January 24, 2023 • 42 mins
On Episode Four of Table for Two, Bruce capitalizes on the element of surprise. Through a shared friend, he has learned that this week’s guest, Octavia Spencer, has a weakness for Trader Joe’s sangria and empanadas. So, like any good host, he makes sure that her preferences are handled accordingly. With their table at the Tower Bar nearly buckling under the weight of Trader Giotto’s delicacies, the Oscar-winning actress (The Help) talks about Season Three of Truth Be Told, the importance of a tribe, moving to Los Angeles from Alabama with only $3000 in her pocket, and why scrubbing the history books is the enemy of progress. Hear a preview of the episode below, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ye who at the Sunset Tower Hotel my fave joined
in Los Angeles on a really cold and rainy day. Today,
we are all having lunch with an accomplished, incredible actress.
She is OSCAR winner, screen Actor Guild Awards, National Board
(00:23):
of Review Awards, Critic Choice of Golden Globe a BAFTA,
and I am talking about Octavia Spencer, handsome. Oh my god,
there's rock hard body and I've got I know, Marshall,
this is the best idea. Octavia walks into the Tower
bar immediately starts cracking jokes, and she's just a vision
(00:48):
and a force, always to be reckoned with. But what
she doesn't know is that today I got a couple
of surprises for her. Eric, come on over, meet Octavia
and you get Activita drink again. Well, I'm gonna have
to have some diet Pepsy. My first surprise is a
bottle of Octavia's favorite cocktail, and it will surprise you,
which I kind of quickly realize may not be the
(01:11):
perfect gift. I'm a terrible driver. And the fact that
there's rain but it's dry. I try did you try
January last about? Well for me, it probably won't be
very dry. When I get home. So everybody who's pulled up,
I have Octavia's favorite drink, even she is a part
(01:35):
of it. So the intention of this was to toast
season three. I'm sure to be told that this could
be a part of it. You're telling the telling people
pulled them a chair. What your favorite drink is? My
favorite drink is the sangria Maria Hoia from Trader Jews.
We should probably pop it open up to say, okay
(01:57):
a little a little bit, So pull up a chera
because for ruining some New Year's resolutions today teers tears.
Let me tell you that is good. I'm Bruce Bozzy
and this is my podcast table for two. So season three,
(02:20):
Truth Be Told. It is on Apple TV. It dropped
on January twentie. I mean, this ship is real, Poppy
is so you know, I'm gonna start there because I
also want to talk about your star. You have this
big year for you. Yeah, so this is an intense season. Okay,
Now there's some real ship going down in this town
and Poppy is not happy, and so she finds it out.
(02:42):
Tell me about truth, Tell me about Poppy Scoville. You
know what I love about this character and what's wonderful
is that it's an anthology series, so you know, you
don't have to have seen season one or two to
be up to date of what It's a different mystery
that we saw each season. But what I loved is
(03:06):
we've seen Poppies art. When you first meet her, she's
just left The New York Times and moved back to
California where her family is big house husband. Um. And
but she didn't have his last name, you know, she
was using her mother's maiden name. She didn't even have
uh Scoville, which is her dad's She finds. There's a
(03:31):
lot that we we we go through with Poppy. But
it's it's funny because I think she essentially is finding
herself and I don't think she ever realized that she
was lost, you know what I mean? And I think
that's what life is. And u uh, work wise, she's
she is committed to being a journalist and and truth
(03:56):
is at the center of everything and um, but the
the thing about journalism is that the journalists is never
a part of the subject. Poppy being a podcaster is
always a partner, you know, so put everyone's life and risk. Yes,
she does, she really does. For the truth for the truth,
(04:17):
and that's where it is. It's so much fun to player,
very interesting because I don't know, um, I danger truth.
I understand as me personally, you always want to tell
the truth. You always want to be truthful in situations
and relationships and the people you love, the people that
(04:41):
surround you. But there's this this mechanism within her to
where it's it's uh, I think it becomes a detriment
to anyone around her if they're involved in the mystery,
because it's like the p suit of truth harms a
(05:02):
lot of people. Well, that's an interesting thing you bring up,
because it does, like you, you know, in season one,
you really put your family in a very difficult position
and your sister, I mean, it's heartbreaking when they arrested
your sister and and and it's it's beautiful in a
tragic way when they start to take off her how
(05:25):
she presents herself Octavia. And so I thought to myself,
I'm like when your dad's pissed at you. And now
you know in season three, you know, like you said,
it's an aanhalis, So everyone's in a different place in
their life and your family and you're living in a
different place. Um, is there anything Poppy would not do?
(05:46):
Because or is the truth that I think she's learned
a lot about Because everyone has an interesting relationship with
the truth. Everyone has a different perception of the truth.
And I think that is where and how she has
matured throughout the seasons, because in season one, it was
(06:10):
you know, it didn't feel self righteous to her, but
it was, you know, from everyone else's perspective. And going
into season three, with all of the losses of whether
through death or through divorce, or through divorce of marriages,
divorces of friendships, she has had to reconcile that within
(06:33):
herself that everyone has a different relationship with the truth,
and some things she's not entitled to know. Um. But
when it comes to victims and justice, that's where she
will turn over every rock and that's where I I
(06:55):
I love that she's evolving as a person, But personally,
I just don't think that we're all entitled. We're entitled
to everyone else's truths unless they want to tell them,
you know what I mean? Completely Like there you can
lean into someone's truth and they can say that and
we all have it, ye have it in our lives.
Are things that just don't come near. But I'm nearly done.
(07:21):
But it's like, literally just you can't stop you. And
you're right. The beauty of it is it's you can
watch all three. You can watch kwan you but but
I'm telling you, you watch one and you need to
watch the second and ends and you're like, oh my,
take a break. Play. That's why binging. I hate that
(07:41):
they've you know, introduced binging into our lives because it's
like you better have a little time because you start
watching stuff and it's like, let me hit play. No
Apple says it to me yesterday when I'm talking streaming. Okay,
that's how many hours you have your events? Did down
you eb out your deep? I'm like that you think
(08:09):
when we're done having our lane, I'm not going to
sit with you again, Tony more hours today. First of all,
congratulations Octavia Spencer. She got a star on Hollywood Boulevard.
This is a big deal, you know what, It really
is a big deal. And you know, you talk about
(08:29):
your tribe and I'm gonna quote you here, Octavia, and
you say, twenty six years ago when you drove from
Alabama to l A with three thousand dollars and a
four inch TV in his suitcase and a heart filled
with dreams. These drinks and then you talk about the tribe,
(08:50):
and I always say, you know, there's the John Cassavetti's
if you're listening. He had a tribe. He had John Rolands,
he had Peter Falk, he had you had John Hughes
growing out up Ringwald. Ya Bo, you're part of a tribal. Yeah,
that's talked to us about your tribe and your truth
in that. Oh my god, it's so funny because you
(09:17):
dream when you're wherever you are, dreaming about coming to
Hollywood or going to New York, being a person in
the entertainment industry, your stage or film. You always envisioned
that journey. It's like, it's you, it's me, me and me.
I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.
