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Octavia Spencer Honors Late Mom With Free Screening Of ‘Hidden Figures’ For Low-Income Families

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 04:19 PST, Jan 22, 2017

Octavia Spencer has bought an entire showing of Hidden Figures at a Los Angeles theater for low-income families, according to People magazine. The 46-year-old actress made the generous gift in honor of her late mother, and said families in need were invited to Friday’s 8 P.M. showing at a Baldwin Hills movie theater.

Octavia Spencer took to Instagram to announce the exciting news on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend. The announcement was accompanied by a hand-painted image of her Hidden Figures character by artist Stella Blu.

“If you know a family in need that would like to see our movie but can’t afford it have them come. It’s first come, first served.”

Octavia Spencer also added that her late mother wasn’t able to take her and her siblings to a movie theater. Her Hidden Figures co-star Taraji P. Henson then took to her own Instagram account to spread the word about the free showing of the film.

Calling Octavia Spencer a “phenomenal woman,” Henson complimented her co-star for giving families in need a chance to see the new film for free.

The story in Hidden Figures revolves around three African-American working on NASA’s biggest space missions in the 1960s. The movie, which is based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly of the same name, tells how the three women played by Octavia Spencer, Henson, and Janelle Monáe overcame racial and gender prejudices to make NASA’s space missions happen.

Octavia Spencer lost her mom Dellsena Spencer when she was only 18-years-old. In her interview with People magazine’s editorial director Jess Cagle, the actress admitted that she learned a lot from her late mother, who was a single mom trying to provide for her seven children while working as a maid.

Octavia Spencer also opened up how her late mother was sheltering her seven kids from bigotry and boundaries.

“I had a very strong mom who made me and my sisters understand that there were no limitations on our lives except what we placed on ourselves.”

Octavia Spencer also added that Dellsena taught her children to see all people “as people.” It was apparently her mother’s moral that allowed Octavia to become one of the greatest actresses of our time.

“Taught us to understand our place in the world. And our place in the world is, if you want to be a leader, you can be that.”

Octavia Spencer may have lost her Golden Globes nomination this year, but she did her best to have maximum fun at the ceremony and on the red carpet, according to the Huffington Post. The 46-year-old actress admitted during her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she didn’t wear a whole lot of underwear underneath that tuxedo during the Golden Globes earlier this month.

Last week, Octavia Spencer sat down with Ellen DeGeneres to talk about her outstanding outfit at the awards show on Sunday, January 8. The Hidden Figures actress, who won a Golden Globe for her performance in The Help in 2012, shared the secret to making any red carpet event more fun.

And that secret is: less underwear. Octavia Spencer admitted that she has never had as much fun at an awards show as she did at this year’s Golden Globes ceremony. Wearing less underwear – or as the Hidden Figures actress puts it “a lot less underwear” – allowed her to feel “freer.”

And while many thought Octavia Spencer looked so “radiant” at the awards show because Hidden Figures has been a huge hit at box office, the actress herself credits her lack of underwear.

“More women need to say, ‘You know what? We’re going to wear the pantsuit.”

[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]

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