot of movies to choose from, whereas last year there were only a couple of black performances, and there were no Latina performances. There were no Asian performances.
"You know what I mean? That’s what I want to see."
The 46-year-old actress – who previously won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2012 for her role in ‘The Help’ – admits success during awards season has put her in a better position for her career as she is able to be more selective with her roles.
She told The Guardian newspaper: "I’m grateful for Oscar, and for Golden Globes and Bafta, all of those awards have afforded me the ability to say, ‘No, no, no, I don’t think I want to do that.’
"Now, I have a little more ownership of what I get to do."
However, Octavia also admits she wasn’t offered a great selection of parts after her win for ‘The Help’.
She said: "I loved ‘Fruitvale Station’, but then there was a lull in things that I wanted to do, because from that point on I got offered four maid roles, none of them nearly as good as Minny.
"My thought is: ‘Look, if you’re going to bring me something that I’ve already done, it needs to be better than this.’ "
Octavia Spencer praises Oscars diversity