And when I when I actually moved out here, I
(09:39):
realized it wasn't a solitary journey that the people in
my life, but we were all in pursuit of the
same dream. And it was I met Melissa McCarthy, I
mean I met them, Alison Janny, I met them all
when I first moved out here. And because you met
in Octavia were p a s Joel Schumacher film, which coincidentally,
(10:04):
prior to this, I watched. I'm watching it. There you
are the nurse. We won. That is you know, no, no, no, no,
but that but that was the truth. And you know, Uh,
(10:25):
Tate Taylor. I met Sandra Bullock, Sam Jackson, Matthew McConaughey.
To meet all those people on the very first job
that I got to work on, and then to meet
Uh to have that relationship. Tay and I have been
thickest theeves, you know. And it's so funny because I
(10:46):
moved out to Los Angeles when I was twenty six.
My actual career for everyone else started when I was
forty two. That's when you know, everything have been for
me because you know, Tate Uh and Brunson Green, who
was the producer of The Help and Tate wrote and
(11:06):
directed it. They fought for me to have that role
in The Help. I mean I auditioned. They didn't. They
didn't audition anybody else than they they wanted me. But
I had to go in there and do the job.
And so it was. But it was the comfort of
having the tribe there and we've just rolled along all
(11:31):
these years working on each other's you know things, and
it's just I'm so grateful for that because that is
that is my truth, and and knowing how those relationships
and hard work, because you know, there are so many
talented people in this town who haven't broken through, and
(11:52):
I'm no more talented than they are. Um uh. I
think it's a little bit of luck, a little bit
of a lot of little a little bit of talent,
a lot of training, but a lot of relationship. Welcome
(12:28):
back to table for two. When we're talking with the
amazing Octavia Spencer. She is inspiring on so many levels,
but something I always come back to is her tenacity
and persistence to go after her dreams no matter how
long it takes. We're going to get into all of it.
But first we need to order some lunch. So what
are you gonna have for us? Salad? Okay, a little
(12:51):
chop salad with yes right, yes, I mean look at you.
I'm looking at you, and I'm like, right, I'm going
to do the job with the chicken as well. To
your last point, take the time to prepare for your opportunity. Yes,
can you talk about that? I I think, especially given
(13:15):
where we are with technology and social media. Um, there
are steps in the process. I think that people want
to skip because it's it's about it's about fame sometimes
and it's about um being out there. Oh you know,
no one has noticed me yet. And I I think
(13:38):
you have to be prepared because you don't know when
that opportunity is going to come. So you have to study.
And when you think about it, I remember my mom
and it was the most practical advice she has ever
given in And it's just part of it's my mantle.
You know. Whenever you if you're the first job you
ever get, if it's a fry cook, um, if it's
(13:59):
a newspaper, boy, someone's going to train you and how
to do it. This is how you sell your newspaper,
This is how you cook my fries. Whatever else it is,
whatever field of study, you're going to have to train
and UM, so take the time because if you're three
(14:21):
years in, if you're fifteen years in, if you're one
year in, if you don't have the comfort of training,
that's your foundation. And if you don't have, you know,
your your land legs. When that opportunity presents itself, it
could mean failure. Yeah, because if you don't build upon it.
You don't have the you don't have the goods, you
(14:43):
don't don't have the foundations. You have to have that
foundation because whatever it is, you know, everybody feels like
an impostor. You know. So if you haven't done the
best to prepare for whatever it is, you can't go
to You can't be a doctor without going to med school.
What I mean, nobody's gonna let you doctor on right right,
(15:03):
and the fool that does mind, I get off the table.
So it's it's really true. You know. I found myself
when I you know, um, when I graduated college. I
went into the NBC Page program and you know, it
was it was a great program. And I gave tours
and I think, similar to you and Tay, like always
(15:25):
had fun. It was always something kind of little trouble going.
I was just given to us, to these people. And
one of the assignments I had was on the Today Show,
which nobody wanted because it was super early in the morning,
summer of eighty nine. And I did and so I
did I interview, you had an interview for I kept
pointing to the producer and she was like one word
of advice stopped pointing an interview, and I was like, oops,
(15:47):
And I did it. If my job was literally like Octavier,
you would call you to have a segment on and
I'd get you to hair and make up. I gat
you with five in the morning. So I did it
for that summer. I was runningrunning, running, and uh not
my last day. Jane Pauli said, here's your last day,
and she goes, if you would like, I'd like to
write you a recommendation. I said, well, why all I
(16:08):
did was get people to make up and to hair
and ran scripts for you. And she said it wasn't.
What you did is how you did it, and you
always came to work with smiling face. And so I
think that's our lessons in life. Yeah, and your you know,
so your journey from twenty six to winning the Academy Award,
that that foundation is so important. Yes, it is. You know,
(16:33):
was there ever a time in that period where you're like,
what am I doing? Why am I? Hear? Well, that's
why it's important to have a tribe. That's true, because
when you have those moments of self doubt, your tribe
will surround you and lift you up from those moments
of despair, and I didn't have a lot of moments
like that, but when I did, it was like, you know,
(16:54):
of course you're going to be great. Of course you're
gonna succeed. Because I was watching all of my for
I remember when Melissa McCarthy God Gilmore Girls. I remember
when Alison Jenny got The West Wing. I remember when
my friend Stephen Rodgers, who wrote Itonia Um all of
his movies. You know, we're selling as a writer. So
(17:16):
I was just a part of this group and no
one ever allowed anyone to think that they weren't going
to make it across the finish line. And that's how
we all got there together, you know. And it just
there were moments though you know that you're like what
am I doing? Uh? And the funny thing is when
success happens, the years fly by because you're on a
(17:37):
plane on a location, on a you know, and you
look up and you've been working for four years. And
so then I realized I would start to measure time
by you know, family and kids and growth, and it's like,
oh my god, you're in your second baby, what's going on.
I just love every aspect of the journey, and I
(18:01):
know that I love every aspect of it because I
was in it with a very uh strong group of friends,
very fun group of friends. I can remember, you know,
hanging with Janny or hanging with Date, and you know,
being with you and hearing the stories filled with laughter
(18:24):
and and and the truth, and all was spokes back
to the truth. You know, people that really loved each
other and weren't going to let their success because you know,
some people get successful and then they ditch. They dined
and ditch, they're out. So they weren't they weren't ever
living truthfully then, So would you say that the moment
for you that changed at all was winning the Academy Award.
(18:46):
I was leading up because I think about when The
Help came out. It was a huge book, It was
a huge ensemble cast. If I didn't get that part,
even if I hadn't been considered for the Academy Award,
and what of you look at all the women in
that film. You know what I'm saying, And how the
careers have progressed. I think had I not been a
(19:08):
part of that film and that ensemble and that troop
of of actors associated with that project, I don't know
that the career trajectory would have been the same. I'm
glad that the film was successful. Um, did the Academy
award help? Absolutely? But the first thing is I actually
had to get a role that would lead to an
(19:31):
Academy Award or a BAP to, you know, to help
us come up a conversation. You know, it's an incredible movie,
thank you, And it also has come up and could
it be done today? And I get confused with that
answer question because part of me is like, well, if
it happened, why why can't the story be told? I
think what's happening in society right now is very very
(19:55):
dangerous because you know, we are scrubbing the history books,
and if we can't point to our historical references, and
if we can't point to things like that in art,
in history, where do we We're repeating history now because
(20:16):
we've been stripping those truths away. So for me, uh,
could help be made today? I don't know? Should the
help be made today? Absolutely? It represents um, real people
who made real contributions to society, who were never rewarded
(20:37):
for those contributions exactly, so their stories should be told.
