Hidden Figures Screenplay PDF

Hidden Figures Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi May 12, 2015 (Based on the book "Hidden Figures" by Margot Shetterly) Based on a true story. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - In darkness, the voice of a little girl. 1. Counting. LITTLE GIRL (V.O.) 14, 15, 16...prime. 18, prime. EXT. TREE LINED PATH - DAY A pair of little feet navigates down a gravel path. a pine cone. Kicking LITTLE GIRL (O.S.) 20, 21, 22, prime, 24, 25, 26... Pulling up, we reveal: KATHERINE COLEMAN (8,) a peculiar, quiet, mouse of a child, wearing glasses bigger than her bookish face. Counting to herself. A VOICE (her Mother’s) in the distance hollers out: Katherine! JOYLETTE COLEMAN (O.S.) Come on now! Katherine looks up. Sees a car stopped at the end of the path. She runs off. Counting all the way. Titles over: White Sulphur Springs, Virginia - 1926 EXT. WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS GRAMMAR SCHOOL - DAY A “colored” grammar school. Small, spirited. Katherine’s now between her parents (dad: JOSHUA and JOYLETTE,) holding their hands as they enter. INT. WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS GRAMMAR SCHOOL - DAY - CONT. A long hallway lined with windows. Sitting on a bench, outside a Principal’s office, Katherine sketches (in a small notebook) the window panes, highlighting all the geometric shapes she discovers within: KATHERINE (@8 YEARS OLD) Isosceles, scalene, obtuse, equilateral, rhombus... On the windows opposite her: the tetris-like patterns of her mind’s eye come alive. KATHERINE (@8 YEARS OLD) (CONT’D) Trapezoid, tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron... And on she goes. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 2. INT. PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Katherine’s parents sit across from the school’s principal, MR. MARION SMITHSON and Katherine’s teacher, MS. SUMNER. MARION SMITHSON West Virginia Collegiate Institute is the best school for Negros in the state. MS. SUMNER It’s the only school, past the eighth grade, anywhere close to here. JOSHUA COLEMAN Katherine’s in the sixth grade. MS. SUMNER They want to take her early. MARION SMITHSON They’re offering a full scholarship. you have to do is get there. Joshua and Joylette are overwhelmed. hands. All They grasp each other’s MS. SUMNER Joshua, Joylette...we took up a collection amongst the teachers and such, a few parents. Ms. Sumner hands Joylette an envelope. MS. SUMNER (CONT’D) It’s not a whole lot, but it’ll surely help get you settled in. Joylette accepts the envelope. JOYLETTE COLEMAN That’s beyond kind, Ms. Sumner. MS. SUMNER In all my years of teaching, I’ve never seen a mind like the one your daughter has. You have to go. You have to see what she becomes. Joylette starts to tear. The kindness of people. puts his arm around his wife. Joshua Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 3. EXT. ROAD - INSTITUTE, VIRGINIA - DAY The Coleman family car, hauling a trailer with all their belongings, drives past a pasture dotted with COWS. A road sign reads: Welcome to Institute, Virginia. INT. COLEMAN FAMILY CAR - DRIVING - DAY - CONTINUOUS Katherine’s crowded in the back seat with her siblings (CHARLES, MARGARET and HORACE.) She stares out the window, studying the cows whizzing by, the patterns on their hides forming shapes in her mind. She studies the shapes, only now she’s... INT. WEST VIRGINIA COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE - ANOTHER DAY...staring out another window in a new classroom. A fancy classroom in a prestigious academy. The class is full of OLDER STUDENTS dressed in the best they have. Unbeknownst to Katherine, her new teacher, PROFESSOR GRAVES, is standing right in front of her. PROFESSOR GRAVES Ms. Coleman. Katherine whips back to reality. Embarrassed. PROFESSOR GRAVES (CONT’D) You find something out there more interesting than quadratic equations? Yes, sir. KATHERINE (@8 YEARS OLD) I mean no, sir. Professor Graves holds out a piece of chalk. PROFESSOR GRAVES Why don’t you figure out the equation on the board? Katherine looks at the chalkboard. symbols, signs, parentheticals. The equation looks Greek: Professor Graves pushes the chalk closer. Go on. PROFESSOR GRAVES (CONT’D) Katherine takes the chalk. Stands. Walks sheepishly to the front of the class. Every eye on her. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft -. 