Octavia Spencer Says She Experienced ‘More Racism’ In Los Angeles Than In Her Alabama Hometown
Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer has revealed that she experienced more racism in Los Angeles than her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama.
After appearing on a recent episode of Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, Spencer shared that she expected the West Coast, blue state of California, to be a “free and liberal thinking place,” after she moved there in 1996 but since has experienced “more racism” than her southern hometown.
“It is so funny. It’s right out of ‘Pretty Woman,’” the Truth Be Told actress said. “I remember going into a shop and being followed, like, at first, I didn’t even—I was just like so excited, like just walking around, and then I realized that I was being followed. It was kind of strange in that way.”
The Hollywood Walk of Fame recipient took a moment to speak highly of her southern belle roots, to which she said that "It's a beautiful place and beautiful people. You know, I love being from there." However, she further explained the intensity of the racism that she has experienced that the South is widely known for.
“Everywhere has its history […] You can’t deny that Southern history is intense. [But] what’s beautiful for me is, that stuff preceded me,” she said. “You know, I was a child of the ’70s… You know, as you grow older and the things that you can remember. That wasn’t a part of my history. I learned about it. It’s not everything—anything that I experienced.”
Listen to Spencer’s full episode on the WTF With Marc Maron podcast below.