Their stories should be told. For me to sit there
and watch that movie and be a white guy from
New York City. It was very emotional story. I yes stuff,
So I think it is a very sliper. It's a
slippery slope. But what what I because I just remember
(20:59):
um everyone saying you know uh for me, and this
is my truth as as a black actress in Hollywood
is diversity and inclusion. I don't have a diversity problem.
I'm a black woman. I don't have a diversity problem.
I think when we don't include people from all walks
(21:19):
of life, when we don't see that representation on film
and television, in books, in literature, there is a sense
of invisibility and people not understanding the contributions that all
people may to this the fabric of this society. Welcome
(21:57):
back to my conversation with Octavia Spencer on Table for Too.
I just love talking to Octavia because, you know, she
reminds me of what it can mean to not only
have a big heart in the entertainment business, but really
how important it is to help people behind you become successful.
(22:18):
You use the word invisibility, and I think it's a
great word because I've often said growing up in the
eighties and being a gay guy I learned how to
become visibly invisible. And I feel like when you were
growing up, were there people that you felt you saw
yourself in. And now sitting in the seat at Octavia
(22:39):
Spencer sits and this huge heart. What is the responsibility
or do you feel a responsibility that comes with that?
I think if you had asked me when I was
twenty six, and I felt a responsibility, Um, even though
I had nothing to be responsible for, get nobody do
my name. But if I were successful at twenty six,
(23:00):
I would said no. You know, I'm an artist and
I want to you know, my job as an artist,
as a creative person is to shine a light, illuminate
things in society, but also provide a little bit of escapism.
Uh have a voice in the creative process. Uh, I don't.
I don't want to bear a responsibility. And now where
(23:23):
I am and understanding that women, women of color didn't
necessarily have access or a voice and and uh their
place in this in this industry, I do have a
responsibility and I'm excited about having that responsibility. That's why
I'm excited about being a producer. Growing up, you know,
(23:44):
I I looked like most people out there for my inspiration.
And so you saw the oprah Winfreeze and the Sicily
Tyson's and the Dying Carols and oh my god. Because
I'm a big literature nerda I'm an English major. So
that's all I did was read uh Dr Maya Angelou
and so many you know artists and writers you know,
(24:08):
Baldwin everything, you know what I mean. So I looked outward,
and of course I was inspired by their work. But
now at this age, I remember it was my mom,
you know, working to make sure that we, you know,
had education and and and access to a life that
she wasn't privy to. As I think about my college days,
(24:31):
my mom passed when I was seventeen, it was my sisters,
you know, all of us working you know, jobs and
getting scholarships and help student loans to help pay for
each other's education. So where I sit now, um, yes,
there were a lot of people that were visible to
be and educators were very important to me because they
(24:52):
were always encouraging me, uh to you know, I always say,
reached for the tallest branch on the highest tree, because
the further you reach, the further you'll go. But now
I realized it was family and that that that insulated
group around me. And that's why family is so important
to me and friends are so important because it's the
(25:14):
it's life imitating. I mean, you're a master storyteller. What
do you love about producing? Like, what do you look for?
It's funny that people don't know this, but there are
a few things that I you know, if my mom
(25:35):
had lived, I would have definitely you know, gone to
law school and you know, been a part of a
different world. And this is more the dream that I
had for myself. Um. And but I actually wanted to
be a producer, even though I didn't know what producers did.
And now that I've realized that that's what you bring.
You put the projects together. You're the puzzle person. And
(25:56):
I've always been a puzzle person in real life. So
I wanted to do that first. And it's funny that
acting facilitated that, um because you know, yeah, you didn't know.
I didn't know that the chicken or the egg. I
got the egg and the chicken, and I'll take a
both like eggs and I like chicken. My very first
(26:21):
producer credit, and it was an executive producer credit, was
Proovel Station I and Nina Yang bon Jovi and uh
Forest Whittaker, Um it was their movie, and uh Ryan
Coogler wrote it and I read the script and loved it.
(26:42):
And I don't know why. I thought Ryan Coogler was
a young Jewish kid and I read it and I thought,
this kid who probably has no relationship to to Oakland
or whatever. Wow, he was able to really get in there.
And I feel it so visceral, and I I wanted
to do it, and when I met Ryan was like, here, okay.
(27:06):
So there's so much that I got wrong, but falling
in love with that script and being a part of
that production and talk about diverse crew, it was just
one of the most amazing experiences that I've had as
an actress. Man. Though we've come a long way, and
(27:29):
I don't think it's been a good trajectory because I
did Fruitbale Station about you know, uh gun violence and
you know, violence against young black men. Because I I'm
not a mom, but I'm a sister. I'm an aunt
and we say I'm an aunt and uh, you know,
I'm a cousin and I'm a friend. So I wanted
(27:51):
to be a part of that film. And how I
became a producer. Is that movie was only made for
like nine hundred thousand dollar US and they had a
hundred and fifty thou dollars fall out of it. I
had just won the Academy Award for the help. I
had just finished snow Piercer. We were filming in the
(28:12):
summer and some other financing fell through, and I said, well,
I have some new vo reached friends. Let me call them.
You know, they've got some money from the you know,
let me call some people. And I made some calls
and we were you know, and I put a little
money in and we're just patching things, uh together, And
um Nina and Forest were so generous because the other
(28:34):
thing when I realized like they didn't have a budget
and they had me in this wonderful hotel, and I
was like, well, I could pay for my own hotel.
Let's use this money and this is pretty m for me,
and let's use it to you know, get other actors.
And so they were so generous and said, you've done
so much, can we offer you an executive producer credit?
And of course I wasn't gonna turn that down. And
(28:57):
uh so then I just starting it's just what I
gravitate towards as a as an artist. If it resonates
with me, I feel like hopefully it will resonate with
with with audiences. And but I always look for stories
that might at first seem bleak, but there's always a
(29:19):
thread of hope and light in the end. I'm another surprised.
Oh tell us, Oh my god, I'm gonna kiel tape,
(29:40):
diet too beef and two chicken. I love you so
much right now that argentinean be supposed to be the
best in l A small little place on Sautel and
Venice Boulevardo like Christmas. That just clink. Look, can we
(30:01):
do another clink on that? Because this is just amazing.
Thank you. When you're having lunch with baby, we have
to make it special. Spencer at the table, there's clapper,
which means good god, I'm totally screwed up your January. No,
you didn't. You just made me realize that it's about
life and I have to moderate. Your body of work
(30:27):
is amazing and it is peace for itself. Um So
along the way of making those choices, I'm sure there's
a multitude choices that you didn't. You said no to
what what makes you not do a project. It's interesting. Uh.
I know some people when they when they read a
script um they look at their character and the prominence
(30:49):
of their character, and you know, my character could be
the lead, my character could be part of an ensemble.
