Actress Octavia Spencer is just as inspiring off-screen as she is on: last weekend, the Oscar-winning star bought out every seat in a Los Angeles screening of her new film, Hidden Figures, in order to offer them for free to low income families.
Spencer posted a message on her Instagram account, inviting along families who might not otherwise be able to afford a cinema trip on a first come first served basis, in order to spread her film's empowering message on Martin Luther King weekend (a US public holiday taken in honour of the iconic civil rights activist).
'Tomorrow I've bought the 8pm showing of #hiddenfigures [at] The Rave Baldwin Hills. If you know a family in need that would like to see our movie but can't afford it have them come. It's first come first served,' she wrote underneath an artist's impression of her Hidden Figures character, Dorothy Vaughan.
She went on to explain that this kind gesture was a way of honouring her mother, Dellsena Spencer, who worked as a maid while bringing up Octavia and her six siblings. 'My mom would not have been able to afford to take me and my siblings. So, I'm honouring her and all single parents this #mlkweekend. Pass the word,' she said.
Hidden Figures tells the real story of three African-American women who worked for NASA as mathematicians in the early 1960s, eventually helping to send astronaut John Glynn into orbit around the earth.
Spencer's co-star Taraji P. Henson helped to spread the word online, re-posting the message on her own Instagram account.
'This is how phenomenal this woman is. @therealoctaviaspencer bought out the movie theatre for TONIGHT'S 8pm showing of #hiddenfigures at Rave cinemas Baldwin Hills in Los Angeles California for poverty stricken families who want to see this movie with their children on #MLK day. If you are in #LA and don't have the money to see the movie with your children go watch for free tonight!,' she wrote.
Speaking on The Jess Cagle Interview last year, Spencer revealed how her mother, who died when the actress was just 18, inspired her to be strong, hard-working and grounded - and taught her not to place limitations on her aspirations or amibitions.
'I had a very strong mom who made me and my sisters understand that there were no limitations on our lives except what we placed on ourselves,' she said. 'She taught us to see people as people. All people. Taught us to understand our place in the world. And our place in the world is, if you want to be a leader, you can be that. There was no glass ceiling until I got into the real world and realised there are glass ceilings everywhere.'
Hidden Figures has proved to be a runaway success at the American box office, and while it doesn't open in the UK until 17th February, it has already earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.