Enter our competition to win a Blu-ray copy of the feelgood movie about three unsung heroines of the space race - and read a Q&A with Hidden Figures co-star Kevin Costner.
Hidden Figures uncovers the incredible, untold yet true story of a brilliant group of women who changed the foundations of the United States for the better - by aiming for the stars. The film recounts the vital history of an elite team of black female mathematicians at NASA who helped win the all-out space race against America’s rivals in the Soviet Union and, at the same time, sent the quest for equal rights and opportunity rocketing forwards.
Hidden Figures is directed by Theodore Melfi (St. Vincent) and stars Oscar®-nominee Taraji P. Henson (Empire, Benjamin Button, Hustle And Flow), Academy Award® winner Octavia Spencer (Allegiant, Fruitvale Station, The Help), singer Janelle Monáe (Moonlight) in her motion picture debut and two time Oscar® winner Kevin Costner (Field Of Dreams, Dancing With Wolves).
Throughout his illustrious career, Costner has appeared in a wide range of roles in comedies, action films and dramas. His exceptional filmmaking abilities were showcased in Dances with Wolves, which he produced, directed and starred in, and which won seven Academy Awards including “Best Picture” and “Best Director.” Other projects include No Way Out, JFK, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, The Bodyguard and Wyatt Earp. Hidden Figures reunites Costner and Octavia Spencer who co-starred together in the drama Black Or White, which Costner also produced.
Q: Although you were very young, do you have any memory of NASA’s first space launch?
COSTNER: Yes, I do. I remember that. When you’re young, you feed off the ideas of other people in the room and so you know that this is an exciting moment. But also when you’re young, you think, where are they going and what are they going to do when they get there? Why are they just going into space and then coming back? Is it a prank?
Q: Do you feel a special connection to the film because of your memories growing up?
COSTNER: I feel a special connection to people and to the evolvement of the United States, what we profess to be and our struggle to attain that and maintain it. So the 1960s were just another decade in the life of America, but one worth looking at in terms of comparing what we set out to be, the mandate of that and where we were at that moment and then actually walking out of this movie and asking ourselves where we are now.
Q: It’s common for children to have aspirations to be astronauts, did you ever have those aspirations?
COSTNER: No, I didn’t. I was more of a mountain man. I was more of a Lewis and Clark guy. I’m a person of the land, if you want to break it down. Thank god there are people that look up there and want to be up there, because I look up there and I look at its beauty, but I don’t imagine leaving this earth until I’m ultimately called.
Q: If you weren’t an actor, what would you want to be?
COSTNER: If I couldn’t have been an athlete, I probably would have had a fishing lodge.
Q: How was it working with Octavia Spencer this time around?
COSTNER: We had the experience of Black Or White and while we didn’t have that many scenes together in Hidden Figures, because most of my scenes were with Taraji, she is such a supportive personality for me, both as a friend and as an actor on set.
Win Hidden Figures on Blu-ray
To be in with the chance of winning a copy of Hidden Figures on Blu-ray, answer this question and email your answer to movietalk@timeinc.com with Hidden Figures Competition in the subject line:
In Hidden Figures, what was the name of the spaceship in which John Glenn successfully travelled into orbit?
a) Friendship 7 b) Voyageur 1 c) Orion
Terms and conditions 1. Closing date 4pm Friday 14th July. 2. No alternative prize is available
