Octavia Spencer announces plans to become Hollywood producer

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. – Octavia Spencer is up for her second Academy Award this year, but the star of “Hidden Figures” said Monday that she has even bigger plans.

“The role I’m destined to play is to be one of the biggest producers in Hollywood,” Spencer said at the 3rd annual Makers Conference, a women’s empowerment event sponsored by Verizon.

The actress shared her aspirations during a conversation with Gloria Steinem that kicked off the two-day conference at Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

Spencer received a supporting actress Oscar nod for playing Dorothy Vaughn, a black mathematician who worked at NASA, in the crowd-pleasing best picture nominee “Hidden Figures.” The actress celebrated her nomination earlier Monday at the film academy’s annual Oscar Nominees Luncheon.

Spencer told the Makers crowd Monday night that she wants to continue to tell stories “that haven’t really been told.”

“I want the movies that I produce to show a broader spectrum of people in the world,” she said.

Spencer said she is working on a project about the Jonestown Massacre for HBO and developing a story about pioneering entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker.

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This version has been corrected to show that this is the third annual conference in the five-year-old Makers program.