Lupita Nyong'o, Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, Emma Thompson, Octavia Spencer and Amy Adams in Hollywood Roundtable Conversation

Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station), Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks), Julia Roberts (August: Osage County), Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels' The Butler), Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave), and Amy Adams(American Hustle) join THR executive editor Matt Belloni and executive editor of features Stephen Galloway for a candid conversation about their awards-worthy movies.

Putting together THR's roundtables always is a complicated affair, but perhaps none this year was quite as tricky as the Actress Roundtable. First came the matter of coordinating six busy performers' schedules -- a project that began way back in the summer and especially was complex given that 12 Years a Slave's Lupita Nyong'o, 30, lives in Brooklyn, Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks), 54, in London, and Amy Adams (American Hustle, Her), 39, has been juggling back-to-back movies.

Next came the challenge of getting enough time with the actresses to include an hourlong conversation, the requisite grooming, behind-the-scenes video and an elaborate photo shoot. Finally came the complication of having each participant's lawyer vet television releases so that this roundtable can be broadcast in December on PBS. With all this, it's no surprise that the final t's were crossed mere hours before the roundtable got underway Nov. 9 in Los Angeles, when an amazingly candid conversation took place among Nyong'o, Thompson, Adams, Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels' The Butler), 59, Julia Roberts(August: Osage County), 46, and Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station), 43. A few tears were shed