Are Oscars Worthless? Octavia Spencer Says Winning Has Done Nothing For Her Career

September 18th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

Source: WENN

Winning an Oscar is said to be the pinnacle of an actor’s career, but is walking away with a gold statue and recognition from your peers really worth anything tangible, like better movie roles and more money? Octavia Spencer says no.

This past award’s season was all about “The Help” actress, and she cleaned up in virtually ever best supporting actress category she was nominated in, from the SAGs to the Golden Globes, and the coveted Academy Awards. Octavia knew the hoopla wasn’t going to be all it was cracked up to be, remarking after she won her Golden Globe, “The studios are still not going to beat down my door unless it’s a small part in a big comedy, and I’ve done those.” Months later, and with an Oscar under her belt, her prophecy is proving to be true. In an interview with The Vulture, the star of the upcoming flick, “Smashed,” talked about how not much has changed since award season when it comes to her career. Here’s a bit of the Q&A:

While you were on set [for "The Help"], did you have a sense that your career was in the middle of a big shift?
No, the reality for me was that I thought my phone would be ringing a lot, and it wasn’t. And this project ["Smashed"] came along, and it was a great film, and it was [prior to] the success of “The Help.” Now, looking back, they get huge kudos from me. So no, because my phone wasn’t ringing off the hook, I didn’t feel like anything was changing.

Well, it must have started ringing at some point, because you have some pretty great projects coming up, like Diablo Cody’s movie andSnow Piercer.
Well, the funny is thing is that I got the Diablo Cody movie and I got “Snow Piercer” before I got any nominations, so I knew I had both of those projects in November. I don’t want to sound as if [I'm complaining]. The reality is that there are so few roles out there for women and for women of color, and I’m a character actor, this I know. And I’m getting to see more of the roles that are out there, but there aren’t many. And zilch have been studio movies. Zilch. So my challenge and my opportunity now is to take the opportunity to create my own work. I’m fine with that.

So what you’re saying is that you booked a lot of roles off The Help, but winning the Oscar — lovely though it may have been — wasn’t necessarily a big needle-mover.
It’s a needle-mover in the sense that I get to go into room and meet with really important people. If that translates into job offers, then we’ll see. It’s a needle-mover, but not that much.

It was a needle-mover in another way, at least: During the Oscar season, you wore — and I know you’re going to be modest about this — a lot of gorgeous Tadashi Shoji dresses.
I’m not going to be modest: I did! [Laughs]

What advice would you give to the stars who are about to embark on that Oscar gauntlet of press and promotion and parties, like you did last year?
See, for me, I’ve been doing this for seventeen years, so I just looked it as an opportunity to meet people and enjoy myself. I would say: Be kind to yourself, get rest, but go and enjoy yourself. Don’t look it as a job, because if you go into it expecting anything and it doesn’t happen, then you’ve lost a lot of time. If you go into it without a lot of expectations, you can enjoy the process and enjoy the fact the George Clooney’s going to walk through that door, Brad Pitt’s going to walk through that door, all these people that you ever dared to dream of meeting. I was always excited: Oh my God, there’s George! I’ll be right back, I’m going to say hi to George. That’s how I took it, and enjoyed every moment of it.

Though “The Help” and the recognition that came with it may have pigeonholed Octavia Spencer in Hollywood, the truth of the matter is unless you were a phenomenal, well-known actor or actress before winning an Oscar, the little gold man doesn’t seem to do much for anybody. I can’t say if this is specifically race related, but just thinking off the top of my head, the acting careers of Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx,  Jennifer Hudson, and Monique all seemed to go rapidly downhill after their Oscar wins, regardless of the type of role they played. This is often why such awards are considered more of a popularity contest than any indication of one’s value in the business.

What do you think about what Octavia had to say about her career post-Oscar?

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  • Mel

    A lot of it has to do with WHERE you are in your career, as well as what you can bring to Hollywood. Even though she’s been working for 17 yrs, she’s not really looked at as a traditional leading lady, so, for her, parts would have to be completely untraditional to make her the lead. But, there is a career to be had there too, it’s just that for a Black woman it’s going to be quadruple times harder. Look at someone like Phillip Seymour Hoffman, he’s a noted character actor, was never really considered a leading man. But he’s carved out QUITE a career for himself. Those jobs are not possibilities for a Black woman, because her demographic instantly alters some of the film’s themes.

    Adrian Brody may not be Brad Pitt, but after his award he was instantly given a certain cachet as a ‘serious’ actor. He did big movies like the King Kong movies, but he’s also found steady, indie work that usually gets acclaim.

    In some ways, she reminds me of JHud winning, sort of like…okay, now what? (OBV she had a much stronger resume than Jennifer in acting though). I think if Viola Davis had won, you would have seen a noticeable in HER career because even though the parts aren’t really there, she’s a bit more of a leading woman and maybe could have become a bit Phillip Seymour Hoffman-ish.

