--- description: The actress, who won an Oscar for her role in The Help, will have a starring role in the upcoming sci-fi flick title: Octavia Spencer Divergent Sequel Insurgent image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Octavia Spencer Joins _Divergent_ Sequel, _Insurgent_ by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 12, 2014 9:55 PM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 12, 2014 9:55 PM CUT Actress Octavia Spencer is joining the cast of the [_Divergent_ franchise](http://variety.com/2014/film/news/octavia-spencer-divergent-insurgent-1201178446/ "undefined") for the upcoming film _Insurgent_. The Academy Award winner will play Johanna, the leader of a peace-loving faction within the novel-turned-film franchise’s dystopian future, _Variety_ [reports](http://variety.com/2014/film/news/octavia-spencer-divergent-insurgent-1201178446/ "undefined"). The film is slated for release in March 2015, with the third installment “Allegiant” following in two parts, in the vein of other popular teen film franchises including _Twilight_ and _The Hunger Games_. [Robert Schwentke](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0777881/ "undefined"), who also directed the _Time Traveler’s Wife_ and 2010’s _RED_, will direct the film. The Divergent franchise is based on the best-selling novels by Veronica Roth, which center on a teenage heroine of the future battling a government that divides young adults into factions based on virtue. \[[_Variety_](http://variety.com/2014/film/news/octavia-spencer-divergent-insurgent-1201178446/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/96821/octavia-spencer-joins-divergent-sequel-insurgent/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/96821/octavia-spencer-joins-divergent-sequel-insurgent/"},"headline":"Octavia Spencer Joins Divergent Sequel, Insurgent","datePublished":"2014-05-12T21:55:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:47:42.376Z","description":"The actress, who won an Oscar for her role in The Help, will have a starring role in the upcoming sci-fi flick","url":"https://time.com/96821/octavia-spencer-joins-divergent-sequel-insurgent/","keywords":["movies","entertainment","Divergent","films"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/96821/octavia-spencer-joins-divergent-sequel-insurgent/","name":"Octavia Spencer Joins Divergent Sequel, Insurgent"}}]}] ```