A little-explored side of America's race into space is being spotlighted in Hidden Figures. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner are already aboard and now singer Janelle Monáe is joining them in the cast.
Ted Melfi is directing the film, with writer Allison Schroeder adapting Margot Lee Shetterly's book Hidden Figures: The Story Of The African-American Women Who Helped Win The Space Race, scheduled to arrive in stores this coming September.
It'll chronicle Katherine Johnson (Henson), the brilliant mathematician who worked with Dorothy Vaughn (Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Monáe) as the main brains behind John Glenn's first trip into space and back in 1962. People remember his being the first orbit of the Earth, now we'll properly learn who helped get him there. Costner, meanwhile, will be the boss off the space programme.
While Monae's film contributions have usually been limited to her songs appearing on soundtracks, she is moving in acting, starring first in indie drama Moonlight, and now in this film for Fox 2000.