Octavia Spencer has her hands in many projects. Fresh off producing Green Book, the Academy Award-winning actress is slated to star as the trailblazing Madam C.J. Walker in an autobiographical limited series for Netflix. The hair care mogul broke barriers as America’s first Black self-made millionaire.
During a panel at this month’s Sundance Film Festival, Spencer revealed that LeBron James, who is producing the series via his SpringHill Entertainment, helped her with her Netflix deal. “I have to say, when I was negotiating my deal for ‘Madam C.J.,’ LeBron James had to intervene,” Spencer said. “So we need all our male counterparts to be in the fight with us.”
From there on, the Hidden Figures star used the moment as an opportunity to advocate for more male allyship. At last year’s Sundance Film Festival, Spencer acknowledged that pay gap between white women and women of color. She also revealed that Jessica Chastain, her co-star in the 2011 film The Help, helped Spencer secure a salary five times her original asking amount. Chastain and Spencer are set to reunite on a untitled holiday comedy film.
Madam C.J. Walker, the limited series Spencer is set to star in, is based on On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, a comprehensive bio on the revered mogul, written by her great-great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles.
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Octavia Spencer Says Jessica Chastain Helped Her Get ‘Five Times’ Her Salary For Their Upcoming Film
