By John Carucci
NEW YORK (AP) --John Glenn, depicted in "Hidden Figures" as a space trailblazer who also gave critical support to pioneering black women at NASA who helped him orbit the earth, was fondly remembered by the cast at the movie's premiere.
"He's a hero. John Glenn was always on the right side of history. During a time when these women, because of their gender and the color of their skin, were often times treated like second-class citizens, he extended his hand out, and he trusted women, and women of color, with his life," said Janelle Monae, one of the film's stars.
Glenn, a former Democratic U.S. Senator, died last week at the age of 95. Also a former U.S. military pilot in World War II and the Korean War, he became a national hero in 1962 when he succeeded in circling Earth.
Directed by Ted Melfi, "Hidden Figures" tells the story of a trio of African-American mathematicians, also called "computers," at NASA in the early 1960s who helped get him there.
"Empire" star Taraji P. Henson portrays Katherine Johnson, the woman responsible for the calculations that led to Glenn's orbit. The other mathematicians are played by Monae and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer.
Glenn was instrumental in breaking down color and gender barriers at a time when it was unpopular. For Henson, Glenn signified what America is supposed to represent.
"When he decided to shake the colored computers' hands, he told them their lives matter. And in turn, Katherine told him his life mattered as she made it a point to get those numbers right, so he could come back home and see his family. So that's what it's all about. It's about pushing, putting our differences aside, and getting to a common goal. And that's moving humanity forward," Henson said.
Jim Parsons, who plays astronaut Tom Stafford in the film, also hailed Glenn.
"What's so interesting and sad and touching about him passing away right as this movie is coming out is that we are introducing three other major faces of that exact same movement," Parsons said. "As the film shows, John Glenn was one of the people who let one of these women into the room at a time when that wasn't being allowed."
Glen Powell portrays the legendary astronaut in film. He wished he had the chance to meet him.
"We were attempting to try to set that meeting up. He was very ill for like the past year. So he was in Ohio, and we never got a chance to meet him," Powell said. "But I will say that I've done enough research on John Glenn to truly understand the man and come to love him even more. So it's a tragic loss, but at the same time he lived 95 amazing years. I don't think there's a human being on the planet that inspired more lives and more generations."
Based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, "Hidden Figures" opens in limited release on Christmas Day, before going wide on Jan. 6.
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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