Janelle Monáe to Co-Star in NASA Film 'Hidden Figures' with Taraji P. Henson & Octavia Spencer

Photo of Janelle Monáe by Jason LaVeris


Janelle Monáe has secured the third lead role in an upcoming space drama co-starring Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer.

According to The Wrap, the singer-actress will play Mary Jackson in Hidden Figures, which follows three African-American women who worked behind-the-scenes in NASA’s 1962 Friendship 7 mission, in which astronaut John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth.

The film is based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s upcoming book Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race, which is due to be published by HarperCollins this September.

Kevin Costner will also co-star in the film as the head of the space program.