Oscar Winner Octavia Spencer to Star in Fox's Red Band Society

Octavia Spencer has been tapped to star in Fox's Red Band Society, TVGuide.com has learned.

In this comedic young soap, a group of teenagers meet as patients in the children's wing of a hospital and become unlikely friends and allies. With Fox declaring pilot season dead, Red Band Society is a series prototype with additional scripts ordered beyond the pilot.

The Oscar-winning actress will play Nurse Jackson, who works in the pediatrics ward. She's a tough customer who's an excellent, intuitive nurse that doesn't put up with any crap from anyone. Nurse Jackson refuses to reveal any emotions on the job, believing that anything she feels is nothing compared to the real pain and trauma her young patients are going through.  But despite her formidable behavior, Nurse Jackson is profoundly sympathetic to the kids on her ward, and can be unexpectedly nice to them.

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Steven Spielberg will executive-produce the project, which is based on the acclaimed Spanish series Polseres Vermelles, with Margaret Nagle (Boardwalk Empire) and Under the Dome's Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. Griffin Gluck will co-star.

Spencer is best-known for her performance in The Help, which earned her a Golden Globe, a BAFTA award and a Screen Actors Guild award in addition to the Oscar. Her television credits include 30 Rock, Ugly Betty, The Big Bang Theory and Mom. She recently starred in Fruitvale Station.   

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