4 CONTINUED: She stands in front of the blackboard, the equation. Studies it for the longest time. Inspecting every number, sign, symbol. Wheels churning. Then she starts to write. Slow and meticulous at first. Then fast. Faster. With passion and fury. The Students crane their heads. Professor Graves rubs his temple. And Katherine writes on, chalk dust dropping like snow from her chalk stick. On and on and on...until she’s at the very bottom, far side of the board. She circles the answer. Stands and faces the class. The equation behind her dwarfing her in stature. She clears her throat... KATHERINE (@8 YEARS OLD) If the product of two terms is zero, then common sense says at least one of the two terms has to be zero to start with. So, if you move all the terms over to one side, you can put the quadratics into a form that can be factored, allowing that side of the equation to equal zero. Once you’ve done that, it’s pretty straight forward from there... You can hear a pin drop. There’s nothing to say. shuffles. Adjusts her glasses....sir. Katherine KATHERINE (@8 YEARS OLD) (CONT’D) Katherine walks back to her desk. We push in on the equation. The numbers. The endless, endless numbers. title fades up: The Hidden Figures EXT. ROAD - DAY We float down towards a lone stretch of road in the middle of nowhere. Infinity in all directions. A 1955 Chevy Impala sits on the shoulder, the hood up. THE CAR - DAY - CONTINUOUS KATHERINE GOBLE (now 38) sits in the passenger seat, staring out the window. Up into space. Titles over: Hampton, Virginia, 1961 (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft -. 5 CONTINUED: A holler crashes the silence: DOROTHY (O.S.) Try and turn it over! Outside, a pair of legs poke out from under the car. DOROTHY (O.S.) (CONT’D) Katherine?! DOROTHY VAUGHAN (40s) slides out from under the car. nonsense, brilliant, tough, mechanically gifted. Mary!? No- DOROTHY (CONT’D) At the back of the car, sitting on the trunk, we find MARY JACKSON (30ish) putting on lipstick. Mary’s a spirited beauty, free-tongued, unbridled. MARY Katherine!? Quit staring off into space! Turn the damn car over! Mary bangs on the rear window. trance. I got it. Katherine snaps out of her KATHERINE I’m not deaf. MARY I wonder some times. Katherine slides over to the driver’s seat. Stamps the pedal to the floor. Pumps the gas. KATHERINE Here it goes. She turns the key in the ignition. Click, click, click. engine whines, the car doesn’t start. DOROTHY That’s the starter. starter. The It’s definitely the MARY That starter’s startin’ to make us late. We’re all gonna be unemployed driving this hunk of junk to work everyday. DOROTHY You’re welcome to walk the 16 miles. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 6. CONTINUED: (2) KATHERINE Or sit on the back of the bus. MARY Won’t do neither. I’ll hitchhike. Mary models her hitchhiking thumb, pose. Just then, far in the distance, Mary sees a POLICE CAR coming over the hill... Girls. MARY (CONT’D) Dorothy and Katherine look. See the car coming up fast. DOROTHY No crime in a broken down car. MARY No crime being Negro either. Katherine gets out of the car. Dorothy stands up. KATHERINE Button it up, Mary. No one wants to go to jail behind your mouth. MARY I’ll do my best, sugar. The police car stops behind them. And the gruffest WHITE COP steps out. Walks toward them. Silent. Then... WHITE COP Not a great place for the three of ya’ll to be havin’ car trouble. Mary can’t help herself. MARY We didn’t pick the place, Officer. picked us. The White Cop steps into Mary. It Not interested in talk back. WHITE COP You bein’ disrespectful? Mary shakes her head. No, sir. MARY (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 7. CONTINUED: (3) WHITE COP You have identification on ya? Katherine jumps in. KATHERINE We sure do. We’re just on our way to work. At Langley. Katherine pulls out her NASA ID badge. to see. NASA, sir. Holds it up for him KATHERINE (CONT’D) Dorothy specifies, holds up her NASA badge. DOROTHY We do a great deal of the calculating getting our rockets into space. He turns his attention back to Mary. WHITE COP All three of ya? Mary pulls out her NASA badge. MARY Yes, Officer. Hmm. He takes Mary’s badge. It’s official. Studies it. WHITE COP NASA. That’s somethin’. they hired- Inspects the back. Had no idea He stops himself from saying “coloreds.” Or worse. DOROTHY There are quite a few women working in the Space Program, sir. She saves him the embarrassment. Paranoid. He looks toward the sky. WHITE COP Damn Russians are watching us right now. Sputniks. His wheels turn. Shifting gears. