Octavia Spencer is proud to have assisted The Help author with "speaking her mind".

The 41-year-old Oscar nominated actress plays straight-talking maid Minny Jackson in the film based during the American civil rights movement in the 60s.

Octavia is friends with Kathryn Stockett, who wrote the book which inspired the movie.

Kathryn created the character of Minny with Octavia in mind - but the actress doesn't want to take too much credit.

"The only thing I inspired was her ability to speak her mind," Octavia told People magazine.

Octavia developed a deep appreciation for Minny while working on the movie. The star became very fond of her character's sense of humour and her excellent baking abilities.

"It was great to put it all into a character onscreen for longer than three minutes," Octavia shared.

However, the actress is not too fond of how some of her fans have embraced Minny.

"People are quoting Minny, but when someone says, 'Eat my sh*t!' out of the blue, I'm like, 'How rude!' " she explained. "And then it's, 'Ah, you might want to say hello first.'"

Octavia has been a hit at this year's awards season. She has a great deal of respect for her fellow stars and is eager to meet one Hollywood legend in particular.

"[I can't wait to be introduced to] Meryl Streep," Octavia gushed. "I think I might bear-hug her."

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