In what is definitely the feel-good story of the day, we have news that Octavia Spencer, one of the stars of Hidden Figures, bought out an entire theater’s worth of seats in a Los Angeles theater so low-income families could see the inspiring story.
Spencer made the announcement on her Instagram, writing that her mom “would not have ben able to afford to take me and my siblings,” so she asked her fans to tell “a family in need that would like to see our movie but can’t afford it.” It’s a great gesture, and one that doesn’t happen often enough.
The movie star isn’t the only one who is helping people see the film. A 13-year old aspiring astronaut named Taylor Richardson has started a GoFundMe page with the aim of raising enough money to send 100 girls to see Hidden Figures. Richardson saw the film in a special screening at the White House late last year, so she felt “inspired to pay it forward for some girls in my community to have a special viewing as well.” She hopes “seeing this movie will give us girls the inspiration we need to say ‘I can be a mathematician, an engineer or better yet an astronaut.’” So far, she’s raised, over $12,000, vastly surpassing her original goal of $2,600.
Despite some awkward issues during the week before its release, Hidden Figures has been killing it at the box office, sitting at the #1 position for two weeks in a row.
