Taraji P. Henson to Star as NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson in New Film "Hidden Figures"


Taraji P. Henson won a Golden Globe this year for her remarkable performance as Cookie Lyons in Empire. During her acceptance speech, the Oscar-nominated actress underscored that she'd been waiting 25 years for this moment. Well, now that Taraji's time is here, she's making some impressive, important choices.

One of those we're most excited about is her upcoming role as mathematician Katherine Johnson for Fox 2000.
The film is based off of a the book, "Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race."

Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson calculated by the hand the trajectory of astronaut John Glenn's orbit around the earth in 1962. The Friendship 7 mission was the first completed by an American astronaut.

Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.

Fox has set a Jan. 13 release date for “Hidden Figures.”

h/t Variety