FIRST LOOK: Octavia Spencer as Madame C.J. Walker in Netflix series ‘Self Made’

Netflix just unveiled the first look at Self Made: Inspired By The Life Of Madame C.J. Walker. In it, Octavia Spencer stars as the trailblazing African American haircare entrepreneur who was America’s first female self-made millionaire. Inspired by the book, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles, the Netflix original series brings the uplifting story of this cultural icon to the screen for the first time.

Against all odds, Walker overcame post-slavery racial and gender biases, personal betrayals, and business rivalries to build a ground-breaking brand that revolutionized black haircare, as she simultaneously fought for social change.

The four-part limited series boasts a long list of talent including Blair Underwood as her husband C.J. Walker, Tiffany Haddish as her daughter Lelia, Carmen Ejogo as Walker’s business rival Addie Munroe, Garrett Morris as Walker’s father-in-law, Kevin Carroll as her longtime lawyer Freeman Ransom and Bill Bellamy as Ransom’s cousin Sweetness.

Produced by SpringHill Entertainment and Wonder Street in association with Warner Bros. Television is helmed by co-showrunners Elle Johnson & Janine Sherman Barrois, along with writer and co-executive producer Nicole Jefferson Asher, directed by Kasi Lemmons and DeMane Davis, and executive produced by Janine Sherman Barrois, Elle Johnson, Maverick Carter, LeBron James, Octavia Spencer, Mark Holder, Christine Holder, Kasi Lemmons, and Jamal Henderson.