Sparkling pop chanteuse Janelle Monae has taken a new career turn, officially announcing that she’s been cast in a new space drama called “Hidden Figures,” according to Billboard. The Fox 2000 NASA drama also stars Empire star Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner.
The film, directed by Ted Melfi, centers on three black women who were involved in NASA’s Friendship 7 mission, which resulted in astronaut John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth in February 1962. The story is based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s forthcoming book Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race.
Monae has always had her eye on the sky, telling Billboard in December 2013, “I’m thinking of going and being a part of NASA, joining their tech team, so I can get a free ride to space. So that’s my next move. Who knows what we’re going to do next. We’re definitely in talks and have had people reach out, but we’ll see.”
