Hidden Figures debuted yesterday at the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Hollywood Reporter got to speak with stars Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer surrounding the debut (Janelle Monáe is sorely missed in the interview). Pharrell, who produced and made music for the film, was also present, as was Glen Powell, who plays John Glenn in the film.
The interviewer asks what they thought about the film, since prior to this, as Henson notes, she’d only seen was the “three minute trailer on an iPhone.” Spencer says seeing it made her realize the weight of these women’s work. “We are representing them, because they were never, ever recognized.”
Of course, she’s talking about their based-on-real-people characters Katherine Johnson (Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Monáe), three black women mathematicians who worked for NASA and in the 1960s and were behind John Glenn’s (from Earth) full orbit of Earth and Apollo 11’s famous flight to the moon.
“What you see in this film, and I’m getting goosebumps just saying it,” says Henson, “is you see women come together and support each other, not cat…claw, fight, hate on each other for one role. But when you embrace each other and stick together — look what these women were able to accomplish. We will stick together, we will change the world, and until we get that, we’re going nowhere.”
Watch THR’s video: