'The Help' Movie a Collaboration Between Friends

Stacy Downs - Kansas City Star

If it looks as if Octavia Spencer was born to play Minny in the screen adaptation of "The Help," it's no coincidence.

Spencer is friends with the book's author, Kathryn Stockett, and a bit of an inspiration for the character.

"Octavia has these strong mannerisms," Stockett said. "What you saw of her on screen is exactly what I had in mind in the book."

In the book and film (which opens Wednesday), Minny is a maid and friend to the film's center, Aibileen (Viola Davis). She is an excellent cook (Spencer says she isn't) who nonetheless loses jobs because of her sharp tongue. Minny provides the bulk of humor and sassiness in the novel, but Spencer's performance in the film propels the character forward. Even when she's not speaking lines, her presence is felt.

It's Spencer's meatiest role to date, one of the film's many firsts. "The Help" was Stockett's debut novel. The film is director Tate Taylor's first major studio release. And Spencer says it's one of the first films to explore the relationships among women hired to help women.

"Kathryn has done something that's never been done before, telling a story from the perspective of African-American domestics," Spencer said. "If people are from poorer means, they're usually seen as facilitators without much depth. She moved beyond stereotypes. She didn't focus on brutality. She concentrated on the humanity and the relationships between people of very culturally disparate backgrounds who work together and forge friendships."

Spencer also is friends with director Taylor -- they were roommates for three years. Previously, the two worked mostly in small acting roles and behind the scenes.

They met as production assistants on "A Time to Kill" (1996), Joel Schumacher's adaptation of the John Grisham novel. Spencer had a small scene as a nurse, but the 39-year-old actress's best-known role before "The Help" was the recurring character of Constance Grady, an immigration agent on the TV sitcom "Ugly Betty." (Taylor played the bail bondsman in "Winter's Bone," filmed in the Missouri Ozarks.)

But things looked up for Spencer's career shortly after Stockett based Minny on Spencer's personal and physical attributes -- "When she saw this short, chubby woman speaking her mind about dieting during dinner, it helped her flesh out the feisty character of Minny."

Spencer started the Facebook fan page for the novel. When it came time to audition for Minny, Spencer had to be screen-tested. After all, the cast included some big-time actresses -- Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Cicely Tyson, Sissy Spacek and Allison Janney.

"I knew there were proven performers out there who could fit the character," Spencer said. "Coming to mind instantly: Mo'Nique, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah. But Tate and Kathryn wanted me."

To prepare for her role, Spencer studied spousal abuse and watched the civil rights documentary "Eyes on the Prize."

"I remember growing up, my mother watching the series," said Spencer, who comes from Montgomery, Ala. "It transports you back in time to the '50s and '60s, when bigotry and segregation were done openly. Growing up in the South during the '70s and '80s, that wasn't a world I grew up in. Thank God."

Stockett was thrilled with how her words were translated into a motion picture. Taylor and Stockett have known each other since they were 5, and Taylor also helped adapt the book for the screen.

"Tate and I laugh about how we get confused about who wrote what," Stockett said. "I loved how he dealt with conflict upfront -- you're already tense in your seat the first five minutes when it took me 50 pages to write it. The movie feels like you're stepping into a new, fresh experience. "

Spencer's one worry about the film isn't that people of both races won't appreciate it -- it's that men might skip it.

"It's definitely not a chick flick," Spencer said. "It's universal and has nothing to do with gender. It's empowering for people who have ever felt like an outsider, about finding relevance through your inner voice and courage. People who like sports movies would like this because it's about rooting for the underdog to win."

Currently, Spencer is looking through scripts, hoping to find a role as challenging as Minny. Stockett, meanwhile, is working on her still untitled next novel, about women in 1920s and 1930s Mississippi.

"I'm interested in women who break the rules," Stockett said. "Women had such a struggle during the Depression. If a woman didn't have a man, it was a challenge for her to find enough money to feed her kids and parents. I'm amazed at how creative women were back then."

WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Kathryn Stockett's "The Help" became a best-seller and book club favorite after its release in 2009. The film adaptation opens Wednesday.

The story is set in 1962 Mississippi and follows recent college graduate and wannabe writer Skeeter (played by Emma Stone in the film), who is hired by a newspaper to give household advice -- about which she knows nothing. Skeeter turns to her friend's maid Aibileen (Viola Davis) for suggestions. Together, with another maid who is Aibileen's best friend, Minny (Octavia Spencer), they embark on a top-secret project that puts all of them at risk. Below are some excerpts from Minny:

--Meeting her new boss,

Miss Celia Rae Foote:

"Maybe she's not deaf or crazy. Maybe she's just stupid. A shiny hope rises up in me again."

--On her way to teach Miss Celia

how to cook:

"For no reason but to irritate me, we get a heat wave in December. In forty degrees, I sweat like iced tea in August and here I woke up this morning to eighty-three on the dial. I've spent half my life trying not to sweat so much: Dainty Lady sweat cream, frozen potatoes in my pockets, ice pack tied to my head (I actually paid a doctor for that fool advice), and I still soak my sweat pads through in five minutes."

--Recounting what she did to her nemesis, Miss Hilly:

"I say 'That good vanilla from Mexico' and then I go head. I tell her what else I put in that pie for her."

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