When the first trailer for Hidden Figures was released Donna Dickens and I had a discussion about it that amounted to “This is so amazing, why did the educational system fail us so badly that we've never heard of these women?” Suffice to say, we're happy the story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) is finally being told.
Directed by by Ted Melfi, Hidden Figures also stars Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, and Mahershala Ali. It tells the true story of the Black women who worked on NASA”s Project Mercury and Apollo 11.
HIDDEN FIGURES is the incredible untold story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (JanelleMonae)-brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation”s confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanised the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
Hidden Figures will be in theaters January 13, 2017.