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 8. CONTINUED: (4) WHITE COP (CONT’D) You girls ever meet those Astronauts? The Mercury 7? Mary lies through her teeth: MARY Absolutely. WHITE COP Alan Shepard? John Glenn? KATHERINE We work with those gentlemen all the time. The White Cop gets patriotic. WHITE COP Those boys are the best we got. That’s for sure. We have-ta get a man up there before the Commies do. Whole damn country’s counting on ‘em. DOROTHY That’s for certain. MARY Hard to be of service broken down on the side of the road though. The White Cop springs into action. WHITE COP That’s right. That’s right. tow or somethin’? You need a Dorothy motions to Katherine to toss the screwdriver to her. She does. DOROTHY No, thank you, Officer. I think I got it, right here. Just have to bypass the starter... Dorothy ducks under the hood. Crosses the screwdriver across the battery poles. SPARK! The engine starts. DOROTHY (CONT’D) That’a girl. We’re all set. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 9. CONTINUED: (5) WHITE COP Hell. Least I can do is give ya an escort. Imagine ya’ll are running late. KATHERINE Oh, we wouldn’t want to trouble you. Mary butts in. MARY That would be wonderful, Officer. Damn Mary. EXT. ROAD - DAY - MOMENTS LATER The police car screams down the road at a million miles an hour. Dorothy’s car lunges right on its tail. INT. DOROTHY’S CAR - DAY - CONTINUOUS Mary’s driving like a mad-woman. Loving every minute of it. Dorothy’s in the passenger seat, white knuckling the dashboard. And Katherine’s in the back, holding onto the ceiling. Praying. DOROTHY Slow down, Mary! You’re too close! MARY He said to follow him. DOROTHY Doesn’t mean you hit him in the ass! KATHERINE Dear Lord...please...I don’t even know where to begin! MARY I’ll tell you where to begin: three “colored” women are chasing a white police officer down the highway in Hampton, Virginia, 1961. Ladies, that there is a God ordained miracle! Mary screams! Dorothy bursts out laughing. Finally... Katherine. Mary hits the gas. The car lunges forward. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 10. EXT. NASA - LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER - DAY - LATER The sprawling campus of NASA: hangars, wind tunnels, research buildings, surrounded by tall, barbed wire fences and SECURITY. The police car slows, pulls to the shoulder, as Dorothy’s car speeds past. The White Cop waves them on. And our camera floats up to... EXT. SPACE - DAY From the vast blackness of space...looking down on Planet Earth. Quiet. Picturesque. Peaceful. Then: a rumbling sound creeps up. And the camera pans to find...a massive ROCKET burning up through the earth’s atmosphere. Atop the rocket, a capsule shakes, rattles, grinds. The noise is deafening. We then hear a RUSSIAN VOICE, military-esque. The VOICE then translates into TURKISH...matter of fact. And finally: The CRACKLING VOICE of a radio communication in English. Not happy at all. Tense. CRACKLING VOICE (ON RADIO) Approximate speed: 17,400 mph. Ascend angle: 42.46. Closing. INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - CONTINUOUS The Oval Office. President Kennedy is handed a briefing doc. He’s worried. The VOICE OF AN AIDE: PRESIDENT’S AIDE (O.S.) Latest intelligence on the Soviet booster rocket still in relay, Mr. President. INT. US CENTRAL COMMAND - CONTINUOUS A room packed with US MILITARY BRASS. JIM WEBB, NASA ADMINISTRATOR, a hard, powerful man, is front and center. All eyes are on the radar screen plotting the rocket’s trajectory. CRACKLING VOICE (ON RADIO) Disengage booster rocket. We are go. SPACE - CONTINUOUS The booster rocket falls back to Earth, as the dislodged capsule floats at us, into the black of space. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 11. INT. NASA TRACKING CONTROL ROOM - HAMPTON, VA - CONT. Al Harrison stands in a control room packed with ENGINEERS. He leans forward, owl-eyed on the massive screens tracking the rocket. And then: CRACKLING VOICE (ON RADIO) Orbital entry is...go. SPACE - CONTINUOUS The capsule twists on axis, revealing...the blood-red hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union. This is Korabl-Sputnik-4. The Russian Military Communication crackles in: RUSSIAN MILITARY ANNOUNCER (O.S.) (in Russian, with English subtitles) All systems safe. Confirmed. Orbital entry is established. THE OVAL OFFICE - DAY - MOMENTS LATER President Kennedy rubs his eyes. US CENTRAL COMMAND - DAY - MOMENTS LATER Dire mood. Jim Webb picks up a ringing phone. NASA TRACKING CONTROL - HAMPTON, VA - CONTINUOUS Harrison, distraught, walks out of the room. A SCREENING ROOM - DAY - CONTINUOUS A black and white film reel plays. Conference. It’s a Russian Press A RUSSIAN SCIENTIST is holding a small, wiry dog in a cosmonaut vest. This is ZVEZDOCHKA, the world’s first space traveler: a Jack Russell Terrier mix. He barks. RUSSIAN SCIENTIST (in Russian, subtitled in English) Zvezdochka is ready to go again. (motions to his side) So is our comrade, Ivan. Next to the Scientist: a mannequin with a placard, IVAN IVANOVICH, is propped up in a chair, dressed as a cosmonaut. The Russian press laughs. