Janelle Monáe Will Star In Hidden Figures Alongside Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson

Musician and style icon Janelle Monáe will star in the big screen adaptation of Margot Lee Shetterly’s book, Hidden Figures.

The book, which has been published by HarperCollins but won’t hit shelves until this fall, reveals the untold story of the African American mathematicians that worked for NASA during the Civil Rights era.

Monáe is the third major named attached to the highly anticipated project, which also stars Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer. The film will be directed by Ted Melfi, who will produce along with Chernin Entertainment and Donna Gigliotti of Levantine Films.

The film tells the true story of trailblazers Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan, Kathryn Peddrew, Sue Wilder, Eunice Smith and Barbara Holley, who during NASA’s 1962 Friendship 7 mission helped make John Glenn the first American to orbit the Earth in February 1962.

This will mark Monáe’s second major on screen role. The musician and budding actress will make her film debut in Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, which is still in the post-production phase.