Emma Stone plays a young woman who wants to know her story and those of other maids working for White families during the civil rights era.
"We are still going through civil rights struggles today, so even though the story took place in 1963, there's still so much relevance," Stone said.
The novel was a hit, having spent more than 100 weeks on bestseller lists.
For her role in the movie, actress Bryce Dallas Howard has to say some pretty vile things that made her - and will likely make you - cringe.
"There were moments on set where I was like, 'We're loving doing this movie, we're loving being together, but man, this is intense,'" Dallas Howard said.
It's all part of the emotion that goes along with the story.
Director Tate Taylor chose Octavia Spencer for one of the key roles and another longtime friend, Allison Janney.
"These have been people that have been in my stuff when I could basically pay them a burrito a day," Taylor said.
"We had this joke that we were going to open a burrito stand or a taco stand somewhere if this doesn't work out for us, because I've done every single one of his movies. It's nice to see this happen for him," Janney said.
The author of the book and the director of the movie have been great friends since they were 5 years old.