It's just what is the contribution of that character, how
integral to the story is she? But I choose projects
as a whole. When I sit down and I read
the script, if the creatives behind it, if I if
(31:13):
I don't believe that they're going to be able to
execute it in the manner that the script if it
has to be on the page. But if it's not, uh,
if it's on the page and the people around it
aren't and they don't have to be named or storied people,
(31:34):
they just have to know what they're doing. And I
love writer directors, you know. Ninety I would say the
work that I've done is for people who have written
things for me or they are the writer director. And
I love that because if you're the writer director, you're
not um looking through someone else's lend. If it's on
(31:57):
the page, I know that you're going to be able
to actually cute Guillermo del Toro for the Shape of Water,
I was only supposed to meet with him for like
thirty minutes, and it turned to like a three hour lunch,
right the best time, because I was a big fan
of his and he he said, I wrote the script,
I'm going to send it to you, and I'm not
gonna tell you anything. And I was like, well, okay.
I got home and I read the first page. My
(32:19):
character is not in the first page. But I read
the first page and I called him and I said,
I'm in, Like, you haven't even had time to read it.
But I read the first page and I was so
I knew, you know, I just knew. And then when
I when my character it does come into the script,
I was already in and I just I'm in. Just
tell him I'm in. Okay, So you talked about I
(32:45):
didn't know you were a literature major. Are you? What
are you reading now? What are you right now? I'm
reading Michelle Obama. I just I think she's an amazing
writer and she has has had a really interesting life.
The next thing that I want to do is join
(33:05):
a book club and read multiple things at once, because
I used to have this voracious appetite for you know, material,
and now I'm thinking, well, where do I look. I've
never been a huge reader. I like the idea of reading.
I'm the slowest reader. Like I was reading The Kite Runner,
and four years later, how's that book? I'm like, I'm
(33:26):
on page third. He's like the movie. I finished it.
I'm I'm getting a lot better. I get really caught
up in and to my genres and I I love mysteries.
I literally live in the mystery world and thrillers and
(33:47):
so anything Patterson does, it's like, you know, and I
love Dean Conson, I love all of you know, but
they're a little spooky and a little so now I'm
it's funny where I am in life. I kind of
don't want the fantasy of those things anymore. I'm into
(34:07):
other people's life experiences and not fiction but nonfiction. So um,
that's where I am. And it's a weird place because
I have stacks of books that are like getting dust
that I haven't cracked open yet. Um that I bought.
And I also love reading children's literature. You love reading
(34:29):
it or are you part? Did you have a project?
I actually I wrote a children's book because I I, um,
you know, I am dyslexic, and Mystery saved my reading
life because my teacher in the first grade gave me
Encyclopedia Brown, and she said, you're gonna want to pay
(34:50):
attention to every thing in the book because you don't
know what is a clue. And of course you're like,
because I would ta about a text, you know, I
would start reading, and if the narrative didn't catch me immediately,
I'm like, I can't do it. Then when I started
reading mysteries, I couldn't put them down, you know, in
(35:14):
a very different way. I mean I read I read
every Hardy Boy, Nancy Drew, every single one. I read
every Encyclopedia Brown, the Box Car Kids, like every single one.
But that's that's kind of who I am. When I
become a fan, I then have to consume everything you do.
(35:35):
That's the tribe you're in. You all are just fully in,
ye Like that is what I think is so spectacular
about everything you and your group is like you're like, oh,
we're in, We're in, Like we're gonna go and whether
it's just going out to some steakhouse you know well
(35:58):
and John's driving on you know, it's like because where
am I? What am I doing? This? Er, I like you.
Mullet's good. I'll lot that it was a ponytail at you.
It's cute. No, it's it's my Wisconsin waterfall. I'm trying
(36:21):
to love. I was always being asked Hollywood has a
diversity problem. I said, well, Hollywood may, but I don't
have a diversity. But I'm diverse in my nature. Um.
And that's what I love though about finding projects and
(36:47):
being a producer, because the other question I'm asked a
lot is what's the role you're meant to play and
destined to play and that you want to play and
the role I've always wanted to play. The role that
I feel that I'm into play is that of a
producer to create opportunities for everyone who wants to be
a storyteller, Um, but especially people who don't have access
(37:10):
to opportunities. Is there something that you would like to
bring to screen of someone's story that you would like
to tell. It's funny because Donna Gelotti, producer of Hidden Figures,
brought me a script and uh, she's just one of
the most fascinating people. The subject of the script, Um,
Wie Roundtree Johnson. I don't want to say too much
(37:32):
about her story. I'll tell you off of mine, but
I am excited about telling her story. She was a lawyer,
She lived to be a hundred and four. She had
the opportunity to be the national head of the Double
A CP and she actually chose to take on a
(37:52):
case that was in her community. UM, and boy was
she up against some very powerful forces. And UM, she
won that case. And when you read her story, when
you read her, you know, just reading her obituary, it
was like she's one of those those women that you
(38:12):
kind of really didn't know about, you know. I won't
say she was necessarily a hidden figure, UM, but she
she was. UM. And I think her story definitely deserves
to be told because I get to play a lawyer,
I had to actually be one, UM and I'm excited
about that because of the impact. I think, you know,
(38:36):
that ripple effect that she was able to have in
her community, amazing people's lives that you don't know, the
magnitude you know, and then when you learn, um, wow,
look a person can do exactly the fact that you
say that. And and I am so grateful for the
educators in my life from my mom, because when you
(38:59):
recognize an and when you nurture that curiosity and kids, um,
but let them know that they have something special, whatever
it is, that we all have something to contribute to
the world. And if people felt better about what their
contribution is. I mean, you know, if it's a person
that's an amazing cook and you're feeding you know, your family,
(39:22):
or you want to open up bakery, that should be celebrated.
You know what I'm saying. No matter how big or
how small, those contributions are important. And I think the
world will be a much better place if people, um
recognize that in each other and encourage that. You know
what I'm saying. Yeah, I do know what you're saying.
(39:42):
And I do think that we have tended to value
something that's much more glamorous and lucrative as opposed to
valuing the sort of the whole landscape and the and
the small and the significance of the small. You know,
and I know you know you've for your mom and
and it's it's so it fills me with such joy
(40:07):
an emotion because you had your mom for seventeen years
and you the power that she gave you in that
short period of time absolutely is amazing, It really is.
And that power you have given to all of us. Yeah,
thank you for saying that. I feel very fortunate, and
(40:30):
uh what, I love quoting movies, especially the color purple.
But this isn't the color purple. This is Spider Man
too much, whom is given much as expected. And I
I I definitely believe that for my life and my career.
And I'm just I'm very I'm happy, you know, I'm
(40:52):
happy that I have those opportunities. It's always sad when
lunch ends, but luckily for Octavia, I'm sending her home
with a jug of Trader Joe Sangria and a ton
of leftowners. Hey, Eric, I'm taking I'm taking my stuff.
(41:18):
Mama doesn't cook and when you have diffud, So everybody,
thank you for plowing up ature with Octavia and I today.
This is a magnificent lunch. You gotta check out Truth
be Told on Apple. It's amazing. I love you too,
(41:39):
and thank you for having Thank you, thank you, and
thank you for my meal leisure. My Tree Table for
two with Bruce Bozzy is produced by ir Heart Radio
seven three seven Park and Airmail. Our executive producers are
Bruce Bozzy, Jonathan Hoss Dressed and Nathan King. Table for
(42:01):
two is edited and written by Tina Mullen and researched
and written by Bridget arsenalt Our sound engineers are Emil B. Klein,
Paul Bowman and Melyssa Midcalf. Table for two is l A.
Production team is Danielle Romo and Lorraine viz Our. Music
supervisor is Randall poster. Our talent booking is by James Harkin.
