There’s no gray here. Octavia Spencer told Us Weekly at the Black or White premiere in L.A., on Tuesday, Jan. 20, that it’s pretty clear why she doesn’t have kids of her own.
“I am not maternal at all,” the Oscar-winning actress, 44, told Us. “I don’t have any kids.”
For Spencer, there was no channeling her maternal instinct for her role as Rowena in Black or White. “I don’t have a maternal instinct,” she continued, adding that what’s presented on-screen was “written on the page.” In the film, she plays the grandmother of a girl named Eloise (Jillian Estell) who is at the center of a custody battle between Kevin Costner and Spencer’s characters.
“There are certain archetypes that are played a lot for women of color,” Spencer told Us. “I chose to be a part of this movie because of the message, and how the message is presented.”
It also helped that her “favorite actor” (Costner) was already part of the drama’s cast. “He was so passionate about it,” Spencer mused, “and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Spencer has previously expressed how she’s “fine” without having kids. “I should be married and have 19 kids,” the Help actress said in a November 2013 roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter. “And now I’m thinking my eggs are dying on the shelf. They’re going to go past their expiration date.”
Nevertheless, Spencer said she has no regret about her choice. “It’s what I chose,” the Fruitvale Station actress told her fellow stars Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Amy Adams, and more. “So I’m fine with that decision.”
