She's won an Oscar for The Help and now Octavia Spencer is heading back in time for another story of pioneering women in tumultuous times by signing up for 19th century biopic Seacole.
According to The Hollywood Reporter's scoop, her old producer from The Help, Brunson Green, has enticed her into taking the role of Crimean War-era doctor, Mary Seacole. Despite all the usual strictures of her race at the time - an inability to vote, lack of civil rights - she made a name for herself with her pioneering approach to medicine, saving countless soldiers' lives in the process. Among them she came to be known as 'Mother Seacole', a saving angel whose reputation grew to rival even that of Florence Nightingale.
"Mary Seacole was a dynamic, complex and charming woman, and, knowing Octavia and her immense talent, there is no one better to embody this impressive and courageous historical figure," elaborates Green.
Sounds like a fascinating tale, especially when you consider Seacole's long travelogue preceding her arrival in Balaclava. Her voyages took her from home in Kingston, Jamaica to Cuba, Haiti and the Bahamas, as well as Central America and Britain. All this was recounted in her beautifully-titled 1857 memoir The Wonderful Adventures Of Mrs. Seacole In Many Lands.
This one should get underway soon, with the project being hawked around the Berlin Film Market. Next up for Spencer, meanwhile, is race drama Black Or White alongside Kevin Costner and as head of the Amity faction in follow-up-to-Divergent, **Insurgent.