We all know the genius of Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon on Empire. But now, you’ve got to get ready to see Henson as a real genius — a math genius. Henson will star in the upcoming movie Hidden Figures as mathematics genius Katherine Johnson, according to Variety.
The movie will be an adaptation of the book Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly. The story centers around Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson, the three brilliant minds behind sending astronaut John Glenn into orbit. In 1962, Glenn became the first man to orbit the Earth on the Friendship 7 mission.
It’s a role that definitely means something to Henson and she’s proud to take it on. “This project is so important,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Honored to portray Katherine Johnson.”
Fox 2000 will release the movie in theaters on Jan. 13, 2017.