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 12. CONTINUED: RUSSIAN SCIENTIST (CONT’D) Now it is time. Mother Russia will be first to put a human in space. The hoarse voice of Jim Webb breaks in: JIM WEBB (O.S.) A goddamn dog! And a goddamn mannequin! Webb steps up out of his seat, the news reel plays across his back. The screening room is packed with MILITARY BRASS and NASA ENGINEERS. Including: Al Harrison, Lead Engineer, PAUL STAFFORD, Associate Engineer, SAM TURNER, and Harrison’s Secretary, RUTH. JIM WEBB (CONT’D) And then a 1.6 megaton RDS-37 thermonuclear warhead drops down in the middle of Des Moines. Harrison stands, holds up his hand. The news reel abruptly stops. Lights come up. It’s funeral wake quiet. Until, Paul Stafford speaks out of turn. PAUL STAFFORD Well, that’s a pretty big jump, sir. Bad move. Webb turns to Stafford. JIM WEBB Who the hell is he? Harrison defends his man. AL HARRISON Paul Stafford...our Lead Engineer, Mr. Webb. I think what he meant to say is that speculation, at least on our side of the equation, can be dangerous. Webb wags a finger at Stafford. JIM WEBB You know what’s dangerous...inaction. Inaction and indecision. The Russians have a spy satellite lapping the planet. Taking pictures of God knows what. The President is demanding an immediate response. No more delays. Alan Shepard, John Glenn, your uncle Bob. Doesn’t matter, just get us up there, Harrison. We can’t justify a space program that doesn't put anything in space. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 13. CONTINUED: (2) Webb walks out. A mass exodus. EXT. HALLS OF NASA (IBM COMPUTER HALLWAY) - CONTINUOUS Footsteps echo off the marble floor, as Harrison walks with Paul Stafford, Sam Turner, Ruth, and the rest of the TEAM. AL HARRISON (to Stafford) How did that feel in there, Paul? Do you think you enlightened the Administrator? Stafford has no response. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) He didn’t look enlightened to me. Harrison stops. He cleans his glasses. Addresses SAM. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) He look enlightened to you, Sam? SAM TURNER Not particularly. Paul nods. Harrison walks away. The Team keeps up. AL HARRISON And just so you know, he’s not wrong about what he said in there. You know that, right? Because now that they can get up there, a bomb will follow. That’s what happens to all our good ideas. Harrison stops again. Stands in front of a window staring at something we can’t see. He’s quiet for the longest time. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) Where’s the machine? RUTH Any day now, Mr. Harrison. AL HARRISON Any day now. What’s it called? initials...the letters IBM. The RUTH PAUL STAFFORD International business machine. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 14. CONTINUED: Harrison jots a note in a mini notebook. AL HARRISON Space is business. I need a mathematician. RUTH I’ll put in another request, sir. AL HARRISON Another request. Jesus Christ. We don’t have a single person, in this entire building, that can handle Analytic Geometry? RUTH That’s what I’ve been told. AL HARRISON Well, tell me something else, Ruth. Like we’re going to find such a person, before the Russians plant a flag on the damn moon. He walks off again. Mumbling. The Team hustles after him. We stay at the window Harrison was staring into. stark white clean room. Bright...and empty. It’s a EXT. THE WEST COMPUTING GROUP - BUILDING - LATER Nondescript brick. A sign reads: West Computing Group. PROFESSIONAL BLACK WOMEN lead us in. TWO INT. WEST HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS This is the other side of the tracks at NASA. No white marble here. Concrete floor, no frills. We push toward a door labeled: “West Computers,” as the two Black Women enter. INT. THE WEST COMPUTING ROOM - DAY - CONTINUOUS The West Computing Room is a dumpy rectangle of long tables and mismatched chairs below a “Colored Computers” sign. Dorothy stands in front of TWO DOZEN BLACK COMPUTERS, women of all shapes and sizes, assigning the day’s work. Katherine and Mary stand in back. DOROTHY Eleanor you’re with Bernie today in Data Reduction, Building 202. Ugh. