by Ernesto Di Stefano Photography/Getty Images
Octavia Spencer said she “felt more racism when I first moved” to Los Angeles than ever in her southern hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, as she appeared on an episode of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast released last week.
“I think everywhere is heavy. Everywhere has its history,” explains the 52-year-old Oscar winner. “I think there are problems everywhere.”
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She continued, “You can’t deny that the history of the South is intense. It is. But what’s beautiful about me is that things went before me. I was a child of the ’70s… As you get older and the things you can remember, that wasn’t part of my history. I learned about it. It’s not something I’ve experienced.”
Spencer said when she first moved to LA in the 90s, she expected the city to be a “free and liberal-minded place,” but on a shopping trip on Rodeo Drive, people made her feel like she was “an anomaly.” ‘. “
“It’s so funny. It comes out like this Beautiful woman‘, she said. One of the first things you do when you move [L.A.]or at least I did, do you want to go to those historical places… all those historical places.
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“I remember going into a store and being followed. At first… I was just so excited, like I was just walking around, and then I realized I was being followed. It was just kind of weird that way,” Spencer added.
The Truth be told star said that “the funny thing is, after coming across that initial [culture shock]I didn’t really necessarily relive it, adding, “But it was obvious.”
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Spencer said she “has a home there now” in Alabama where she spends “weeks at a time”, noting the importance of “spending quality time with family”.
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After buying a Spanish-style house in LA’s Toluca Lake neighborhood in 2013, she claimed to Ellen DeGeneres that the house is haunted by a ghost she calls her “protector.” out of the bad people who shouldn’t be there. He chases them away.’