  • mddiva35

    Actually Jamie Foxx did quite a few good movies after the Oscars. Not sure about this one he is doing with Quentin Taratino. But it ain’t just the black actors that aren’t seeing more roles or even more money after winning; ie Adrian Brody (won for The Pianist). These days the Oscars seemed to be given to just anybody. These awards have been watered down over the years.

  • tasha

    Its not race its looks n shes not attractive she looks like that thing from ice age the one that john does the voice for. thats why the phones not ringing.

    • Mel

      like Meryl Streep is really walking around in a bikini? She’s not. Truthfully, her race and sex make it tougher for her because those roles are not really prevalent, unless someone writes something SPECIFICALLY for her. Or maybe if she does Broadway.

      SHe would probably have a more successful career doing one of these quirky tv shows that are the rage now (i.e. Community, Glee, etc).

  • Beautifulblackmind

    Go even further back to Hattie McDaniels, she won an oscar for playing mammy and those are the only roles she got for the rest of her life. Miss Spencer played a modern mammy and white hollywood isn’t going to see her as anything but.

  • DoinMe

    Some actors say that winning an Oscar is a curse because once they win, their pay goes way up, but the studios aren’t willing to pay them what they are worth unless they are huge A-list actors like Will Smith.

  • Mia

    Jennifer Hudson is an extremely poor actress. I hate to say this but her entire career has been built on sympathy. She was the underdog when she was the fat chick, then she became everyone’s darling when she lost her family. There is nothing charismatic about her, she doesn’t speak properly, and she screams instead of sings.

    • disqus_WfmNqv9gsC

      you have a point but I disagree about the singing.If it was not for her voice, she would not be where she is today. Her voice was so good that she won her Oscar because of it, not necessarily because her acting in my opinion.

    • meme

      I mean no disrespect to her, but I kind of agree. After seeing Dream Girls, I did NOT understand why she got that Oscar. Maybe she could have gotten a grammy, but not an Oscar. that really felt like pandering.

  • NONEYA

    Case in point where is Monique?!?!!

  • Chanda

    So in other words she has to wait for Tyler Perry to scoop her up to play someone’s mama in his next movie. Funny that some mention race, because actresses like Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, and at one time Whoopi Goldberg have played diverse roles. I’d be more interested in that than the Oscar itself. I guess depending on what roles you’re willing to play also plays a factor. I can’t picture Octavia Spencer doing any action flicks or love scenes (interracial or not) anytime soon.

    • Mel

      Many of those roles that actress’ played then (Losing Isaiah, ghost) don’t feel like major movie roles that would go to your average (meaning non-mega movie star) Black actress right now. It feels like it was easier to BREAK young Black talent back then because they had more opportunity. Now, it’s easier for those who have already broken to continue, but not so much for any new blood.

      Every year Vanity Fair does it’s “Young, Hot Hollywood issue”, and it’s always a fight to see a face of color, and when you do…it usually feels like some sort of conciliatory bone because we just don’t have a lot of young talent in this industry that are talented, getting quality roles, and are breaking.

  • IllyPhilly

    Has anybody’s career sky rocketed after a win? Monique’s show got canceled.

    • Mel

      Some people skyrocketed like Angelina Jolie. Some people’s legacy got cemented, like Al Pacino. But there have been so few Black winners, that I think we need to wait and see a bigger sample size before we see how they truly fit.

  • StuckInDaMatrix

    She doesn’t have the “look” Hollywood desires so she will not get much work. Similar to Gabourey Sidibie, she will be regulated to supportive and stereotypical roles.

  • Ann

    I have to agree. It seems like when Halle Berry won for best actress in Monster’s Ball, she didn’t really get any scripts falling in her lap, neither did Monique in Precious. It sad for black women to win a Oscar whether it is for best supporting or best actress, scripts don’t fall in their laps.

  • newsjunkie

    I’m not that surprised by Jennifer Hudson’s career really going nowhere. She won an Oscar for her first movie; there’s really nowhere to go from that. Halle Berry made the mistake of taking on Catwoman and Gothika; you can’t blame the Oscar for choosing poor roles. While the Oscar can help, it does seem to turn into a curse for women. Either their careers suffer or if they’re married, they get divorced after winning (Reese Witherspoon, Halle Berry). The only one to really escape an Oscar curse seems to be Meryl Streep.

    • sexcgenius

      You got way off topic…The article wasnt about the Oscar curse or choosing movie roles lol. She was saying that not much has changed since her win lol

      • newsjunkie

        The article also mentioned that winning an Oscar didn’t exactly help Jennifer Hudson or Halle Berry’s careers. I pointed out that Halle picked bad movies after she won, and Jennifer Hudson winning an Oscar for her first movie is what contributed to their careers. Sorry, if you couldn’t see that.

