Hidden Figures star Octavia Spencer on why she hates making period films

Undoubtedly the most inspiring film of the holiday season, Hidden Figures, opening on Christmas Day, showcases the true story of three brilliant African-American female mathematicians at NASA — Katherine Johnson (Tarji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) — who helped launch astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit in 1962.

But the three were faced with unabashed racism and sexism, which meant the actors also had to reenact some truly painful moments. Spencer, who was put through similarly emotional scenes for her Oscar-winning role in The Help, says it’s understandably hard to be transported back to the early ’60s. “I gotta tell ya — that era sucked,” Spencer tells EW. “I’ve become this person who does period movies and I actually hate having to be there emotionally. It’s not something you can easily walk away from. It’s not fun.”

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But Spencer admits she and costars Henson and Monae were able to find some light amidst the painful subject matter. “It’s a serious movie but in order to breathe life into the seriousness and the profundity, you have to have moments of levity,” says Spencer. “There was no lack of that on the set. Taraji being the social bug that she is likes to entertain people. She would have us over to her house and cook for us.”