Special thanks to Amy Sugarman, Uni Share, Kevin Uvane, Bobby Bower,
(42:26):
Alison Cantor, Graber and Barburn Gen and Jeff Klein and
the staff at the Tower Bar in the world famous
Sunset Tower Hotel. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Ye who at the Sunset Tower Hotel my fave joined
in Los Angeles on a really cold and rainy day. Today,
we are all having lunch with an accomplished, incredible actress.
She is OSCAR winner, screen Actor Guild Awards, National Board
(00:23):
of Review Awards, Critic Choice of Golden Globe a BAFTA,
and I am talking about Octavia Spencer, handsome. Oh my god,
there's rock hard body and I've got I know, Marshall,
this is the best idea. Octavia walks into the Tower
bar immediately starts cracking jokes, and she's just a vision
(00:48):
and a force, always to be reckoned with. But what
she doesn't know is that today I got a couple
of surprises for her. Eric, come on over, meet Octavia
and you get Activita drink again. Well, I'm gonna have
to have some diet Pepsy. My first surprise is a
bottle of Octavia's favorite cocktail, and it will surprise you,
which I kind of quickly realize may not be the
(01:11):
perfect gift. I'm a terrible driver. And the fact that
there's rain but it's dry. I try did you try
January last about? Well for me, it probably won't be
very dry. When I get home. So everybody who's pulled up,
I have Octavia's favorite drink, even she is a part
(01:35):
of it. So the intention of this was to toast
season three. I'm sure to be told that this could
be a part of it. You're telling the telling people
pulled them a chair. What your favorite drink is? My
favorite drink is the sangria Maria Hoia from Trader Jews.
We should probably pop it open up to say, okay
(01:57):
a little a little bit, So pull up a chera
because for ruining some New Year's resolutions today teers tears.
Let me tell you that is good. I'm Bruce Bozzy
and this is my podcast table for two. So season three,
(02:20):
Truth Be Told. It is on Apple TV. It dropped
on January twentie. I mean, this ship is real, Poppy
is so you know, I'm gonna start there because I
also want to talk about your star. You have this
big year for you. Yeah, so this is an intense season. Okay,
Now there's some real ship going down in this town
and Poppy is not happy, and so she finds it out.
(02:42):
Tell me about truth, Tell me about Poppy Scoville. You
know what I love about this character and what's wonderful
is that it's an anthology series, so you know, you
don't have to have seen season one or two to
be up to date of what It's a different mystery
that we saw each season. But what I loved is
(03:06):
we've seen Poppies art. When you first meet her, she's
just left The New York Times and moved back to
California where her family is big house husband. Um. And
but she didn't have his last name, you know, she
was using her mother's maiden name. She didn't even have
uh Scoville, which is her dad's She finds. There's a
(03:31):
lot that we we we go through with Poppy. But
it's it's funny because I think she essentially is finding
herself and I don't think she ever realized that she
was lost, you know what I mean? And I think
that's what life is. And u uh, work wise, she's
she is committed to being a journalist and and truth
(03:56):
is at the center of everything and um, but the
the thing about journalism is that the journalists is never
a part of the subject. Poppy being a podcaster is
always a partner, you know, so put everyone's life and risk. Yes,
she does, she really does. For the truth for the truth,
(04:17):
and that's where it is. It's so much fun to player,
very interesting because I don't know, um, I danger truth.
I understand as me personally, you always want to tell
the truth. You always want to be truthful in situations
and relationships and the people you love, the people that
(04:41):
surround you. But there's this this mechanism within her to
where it's it's uh, I think it becomes a detriment
to anyone around her if they're involved in the mystery,
because it's like the p suit of truth harms a
(05:02):
lot of people. Well, that's an interesting thing you bring up,
because it does, like you, you know, in season one,
you really put your family in a very difficult position
and your sister, I mean, it's heartbreaking when they arrested
your sister and and and it's it's beautiful in a
tragic way when they start to take off her how
(05:25):
she presents herself Octavia. And so I thought to myself,
I'm like when your dad's pissed at you. And now
you know in season three, you know, like you said,
it's an aanhalis, So everyone's in a different place in
their life and your family and you're living in a
different place. Um, is there anything Poppy would not do?
(05:46):
Because or is the truth that I think she's learned
a lot about Because everyone has an interesting relationship with
the truth. Everyone has a different perception of the truth.
And I think that is where and how she has
matured throughout the seasons, because in season one, it was
(06:10):
you know, it didn't feel self righteous to her, but
it was, you know, from everyone else's perspective. And going
into season three, with all of the losses of whether
through death or through divorce, or through divorce of marriages,
divorces of friendships, she has had to reconcile that within
(06:33):
herself that everyone has a different relationship with the truth,
and some things she's not entitled to know. Um. But
when it comes to victims and justice, that's where she
will turn over every rock and that's where I I
(06:55):
I love that she's evolving as a person, But personally,
I just don't think that we're all entitled. We're entitled
to everyone else's truths unless they want to tell them,
you know what I mean? Completely Like there you can
lean into someone's truth and they can say that and
we all have it, ye have it in our lives.
Are things that just don't come near. But I'm nearly done.
(07:21):
But it's like, literally just you can't stop you. And
you're right. The beauty of it is it's you can
watch all three. You can watch kwan you but but
I'm telling you, you watch one and you need to
watch the second and ends and you're like, oh my,
take a break. Play. That's why binging. I hate that
(07:41):
they've you know, introduced binging into our lives because it's
like you better have a little time because you start
watching stuff and it's like, let me hit play. No
Apple says it to me yesterday when I'm talking streaming. Okay,
that's how many hours you have your events? Did down
you eb out your deep? I'm like that you think
(08:09):
when we're done having our lane, I'm not going to
sit with you again, Tony more hours today. First of all,
congratulations Octavia Spencer. She got a star on Hollywood Boulevard.
This is a big deal, you know what, It really
is a big deal. And you know, you talk about
(08:29):
your tribe and I'm gonna quote you here, Octavia, and
you say, twenty six years ago when you drove from
Alabama to l A with three thousand dollars and a
four inch TV in his suitcase and a heart filled
with dreams. These drinks and then you talk about the tribe,
(08:50):
and I always say, you know, there's the John Cassavetti's
if you're listening. He had a tribe. He had John Rolands,
he had Peter Falk, he had you had John Hughes
growing out up Ringwald. Ya Bo, you're part of a tribal. Yeah,
that's talked to us about your tribe and your truth
in that. Oh my god, it's so funny because you
(09:17):
dream when you're wherever you are, dreaming about coming to
Hollywood or going to New York, being a person in
the entertainment industry, your stage or film. You always envisioned
that journey. It's like, it's you, it's me, me and me.
I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.
And when I when I actually moved out here, I
(09:39):
realized it wasn't a solitary journey that the people in
my life, but we were all in pursuit of the
same dream. And it was I met Melissa McCarthy, I
mean I met them, Alison Janny, I met them all
when I first moved out here. And because you met
in Octavia were p a s Joel Schumacher film, which coincidentally,
(10:04):
prior to this, I watched. I'm watching it. There you
are the nurse. We won. That is you know, no, no, no, no,
but that but that was the truth. And you know, Uh,
(10:25):
Tate Taylor. I met Sandra Bullock, Sam Jackson, Matthew McConaughey.