    • Mel

      I appreciate your pt, but I still think there might be a double standard at play. Most Black actresses have a MUCH, MUCH shorter leash. i.e. berry was universally trashed for Catwoman. fine. Charlize Theron did Aeon Flux, and has still managed to remain untarnished by any of her box office failures and still do indies that get limited release…to the point that she got a PLUM role in this year’s “Snow White & The Huntsman after not really being that relevant for awhile”. (Kristen Stewart is really the young star, but Theron is the anchor in a mainstream, BIG budget film that got international distribution, etc).

      Does anyone remember Jennifer Garner as Elektra? She never got an Oscar, but she’s someone that continues to get very, very steady work despite most of her projects not really excelling on a commercial scale. Im not a huge Berry fan, but when I see that most of her movies, don’t even get released…it feels like she had to hold a lot more as the ‘face’ of Black actresses. (by contrst, Denzel had been in the game for so long, that the Oscar was just his finishing touch, so his career was already settled).

  • Hello_Kitty81

    I wondered what happened to her after she won the Oscar, I believe it’s a curse.

  • TRUTH IS

    Its a curse

  • me

    I can’t say this is a race thing though. Lots of folks don’t explode after winning an award; that is not limited to black performers. Mira Sorvino and Marrisa Tomei, for example, both won Oscars and didn’t really do too much high profile work afterward. Tomei damn near vanished actually. It’s all a game at the end of the day and knowing how to play it. Some excel after getting an Oscar and some don’t. Look at Cuba Gooding: He admitted that after he won his, tons of offers came in but he got too picky and as a result, people stopped calling. I think Hollywood is complicated no matter where you fall on the color or gender spectrum.

    • newsjunkie

      Exactly. I would also add Marcia Gay Harden and Marlee Matlin to the list.

      • anon

        so you’re saying you can compare the handful of Black women who’ve won an Oscar, to the hundreds of White ones and successfully see that their ultimate success is not somewhat affected by their race? lol, that’s tough because when you have such SMALL numbers, each one of your representatives must count for like 80 of the other ones.

        This isnt an equal system, so treating it like that doesn’t even make sense. And btw-marlee Matlin is deaf, so her roles are severely limited to deaf characters.

    • Gimmeabreak78

      Excellent assessment!

    • get real

      But there’s 100 white actor/actresses that’s handling business despite an oscar. This chick, Gabby Sidabe, etc were used to make this disgusting films, put those old 1940′s blk women were maid stereotypes out there and kicked them to curb when done. Not just actors winning but black actors in general have a hard time in Hollywood. Lady the racism in Hollywood runs deep. The only roles that men can get are gangster, pimps, hustlers, dead beat dads, etc. Blk women can only get disgusting interracial roles with white boys, maids, crackslores that left their kids and some white women comes along and plays savior etc. The Blindslide, Precious, the Help etc were disgusting, insulting movies that won Oscars. See the tread of work that we gotta get? You can play kumbaya with Hollywood but I can see the bs from a mile away.

      • Guest

        I was thinking that. Black women always get these “disgusting interracial roles” is true. Such as Monsters Ball and Neo Ned. Neo Ned was never popular but its about black woman and a racist neo nazi falling in love with each other. It was actually sick and after I watched the movie I thought would they ever show a white jewish woman falling in love with a neo nazi?

        • get real

          Bingo. Name a blk woman that hasn’t had some kind of interracial interaction or love scene with a white dude? Just about all A-list blk women have. Blk women dam near have to do that to get work in Hollywood. A lot of this stuff goes right over people’s head.

          • Chanda

            I suppose if you’re an A-list black actor/actress you’re going to interact with white actor/actresses at least sometimes not necessarily romantically though. Guess it depends on how they’re written too but you can’t duck ‘em altogether if that’s gonna stop you getting that paper. Damn an award.

    • anon

      Marisa Tomei has gone on to have a FINE Hollywood career since her win. She’s not in tabloids or doing blockbusters, but she’s been in quite a few academy award winning/ nominated movies. Mira Sorvina has like 3 kids, and she makes projects every now and then. She seems to focus more on a home/work balance.

      There is way more opportunity for a White actor to make it because there are just more of those parts. It’s simple #s, not an excuse, but just facts. You can’t even really compare a lot of these cases because the disparities are SO strong. You really think Kerry Washington is going to get the same call from Woody Allen that Scarlett Johannsen did? You think Joy Bryant is going to get the role that Blake Lively did in “The Town”? Ben Affleck & Woody Allen make movies around their past experiences and neighborhoods, and they hire people who fit that bill. WE have Madea.