Oprah Winfrey, Octavia Spencer, Lupita Nyong'o among Hollywood Reporter's 'Actress Roundtable'

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Oprah Winfrey, Octavia Spencer, and Lupita Nyong’o are among the six actresses chosen for The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual ‘Actress Roundtable.’ 

Winfrey was included for her role in Lee Daniels’ The Butler. The media mogul plays the wife of a long time White House butler, played by Forest Whitaker.

Spencer’s role in Fruitvale Station, a film about the last day of Oscar Grant’s life, an unarmed young black man who was fatally shot by a white police officer in Oakland, CA, has earned her Oscar buzz and a spot at THR’s roundtable. Spencer was also one of the producers on the film.

12 Years a Slave actress Lupita Nyong’o has had people talking since her acclaimed film debuted at the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year. The young actress has already received awards, including the New Hollywood Award from the Hollywood Film Awards, for her first major acting role.

The group of Oscar contenders at the ‘Actress Roundtable’ also included Amy Adams (American Hustle, Her), Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks) and Julia Roberts (August: Osage County).

During the conversation, the ladies discuss the best advice they’ve ever received, the scariest moments they’ve been through and how they prepare for different roles.

“It was tough,” Nyong’o said of preparing for her role as a slave in 12 Years a Slave. “I knew I couldn’t go about it in any sort of method way because I would have not survived the experience. I was always so close to tears, and plenty of times, I’d be in my hotel room, just crying.”

Oprah said she was “worried” she might be rusty for her role in The Butler “because it’s like picking up your instrument and you hadn’t touched it in 15 years.”

Nyong’o admits that the first time she felt she could be an actress was when she watched The Color Purple, which stars Winfrey, when she was a little girl growing up in Kenya. The two stars then shared a tearful, touching moment.

The entire roundtable can be viewed and read on The Hollywood Reporter website.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals.