The Help-ing hand! Octavia Spencer buys out entire theatre showing of her flick Hidden Figures for LA families in need

Published: 01:08 GMT, 14 January 2017 | Updated: 04:06 GMT, 14 January 2017

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She's paying it forward in honor of her mother and in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Octavia Spencer has bought out the entire Friday showing of Hidden Figures at the Rave Cinema in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Crenshaw, California, she shared on social media on Thursday.

'If you know a family in need that would like to see our movie but can't afford it have them come,' the star, 46, wrote with the post. 'It's first come first served.'

Movie night! Octavia Spencer has bought out the entire 8 PM pacific Friday showing of Hidden Figures at the Rave Cinema in Baldwin Hills, she shared on social media on Thursday

Octavia's motivation for the generous act came from her own experiences growing up with her late mother, Delsena Spencer, and two sisters, Areka and Rosa Spencer.

'My mom would not have been able to afford to take me and my siblings,' she explained. 'So, I'm honoring her and all single parents this #mlkweekend Pass the word.'

Hidden Figures tells the previously untold story of three African-American women who were directly responsible for supplying critical data that made NASA's first successful space missions possible.

An ode to mom: She's paying it forward in honor of her mother and in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which falls on January 16

Octavia plays Dorothy Vaughan alongside Taraji P. Henson's Katherine G. Johnson and Janelle Monáe's Mary Jackson.

The women had a very exciting wide release opening weekend, celebrating dethroning Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as the number one movie at the box office for the first weekend since the Disney film's opening, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

The drama edged out the Lucasfilm production with a weekend gross of $22.8 million to its nearly $22.1 million for the week beginning January 6.

Leading ladies: Octavia plays Dorothy Vaughan alongside Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monáe, seen here backstage at her Jimmy Kimmel Live appearance on Thursday

While Hidden Figures and Octavia came up short for its nominations at both the Critics' Choice Movie Awards on December 11 and at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's 74th Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, the film has at least a few more shots to bring home hardware this awards season.

All three ladies are nominated for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, where Octavia is also up for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role. Academy Award nominations have yet to be finalized.

The SAG Awards will take place January 29 and the 89th Annual Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, will be held on February 26, with final nominees announced January 24.

Going for the gold: Seen her at the Golden Globes on Sunday, Octavia and her castmates have at least a few more shots to bring home hardware this awards season