First Look: Octavia Spencer in Netflix’s ‘Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker’

The four-part limited series is set to debut on the streamer March 20, 2020

Netflix announced today the premiere date and official title for Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker starring Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer in the title role of the trailblazing African American haircare entrepreneur who was America’s first female self-made millionaire.

Inspired by the book, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker, written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles, the Netflix original series, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker brings the uplifting story of this cultural icon to the screen for the first time.

Against all odds, Walker overcame post-slavery racial and gender biases, personal betrayals, and business rivalries to build a ground-breaking brand that revolutionized black haircare, as she simultaneously fought for social change. The four-part limited series also stars Blair Underwood as her husband C.J. Walker, Tiffany Haddish as her daughter Lelia, Carmen Ejogo as Walker’s business rival Addie Munroe, Garrett Morris as Walker’s father-in-law, Kevin Carroll as her longtime lawyer Freeman Ransom and Bill Bellamy as Ransom’s cousin Sweetness.

Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker is directed by Kasi Lemmons and DeMane Davis and produced by Spring Hill Entertainment and Wonder Street in association with Warner Bros. Television. It is helmed by co-showrunners Elle Johnson & Janine Sherman Barrois, along with writer and co-executive producer Nicole Jefferson Asher, and executive produced by Janine Sherman Barrois, Elle Johnson, Maverick Carter, LeBron James, Octavia Spencer, Mark Holder, Christine Holder, Kasi Lemmons, and Jamal Henderson.

Here is your first look.