To meet all those people on the very first job
that I got to work on, and then to meet
Uh to have that relationship. Tay and I have been
thickest theeves, you know. And it's so funny because I
(10:46):
moved out to Los Angeles when I was twenty six.
My actual career for everyone else started when I was
forty two. That's when you know, everything have been for
me because you know, Tate Uh and Brunson Green, who
was the producer of The Help and Tate wrote and
(11:06):
directed it. They fought for me to have that role
in The Help. I mean I auditioned. They didn't. They
didn't audition anybody else than they they wanted me. But
I had to go in there and do the job.
And so it was. But it was the comfort of
having the tribe there and we've just rolled along all
(11:31):
these years working on each other's you know things, and
it's just I'm so grateful for that because that is
that is my truth, and and knowing how those relationships
and hard work, because you know, there are so many
talented people in this town who haven't broken through, and
(11:52):
I'm no more talented than they are. Um uh. I
think it's a little bit of luck, a little bit
of a lot of little a little bit of talent,
a lot of training, but a lot of relationship. Welcome
(12:28):
back to table for two. When we're talking with the
amazing Octavia Spencer. She is inspiring on so many levels,
but something I always come back to is her tenacity
and persistence to go after her dreams no matter how
long it takes. We're going to get into all of it.
But first we need to order some lunch. So what
are you gonna have for us? Salad? Okay, a little
(12:51):
chop salad with yes right, yes, I mean look at you.
I'm looking at you, and I'm like, right, I'm going
to do the job with the chicken as well. To
your last point, take the time to prepare for your opportunity. Yes,
can you talk about that? I I think, especially given
(13:15):
where we are with technology and social media. Um, there
are steps in the process. I think that people want
to skip because it's it's about it's about fame sometimes
and it's about um being out there. Oh you know,
no one has noticed me yet. And I I think
(13:38):
you have to be prepared because you don't know when
that opportunity is going to come. So you have to study.
And when you think about it, I remember my mom
and it was the most practical advice she has ever
given in And it's just part of it's my mantle.
You know. Whenever you if you're the first job you
ever get, if it's a fry cook, um, if it's
(13:59):
a newspaper, boy, someone's going to train you and how
to do it. This is how you sell your newspaper,
This is how you cook my fries. Whatever else it is,
whatever field of study, you're going to have to train
and UM, so take the time because if you're three
(14:21):
years in, if you're fifteen years in, if you're one
year in, if you don't have the comfort of training,
that's your foundation. And if you don't have, you know,
your your land legs. When that opportunity presents itself, it
could mean failure. Yeah, because if you don't build upon it.
You don't have the you don't have the goods, you
(14:43):
don't don't have the foundations. You have to have that
foundation because whatever it is, you know, everybody feels like
an impostor. You know. So if you haven't done the
best to prepare for whatever it is, you can't go
to You can't be a doctor without going to med school.
What I mean, nobody's gonna let you doctor on right right,
(15:03):
and the fool that does mind, I get off the table.
So it's it's really true. You know. I found myself
when I you know, um, when I graduated college. I
went into the NBC Page program and you know, it
was it was a great program. And I gave tours
and I think, similar to you and Tay, like always
(15:25):
had fun. It was always something kind of little trouble going.
I was just given to us, to these people. And
one of the assignments I had was on the Today Show,
which nobody wanted because it was super early in the morning,
summer of eighty nine. And I did and so I
did I interview, you had an interview for I kept
pointing to the producer and she was like one word
of advice stopped pointing an interview, and I was like, oops,
(15:47):
And I did it. If my job was literally like Octavier,
you would call you to have a segment on and
I'd get you to hair and make up. I gat
you with five in the morning. So I did it
for that summer. I was runningrunning, running, and uh not
my last day. Jane Pauli said, here's your last day,
and she goes, if you would like, I'd like to
write you a recommendation. I said, well, why all I
(16:08):
did was get people to make up and to hair
and ran scripts for you. And she said it wasn't.
What you did is how you did it, and you
always came to work with smiling face. And so I
think that's our lessons in life. Yeah, and your you know,
so your journey from twenty six to winning the Academy Award,
that that foundation is so important. Yes, it is. You know,
(16:33):
was there ever a time in that period where you're like,
what am I doing? Why am I? Hear? Well, that's
why it's important to have a tribe. That's true, because
when you have those moments of self doubt, your tribe
will surround you and lift you up from those moments
of despair, and I didn't have a lot of moments
like that, but when I did, it was like, you know,
(16:54):
of course you're going to be great. Of course you're
gonna succeed. Because I was watching all of my for
I remember when Melissa McCarthy God Gilmore Girls. I remember
when Alison Jenny got The West Wing. I remember when
my friend Stephen Rodgers, who wrote Itonia Um all of
his movies. You know, we're selling as a writer. So
(17:16):
I was just a part of this group and no
one ever allowed anyone to think that they weren't going
to make it across the finish line. And that's how
we all got there together, you know. And it just
there were moments though you know that you're like what
am I doing? Uh? And the funny thing is when
success happens, the years fly by because you're on a
(17:37):
plane on a location, on a you know, and you
look up and you've been working for four years. And
so then I realized I would start to measure time
by you know, family and kids and growth, and it's like,
oh my god, you're in your second baby, what's going on.
I just love every aspect of the journey, and I
(18:01):
know that I love every aspect of it because I
was in it with a very uh strong group of friends,
very fun group of friends. I can remember, you know,
hanging with Janny or hanging with Date, and you know,
being with you and hearing the stories filled with laughter
(18:24):
and and and the truth, and all was spokes back
to the truth. You know, people that really loved each
other and weren't going to let their success because you know,
some people get successful and then they ditch. They dined
and ditch, they're out. So they weren't they weren't ever
living truthfully then, So would you say that the moment
for you that changed at all was winning the Academy Award.
(18:46):
I was leading up because I think about when The
Help came out. It was a huge book, It was
a huge ensemble cast. If I didn't get that part,
even if I hadn't been considered for the Academy Award,
and what of you look at all the women in
that film. You know what I'm saying, And how the
careers have progressed. I think had I not been a
(19:08):
part of that film and that ensemble and that troop
of of actors associated with that project, I don't know
that the career trajectory would have been the same. I'm
glad that the film was successful. Um, did the Academy
award help? Absolutely? But the first thing is I actually
had to get a role that would lead to an
(19:31):
Academy Award or a BAP to, you know, to help
us come up a conversation. You know, it's an incredible movie,
thank you, And it also has come up and could
it be done today? And I get confused with that
answer question because part of me is like, well, if
it happened, why why can't the story be told? I
think what's happening in society right now is very very
(19:55):
dangerous because you know, we are scrubbing the history books,
and if we can't point to our historical references, and
if we can't point to things like that in art,
in history, where do we We're repeating history now because
(20:16):
we've been stripping those truths away. So for me, uh,
could help be made today? I don't know? Should the
help be made today? Absolutely? It represents um, real people
who made real contributions to society, who were never rewarded
(20:37):
for those contributions exactly, so their stories should be told.
Their stories should be told. For me to sit there
and watch that movie and be a white guy from
New York City. It was very emotional story. I yes stuff,
So I think it is a very sliper. It's a
slippery slope. But what what I because I just remember
(20:59):
um everyone saying you know uh for me, and this
is my truth as as a black actress in Hollywood
is diversity and inclusion. I don't have a diversity problem.
