Hidden Figures: Taraji P Henson is a genius in first trailer for film about the African American women behind Nasa
Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae also star in a movie set to be both inspiring and funny
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Your support makes all the difference.It’s finally time for the genius African American women who worked at Nasa in the Sixties to enjoy their long overdue moment in the spotlight.
The first trailer for Hidden Figures, which explores the previously untold story of the highly intelligent black scientists who defied prejudice to help launch astronaut John Glenn into space in 1962, debuted over the weekend during the Rio Olympics coverage and it looks set to be both inspiring and funny.
Empire’s Taraji P Henson stars in the lead as Katherine G Johnson alongside singer-actor Janelle Monae as Mary Jackson and Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughn while Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst and Jim Parsons also feature in the cast. Pharrell Williams is on board as a producer and will be writing original songs for the movie.
Hidden Figures will focus on the team of female mathematicians who provided Nasa with the crucial data that enabled America to catch up with Russia in the so-called Space Race. Based on a true story, the three women known as “human computers” quickly rose the ranks, demolishing stereotypes and low expectations in their wake, to establish their place among the greats of US history. Glenn became the first US astronaut to make a complete, successful orbit of Earth and paved the way for the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
Theodore Melfi is directing from a script he co-wrote with Allison Schroder, with Hidden Figures arriving in UK cinemas on 24 February next year.
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