• Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
    • SOKO MRKT
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
    • Essence Holiday Gift Guide 2023
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
      • Hair News
      • Natural
      • Relaxed
      • Transitioning
      • Weave
      • 4C
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
    • SOKO MRKT
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
    • Essence Holiday Gift Guide 2023
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home • Entertainment

Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe Radiate ESSENCE’s February 2017 Cover

From the screen to the page, 'Hidden Figures' stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe shine equally bright on ESSENCE’s February 2017 cover.
‘Hidden Figures’ Cast Covers ESSENCE
Warwick Saint
By Cori Murray · Updated October 26, 2020
5272082693001

On January 6, audiences will be gifted two films bursting with Black movie magic: Fences and Hidden Figures. But it’s Hidden Figures that stands out because it unveils a significant piece of American history: a Black female mathematician was essential in catapulting the first American men into orbit.

This genius, Katherine Johnson, is the centerpiece of the unheralded story of NASA’s “colored computers” who broke down racial and gender barriers in the 1960s. Hidden Figures stars Taraji P. Henson (as Johnson), Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe—and these actresses radiate on screen as well as on ESSENCE’s February 2017 cover. 

Writer Karen Good Marable interviewed the film’s leading ladies at different points as they journeyed through Hollywood’s red carpet season – those champagne-fueled weeks of award shows. The Hidden Figures cast will make its first stop at the Screen Actors Guild awards, where they received a nomination for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture. (They share the category with the casts of Moonlight, Fences, Manchester by the Sea and Captain Fantastic.)

Although the film deserves its accolades — Marable writes: “If art is a form of resistance, Hidden Figures, is a kind of grenade” — these actresses were anxious to uplift their character’s real stories. Henson tells ESSENCE: “When I was growing up, people told me out of their mouths math and science are for boys. I was told that over and over. Like, no one showed me how to fall in love with numbers. If I had a teacher like Mrs. Johnson, who knows, I might be on the moon.”

Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.

Spencer, who plays Dorothy Vaughan, NASA’s first Black supervisor, signed onto the film two years ago and her admiration of Vaughan’s tenure has not waivered. “Dorothy Vaughan is the genesis of Black Girls Code,” Spencer tells ESSENCE.

In recognition of Spencer’s own brilliance, she has secured nominations for her supporting role from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes), Screen Actors Guild (SAG Awards) and the NAACP (Image Awards).

For Janelle Monáe, she’s beyond thrilled that her personal passions – space and sisterhood – have come together in one project. Monáe portrays NASA’s first Black aerospace engineer Mary Jackson, who challenges Virginia’s Jim Crow segregation laws when she needs to take NASA mandated courses at an all White high school.

In the movie, her friend and colleague Dorothy Vaughan gives her the nerve to petition the court. Says Monáe to ESSENCE, “I think they would not have achieved the level of success that they did had they not had one another.”

Hidden Figures will be released in select markets on December 25 and nationally on January 6. Read more about the film’s stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe in the February 2017 issue of ESSENCE, on newsstands January 13.

TOPICS:  Magazine Octavia Spencer Taraji P. Henson
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now