I'm a black woman. I don't have a diversity problem.
I think when we don't include people from all walks
(21:19):
of life, when we don't see that representation on film
and television, in books, in literature, there is a sense
of invisibility and people not understanding the contributions that all
people may to this the fabric of this society. Welcome
(21:57):
back to my conversation with Octavia Spencer on Table for Too.
I just love talking to Octavia because, you know, she
reminds me of what it can mean to not only
have a big heart in the entertainment business, but really
how important it is to help people behind you become successful.
(22:18):
You use the word invisibility, and I think it's a
great word because I've often said growing up in the
eighties and being a gay guy I learned how to
become visibly invisible. And I feel like when you were
growing up, were there people that you felt you saw
yourself in. And now sitting in the seat at Octavia
(22:39):
Spencer sits and this huge heart. What is the responsibility
or do you feel a responsibility that comes with that?
I think if you had asked me when I was
twenty six, and I felt a responsibility, Um, even though
I had nothing to be responsible for, get nobody do
my name. But if I were successful at twenty six,
(23:00):
I would said no. You know, I'm an artist and
I want to you know, my job as an artist,
as a creative person is to shine a light, illuminate
things in society, but also provide a little bit of escapism.
Uh have a voice in the creative process. Uh, I don't.
I don't want to bear a responsibility. And now where
(23:23):
I am and understanding that women, women of color didn't
necessarily have access or a voice and and uh their
place in this in this industry, I do have a
responsibility and I'm excited about having that responsibility. That's why
I'm excited about being a producer. Growing up, you know,
(23:44):
I I looked like most people out there for my inspiration.
And so you saw the oprah Winfreeze and the Sicily
Tyson's and the Dying Carols and oh my god. Because
I'm a big literature nerda I'm an English major. So
that's all I did was read uh Dr Maya Angelou
and so many you know artists and writers you know,
(24:08):
Baldwin everything, you know what I mean. So I looked outward,
and of course I was inspired by their work. But
now at this age, I remember it was my mom,
you know, working to make sure that we, you know,
had education and and and access to a life that
she wasn't privy to. As I think about my college days,
(24:31):
my mom passed when I was seventeen, it was my sisters,
you know, all of us working you know, jobs and
getting scholarships and help student loans to help pay for
each other's education. So where I sit now, um, yes,
there were a lot of people that were visible to
be and educators were very important to me because they
(24:52):
were always encouraging me, uh to you know, I always say,
reached for the tallest branch on the highest tree, because
the further you reach, the further you'll go. But now
I realized it was family and that that that insulated
group around me. And that's why family is so important
to me and friends are so important because it's the
(25:14):
it's life imitating. I mean, you're a master storyteller. What
do you love about producing? Like, what do you look for?
It's funny that people don't know this, but there are
a few things that I you know, if my mom
(25:35):
had lived, I would have definitely you know, gone to
law school and you know, been a part of a
different world. And this is more the dream that I
had for myself. Um. And but I actually wanted to
be a producer, even though I didn't know what producers did.
And now that I've realized that that's what you bring.
You put the projects together. You're the puzzle person. And
(25:56):
I've always been a puzzle person in real life. So
I wanted to do that first. And it's funny that
acting facilitated that, um because you know, yeah, you didn't know.
I didn't know that the chicken or the egg. I
got the egg and the chicken, and I'll take a
both like eggs and I like chicken. My very first
(26:21):
producer credit, and it was an executive producer credit, was
Proovel Station I and Nina Yang bon Jovi and uh
Forest Whittaker, Um it was their movie, and uh Ryan
Coogler wrote it and I read the script and loved it.
(26:42):
And I don't know why. I thought Ryan Coogler was
a young Jewish kid and I read it and I thought,
this kid who probably has no relationship to to Oakland
or whatever. Wow, he was able to really get in there.
And I feel it so visceral, and I I wanted
to do it, and when I met Ryan was like, here, okay.
(27:06):
So there's so much that I got wrong, but falling
in love with that script and being a part of
that production and talk about diverse crew, it was just
one of the most amazing experiences that I've had as
an actress. Man. Though we've come a long way, and
(27:29):
I don't think it's been a good trajectory because I
did Fruitbale Station about you know, uh gun violence and
you know, violence against young black men. Because I I'm
not a mom, but I'm a sister. I'm an aunt
and we say I'm an aunt and uh, you know,
I'm a cousin and I'm a friend. So I wanted
(27:51):
to be a part of that film. And how I
became a producer. Is that movie was only made for
like nine hundred thousand dollar US and they had a
hundred and fifty thou dollars fall out of it. I
had just won the Academy Award for the help. I
had just finished snow Piercer. We were filming in the
(28:12):
summer and some other financing fell through, and I said, well,
I have some new vo reached friends. Let me call them.
You know, they've got some money from the you know,
let me call some people. And I made some calls
and we were you know, and I put a little
money in and we're just patching things, uh together, And
um Nina and Forest were so generous because the other
(28:34):
thing when I realized like they didn't have a budget
and they had me in this wonderful hotel, and I
was like, well, I could pay for my own hotel.
Let's use this money and this is pretty m for me,
and let's use it to you know, get other actors.
And so they were so generous and said, you've done
so much, can we offer you an executive producer credit?
And of course I wasn't gonna turn that down. And
(28:57):
uh so then I just starting it's just what I
gravitate towards as a as an artist. If it resonates
with me, I feel like hopefully it will resonate with
with with audiences. And but I always look for stories
that might at first seem bleak, but there's always a
(29:19):
thread of hope and light in the end. I'm another surprised.
Oh tell us, Oh my god, I'm gonna kiel tape,
(29:40):
diet too beef and two chicken. I love you so
much right now that argentinean be supposed to be the
best in l A small little place on Sautel and
Venice Boulevardo like Christmas. That just clink. Look, can we
(30:01):
do another clink on that? Because this is just amazing.
Thank you. When you're having lunch with baby, we have
to make it special. Spencer at the table, there's clapper,
which means good god, I'm totally screwed up your January. No,
you didn't. You just made me realize that it's about
life and I have to moderate. Your body of work
(30:27):
is amazing and it is peace for itself. Um So
along the way of making those choices, I'm sure there's
a multitude choices that you didn't. You said no to
what what makes you not do a project. It's interesting. Uh.
I know some people when they when they read a
script um they look at their character and the prominence
(30:49):
of their character, and you know, my character could be
the lead, my character could be part of an ensemble.
It's just what is the contribution of that character, how
integral to the story is she? But I choose projects
as a whole. When I sit down and I read
the script, if the creatives behind it, if I if
(31:13):
I don't believe that they're going to be able to
execute it in the manner that the script if it
has to be on the page. But if it's not, uh,
if it's on the page and the people around it
aren't and they don't have to be named or storied people,
(31:34):
they just have to know what they're doing. And I
love writer directors, you know. Ninety I would say the
work that I've done is for people who have written
things for me or they are the writer director. And
I love that because if you're the writer director, you're
not um looking through someone else's lend. If it's on
(31:57):
the page, I know that you're going to be able
to actually cute Guillermo del Toro for the Shape of Water,
I was only supposed to meet with him for like
thirty minutes, and it turned to like a three hour lunch,
right the best time, because I was a big fan
of his and he he said, I wrote the script,
I'm going to send it to you, and I'm not
gonna tell you anything. And I was like, well, okay.
