After the Academy Award nominations are announced, I love to spend the week doing “Before They Were Stars” features on some of the nominees to show how far they’ve truly risen. Octavia Spencer’s “Best Supporting Actress” nomination for The Help is the perfect example of a consummate working actress finally getting her reward, as she has paid her dues by playing numerous bit parts and supporting roles in films and TV shows for 15 years and has assembled a filmography of nearly 100 titles. One of those small roles was in the surreal comedy classic, Being John Malkovich, as the woman in the elevator who helps John Cusack get off on the infamous 7 1/2th floor.