Guess who got the last laugh? Octavia Spencer skewered the Oscars and the repeated “Hidden Fences” gaffe that happened throughout the awards season during her opening monologue for the Saturday, March 4, episode of Saturday Night Live.
Spencer, 46, kicked off her three-minute monologue by quipping that she’s been playing nurses onscreen for so long that “when I played a maid [in 2011’s The Help], they gave me an Oscar.” The Oscar-winning actress jokingly credited her long list of nurse’s roles to her “resting nurse face.” (Spencer has previously played a nurse on TV shows Grounded for Life and Red Band Society, as well as in films such as Halloween II.)
“So after all that, it was wonderful to play a NASA mathematician like I did in Hidden Figures,” she said, to cheers and applause from the audience. “People have been so kind to me about that movie. People have been coming up to me saying, ‘I loved Hidden Fences!’ And I say, ‘No, I was in Hidden Figures.’”
Throughout the awards season, presenters and red carpet hosts alike have flubbed the title of the Oscar-winning film, mixing it up with the Denzel Washington–helmed Fences. (Viola Davis took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Fences.)
“I mean, I get it. I get it,” Spencer continued. “There were three black movies that were at the Oscars this year. And that’s a lot for America. So if you’re gonna get confused anyway, I thought I might as well make some money off it.”
At this point, the Alabama native pulled up a fake movie poster for a hypothetical film that mashed up three of this year’s biggest flicks: Hidden Figures, Fences and Moonlight.
“So that’s why I produced Hidden Fence Light,” Spencer said of the faux film. “It’s the story of three black women who send an introspective gay boy to build a fence on the moon.”
Watch the clip above to see Spencer’s entire Saturday Night Live monologue!