I got home and I read the first page. My
(32:19):
character is not in the first page. But I read
the first page and I called him and I said,
I'm in, Like, you haven't even had time to read it.
But I read the first page and I was so
I knew, you know, I just knew. And then when
I when my character it does come into the script,
I was already in and I just I'm in. Just
tell him I'm in. Okay, So you talked about I
(32:45):
didn't know you were a literature major. Are you? What
are you reading now? What are you right now? I'm
reading Michelle Obama. I just I think she's an amazing
writer and she has has had a really interesting life.
The next thing that I want to do is join
(33:05):
a book club and read multiple things at once, because
I used to have this voracious appetite for you know, material,
and now I'm thinking, well, where do I look. I've
never been a huge reader. I like the idea of reading.
I'm the slowest reader. Like I was reading The Kite Runner,
and four years later, how's that book? I'm like, I'm
(33:26):
on page third. He's like the movie. I finished it.
I'm I'm getting a lot better. I get really caught
up in and to my genres and I I love mysteries.
I literally live in the mystery world and thrillers and
(33:47):
so anything Patterson does, it's like, you know, and I
love Dean Conson, I love all of you know, but
they're a little spooky and a little so now I'm
it's funny where I am in life. I kind of
don't want the fantasy of those things anymore. I'm into
(34:07):
other people's life experiences and not fiction but nonfiction. So um,
that's where I am. And it's a weird place because
I have stacks of books that are like getting dust
that I haven't cracked open yet. Um that I bought.
And I also love reading children's literature. You love reading
(34:29):
it or are you part? Did you have a project?
I actually I wrote a children's book because I I, um,
you know, I am dyslexic, and Mystery saved my reading
life because my teacher in the first grade gave me
Encyclopedia Brown, and she said, you're gonna want to pay
(34:50):
attention to every thing in the book because you don't
know what is a clue. And of course you're like,
because I would ta about a text, you know, I
would start reading, and if the narrative didn't catch me immediately,
I'm like, I can't do it. Then when I started
reading mysteries, I couldn't put them down, you know, in
(35:14):
a very different way. I mean I read I read
every Hardy Boy, Nancy Drew, every single one. I read
every Encyclopedia Brown, the Box Car Kids, like every single one.
But that's that's kind of who I am. When I
become a fan, I then have to consume everything you do.
(35:35):
That's the tribe you're in. You all are just fully in,
ye Like that is what I think is so spectacular
about everything you and your group is like you're like, oh,
we're in, We're in, Like we're gonna go and whether
it's just going out to some steakhouse you know well
(35:58):
and John's driving on you know, it's like because where
am I? What am I doing? This? Er, I like you.
Mullet's good. I'll lot that it was a ponytail at you.
It's cute. No, it's it's my Wisconsin waterfall. I'm trying
(36:21):
to love. I was always being asked Hollywood has a
diversity problem. I said, well, Hollywood may, but I don't
have a diversity. But I'm diverse in my nature. Um.
And that's what I love though about finding projects and
(36:47):
being a producer, because the other question I'm asked a
lot is what's the role you're meant to play and
destined to play and that you want to play and
the role I've always wanted to play. The role that
I feel that I'm into play is that of a
producer to create opportunities for everyone who wants to be
a storyteller, Um, but especially people who don't have access
(37:10):
to opportunities. Is there something that you would like to
bring to screen of someone's story that you would like
to tell. It's funny because Donna Gelotti, producer of Hidden Figures,
brought me a script and uh, she's just one of
the most fascinating people. The subject of the script, Um,
Wie Roundtree Johnson. I don't want to say too much
(37:32):
about her story. I'll tell you off of mine, but
I am excited about telling her story. She was a lawyer,
She lived to be a hundred and four. She had
the opportunity to be the national head of the Double
A CP and she actually chose to take on a
(37:52):
case that was in her community. UM, and boy was
she up against some very powerful forces. And UM, she
won that case. And when you read her story, when
you read her, you know, just reading her obituary, it
was like she's one of those those women that you
(38:12):
kind of really didn't know about, you know. I won't
say she was necessarily a hidden figure, UM, but she
she was. UM. And I think her story definitely deserves
to be told because I get to play a lawyer,
I had to actually be one, UM and I'm excited
about that because of the impact. I think, you know,
(38:36):
that ripple effect that she was able to have in
her community, amazing people's lives that you don't know, the
magnitude you know, and then when you learn, um, wow,
look a person can do exactly the fact that you
say that. And and I am so grateful for the
educators in my life from my mom, because when you
(38:59):
recognize an and when you nurture that curiosity and kids, um,
but let them know that they have something special, whatever
it is, that we all have something to contribute to
the world. And if people felt better about what their
contribution is. I mean, you know, if it's a person
that's an amazing cook and you're feeding you know, your family,
(39:22):
or you want to open up bakery, that should be celebrated.
You know what I'm saying. No matter how big or
how small, those contributions are important. And I think the
world will be a much better place if people, um
recognize that in each other and encourage that. You know
what I'm saying. Yeah, I do know what you're saying.
(39:42):
And I do think that we have tended to value
something that's much more glamorous and lucrative as opposed to
valuing the sort of the whole landscape and the and
the small and the significance of the small. You know,
and I know you know you've for your mom and
and it's it's so it fills me with such joy
(40:07):
an emotion because you had your mom for seventeen years
and you the power that she gave you in that
short period of time absolutely is amazing, It really is.
And that power you have given to all of us. Yeah,
thank you for saying that. I feel very fortunate, and
(40:30):
uh what, I love quoting movies, especially the color purple.
But this isn't the color purple. This is Spider Man
too much, whom is given much as expected. And I
I I definitely believe that for my life and my career.
And I'm just I'm very I'm happy, you know, I'm
(40:52):
happy that I have those opportunities. It's always sad when
lunch ends, but luckily for Octavia, I'm sending her home
with a jug of Trader Joe Sangria and a ton
of leftowners. Hey, Eric, I'm taking I'm taking my stuff.
(41:18):
Mama doesn't cook and when you have diffud, So everybody,
thank you for plowing up ature with Octavia and I today.
This is a magnificent lunch. You gotta check out Truth
be Told on Apple. It's amazing. I love you too,
(41:39):
and thank you for having Thank you, thank you, and
thank you for my meal leisure. My Tree Table for
two with Bruce Bozzy is produced by ir Heart Radio
seven three seven Park and Airmail. Our executive producers are
Bruce Bozzy, Jonathan Hoss Dressed and Nathan King. Table for
(42:01):
two is edited and written by Tina Mullen and researched
and written by Bridget arsenalt Our sound engineers are Emil B. Klein,
Paul Bowman and Melyssa Midcalf. Table for two is l A.
Production team is Danielle Romo and Lorraine viz Our. Music
supervisor is Randall poster. Our talent booking is by James Harkin.
Special thanks to Amy Sugarman, Uni Share, Kevin Uvane, Bobby Bower,
(42:26):
Alison Cantor, Graber and Barburn Gen and Jeff Klein and
the staff at the Tower Bar in the world famous
Sunset Tower Hotel. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Host
Bruce Bozzi
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.