For Octavia Spencer, every “yes” comes with intention.

Across a career filled with iconic performances, the Academy Award–winning actress has never been driven by chasing a specific character type. Instead, she’s guided by the story as a whole. The character she plays is not as important as who the story centers and why it needs to be told.

“I never choose roles,” Spencer shared during her recent conversation with 21Ninety Live. “I always choose projects as a whole.”

That philosophy has quietly shaped one of the most impactful careers in Hollywood. Her work spans from redefining historical narratives to expanding how Black women are seen across genres.

Choosing Stories That Shift Culture

Spencer reflected on how that mindset played a role in films like “The Help” and “Hidden Figures.” These two projects, specifically, sparked major conversations about representation.

While “The Help” was rooted in historical fiction, “Hidden Figures” struck a different chord when Spencer realized the story was entirely real.

“When I heard the story of ‘Hidden Figures,’ I thought, ‘if this had been true, wouldn’t we have learned about it in school?’” she said. “We didn’t learn about the contributions those women made to the space race. Not just Black women, women, period.”

That realization cemented the project’s importance. For Spencer, the impact was generational. She credits the film with helping inspire young girls to see themselves in STEM fields and to imagine futures that hadn’t always reflected them back.

True Crime as Her Next Chapter

That same commitment to complexity led Spencer to projects that challenged expectations, including her work behind the camera. As an executive producer and narrator on true crime series like “Lost Women of Alaska” and “FEDS,” Spencer is again choosing story over spectacle.

“These are crimes that actually occurred,” she said. “There was another trajectory my life could have taken. I was going to go to law school.”

While she ultimately chose a creative path, Spencer sees her work in true crime as another form of advocacy. By centering victims who are particularly women, elders, children, and women of color, she’s using storytelling to bring visibility and sometimes closure to families who were overlooked.

The upcoming season of “Lost Women of Alaska” focuses on the disappearances of Indigenous women, while “FEDS” revisits some of the FBI’s most dangerous historical cases.

A Super Bowl Moment With a Purpose

That same sense of responsibility is what led Spencer to say yes to a very different kind of project. She has made her way into the sports world via a Super Bowl commercial.

Partnering with health organizations through the Detect the SOS public health mission, Spencer will appear during the big game to raise awareness about kidney and cardiovascular risks linked to type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. The project is much more personal than many think because these are conditions she herself lives with.

“I didn’t know that people with these underlying conditions are at risk for kidney damage,” she shared. “And being a Black woman, I understand how prevalent type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure are in our community.”

For Spencer, airing this message during one of the largest sporting events in the country was intentional. The platform allows critical health information, including the importance of a simple uACR urine test, to reach millions in an accessible, engaging way.

“It’s serious,” she said. “But it’s also easily remedied if you know what to ask your doctor.”

From Hollywood films to true crime series to a Super Bowl stage, Spencer’s work always chooses stories that matter.

Stories that correct the record, that honor overlooked lives, that empower people to see themselves, advocate for themselves, and take up space.