Octavia Spencer reunites with The Help director for horror-thriller Ma

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Fresh off her third Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Octavia Spencer is set to reunite with Tate Taylor, who directed her in THE HELP, which garnered Spencer her first Oscar win. Variety reports that the pair will join forces for MA, a new film from Blumhouse Productions which is described as a psychological thriller combined with horror. It will also give Spencer, at least according to Taylor, the most complex role she's tackled to date.

"It’s dark material, but it’s also really fun," Taylor said. "Octavia is so damn likable that we usually see her in certain roles. But she’s such a good actress and this is such a complex character that if I do my job right, people in the audience are going to want to push pause and say, ‘Can we please take you out for coffee so you don’t do what you’re about to do.'" Although Taylor wouldn't elaborate on Octavia Spencer's role, he did tease that despite the dark material, he "wouldn’t call her a villain," adding that, "It’s definitely the most complex character she’s ever played, if I may be so bold as to say that." MA came to be when Tate Taylor sat down with Jason Blum to talk movies and came out with a script from Scotty Landes (Workaholics) which he discovered would provide him the opportunity to do something different.

It was so serendipitous, because Octavia and I are always complaining about being offered the same s—, and I read this and thought, ‘Oh f—.' This is so f—ing weird and awesome and I want Octavia be the lead.

MA will also star Juliette Lewis and Luke Evans and production is slated to begin in Mississippi on Monday. While we still don't know much about the upcoming thriller, Tate Taylor promises that it will deliver big scares. "More than being scary, it’s going to make people think," Taylor said. "It’s going to have meaning and purpose. At the same time, there will be all the tropes of a horror movie, where you scream and cover your eyes." The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, where Octavia Spencer is up for Best Supporting Actress for her work on THE SHAPE OF WATER, will take place on March 4, 2018.