Trivia / The Help

• Actor Allusion:
  • Nelsan Ellis working at a diner.
  • Around Sarah Newlin and Victoria, who... are the only two to get along wonderfully throughout.
  • Allison Janney plays Skeeter's mother, and Brian Kerwin her husband. Janney had dated Kerwin previously in The West Wing.
• Casting Gag: Minny is played by Octavia Spencer in the film. In the book, Minny's sister is called Octavia.
• Creator Backlash: Years later, Viola Davis said she had many issues with the film. Her biggest complaints were that she felt the movie was told from a white point of view, and that it greatly sanitized the hardship black maids faced back then in order to alleviate potential guilt among white audiences.
  Viola Davis: I just felt that at the end of the day that it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard. I know Aibileen. I know Minny. They’re my grandma. They’re my mom. And I know that if you do a movie where the whole premise is, I want to know what it feels like to work for white people and to bring up children in 1963, I want to hear how you really feel about it. I never heard that in the course of the movie.
  • Downplayed by Bryce Dallas Howard. She did say she enjoyed making the film but agreed with Davis that it was problematic for the movie to be told from a white point of view and recommended viewers on Instagram other movies about racism they could watch instead.
• Creator Cameo: Author Kathryn Stockett can be seen among the women at Hilly's meeting nearly an hour into the film.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Jessica Chastain had to gain weight to play the Marilyn Monroe-esque Celia Foote. She did this by eating soy ice cream.
• Edited for Syndication: Some TV prints reportedly change the secret ingredient of the terrible awful pie.
  Minny: Eat my spit.
• Hide Your Pregnancy: Bryce Dallas Howard was pregnant during filming.
• Playing with Character Type: Emma Stone is usually a dorky Genki Girl in comedies or other light-hearted projects. While those traits are still present here, the genre is quite different.
• Promoted Fanboy: Octavia Spencer had been a huge fan of the book and had also provided the voice of Minny in the audio version.
• Star-Making Role:
  • This along with The Tree of Life, Coriolanus and Take Shelter rocketed Jessica Chastain to household name status. The Academy also chose this film as the one to recognise her for, with a Best Supporting Actress nomination.
  • Octavia Spencer also got heaps of critical acclaim, and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. As a result the Hollywood Hype Machine got behind her big time.
  • Viola Davis is borderline, as she had already won lots of acclaim with the film version of Doubt three years prior. Her performance as Aibileen, however, solidified her status as a movie star, to the degree that Meryl Streep was sure Davis would win the Best Actress Oscar over her (even though the opposite ended up being the case).
• Throw It In!: Hilly's house was an actual residential property, and the featured cream couch was already part of it.
• What Could Have Been: Katy Perry nearly had a small role in the film but was too busy working on her Teenage Dream album.