Taraji P. Henson, who stars as real-life NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson in “Hidden Figures,” said that she felt a certain “duty” to make the drama about three brilliant African-American women who helped launch astronaut John Glenn into orbit in the 1960s.
“This movie I had to do, I just felt like it was my duty,” the actress told TheWrap in a shoot at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. We always celebrate the astronauts, but we don’t celebrate the mathematicians behind it.
Johnson is a physicist, scientist and mathematician who made fundamental contributions to America’s aeronautics and space programs at NASA.
The actress sat down with NASA chief Charles Bolden Jr. to discuss director Ted Melfi’s new film, which also stars Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe, as part of the “Close Up With TheWrap” video series.
