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With Robert Zemeckis’ The Witches now available to watch on HBO Max, we got the chance to catch up with Octavia Spencer to discuss her experience making the film. Spencer plays the grandmother of a young boy (Jahzir Bruno) who loses his parents. Soon after taking him in, they venture off to a hotel where, unbeknownst to them, the Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway) is hosting an event to show off her new scheme to her underlings, a plot to transform children into mice.

In addition to discussing her experience making the movie, Spencer also took a moment to address the inspiration behind the continued work she’s doing with her alma mater, Auburn University:

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Image via Warner Bros / HBO Max

“I think just the time there; you grow up when you go away to school. You gain the freshman 15 pounds because your mom isn’t there making you dinner and you get to make your own choices, and then you realize you’re drinking beer and eating wings and pizza, all those things that you love and then you realize, ‘Probably shouldn’t be eating this. There’s a reason why your parents make you eat vegetables!’ But that’s all stuff that you learn on your own, so it’s about that coming of age and the bonding experience that you have away at school, which is why my heart is breaking for college kids all across the world right now.”

While it’s no doubt a very unusual and trying year for college students, I’d like to bet that the effort Spencer is putting in to creating some good 2020 memories for these students is making a difference. If you’d like to hear about that, The Witches and the one living creature Spencer refuses to work with, check out our full chat at the top of this article!

Octavia Spencer

  • Spencer discusses the work she does with her alma mater, Auburn University.
  • What it was like working with Anne Hathaway on The Witches.
  • Would Spencer rather work with a real animal or a CG creature?
  • Spencer’s advice for anyone out there who might need some healing right now.
  • Spencer talks about her Friday night Best Picture group and the impression it’s made on her thus far.