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 15. CONTINUED: ELEANOR Date Reduction?! DOROTHY You’re welcome to join the charmers in Magnetoplasmadynamics. Eleanor hops up. ELEANOR No thank you, ma’am. just fine. Dorothy holds out paperwork. door. Data Reduction’s Eleanor takes it. Heads to the DOROTHY Mary. Mary raises her hand like a school girl. MARY Present. DOROTHY The Mercury 7 prototype has arrived for testing. Mr. Zielinski’s requesting you...for permanent assignment. Mary can’t contain herself. This is big news. MARY Are you serious? DOROTHY Get moving. Mary literally jumps to the front of the room. paperwork. Thank you. MARY Thank you! DOROTHY (privately) Keep it inside, hon. Mary tempers her boisterousness. Takes her Thank you, Jesus! The other girls... Buttons it up. MARY Sorry, Dor. Mary winks at her. Dorothy shakes her head. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 16. CONTINUED: (2) Just then, in walks: VIVIAN MITCHELL, Supervisor of Female Computers, flanked by her ASSISTANT. Armfuls of worksheets and graph pads. The Group snaps to attention. DOROTHY Mrs. Mitchell. VIVIAN MITCHELL We’re on double time this mornin’, girls. I need these calculations before lunch. Vivian’s Assistant dumps the workload on the table. Vivian hands Dorothy an assignment sheet. Thud. VIVIAN MITCHELL (CONT’D) The Space Task Group needs a computer ASAP. Someone with a handle on Analytic Geometry. Much to my chagrin, we can’t fill the position outta the East Group. DOROTHY Permanent or temp? VIVIAN MITCHELL Everything’s temporary, Dorothy. have someone? You Dorothy doesn't hesitate: DOROTHY Yes, ma’am. Katherine’s the gal for that. Vivian looks the room over. Katherine raises her hand, squirms: the Space Task Group is the ‘be all.’ DOROTHY (CONT’D) She can handle any numbers you put in front of her. Vivian sizes Katherine up. VIVIAN MITCHELL I’ll check her credentials. And with that, Vivian swoops off. Assistant behind her. VIVIAN MITCHELL (CONT’D) Didn’t think of comin’ all the way down here. They exit. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 17. THE WEST HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER Vivian and her Assistant walk away from the Computing Room. Dorothy comes out, catches up. DOROTHY Mrs. Mitchell...if I couldVivian stops. Turns back. DOROTHY (CONT’D) My application for supervisor, ma’am. Was wondering if they’re still considering me for that position. VIVIAN MITCHELL Yes. Well, the official word is: no. They’re not assignin’ a permanent supervisor to the Colored Group. Dorothy is sunk. I see. DOROTHY May I ask why? VIVIAN MITCHELL I don’t know “why.” I didn’t ask “why.” DOROTHY We need a Supervisor, ma’am. Haven’t had one since Ms. Jansen got sick. Been almost a year. VIVIAN MITCHELL Things are workin’ just fine as is, Dorothy. DOROTHY I do the work of a Supervisor. I’m in charge of the Group, like a Supervisor. VIVIAN MITCHELL That’s NASA, for ya. Fast with rocket ships. Slow with advancement. (changes the subject) Get those trajectories calcs worked out. We need ‘em for the Redstone test. Vivian walks off. Dorothy simmers inside. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft -. 18 EXT. WIND TUNNEL - NASA COMPOUND - DAY The sun bounces off the massive, silver spheres that house the wind tunnels. Mary, arms loaded with reports and worksheets, walks briskly underneath the turbines. INT. HALLWAY TO THE WIND TUNNEL - DAY Mary scoots down the hallway leading to the tunnel. She stops at the edge: for the first time she sees the Mercury 7 prototype capsule suspended in mid-air. Her eyes twinkle at the sight. THE WIND TUNNEL - CONTINUOUS Mary ambles under the Mercury 7 capsule. She inspects every single bolt, every shingle. This is why she’s here. This is why she works at NASA. A PA announcement jars her back to reality: PA ANNOUNCER Mach 2 tunnel test, T-minus one minute. Red lights flash, a siren spins. Mary hustles off, through the tunnel. As fans start to whir. Wind builds. She’s almost at the end, when she missteps off the path. of her high heels gets caught in the grating. One THE WIND TUNNEL CONTROL ROOM - CONTINUOUS Chief Wind Tunnel Engineer: KARL ZIELINSKI, 50s, Polish Jew, stares down from the glass control booth. He sees Mary struggling with the shoe. THE WIND TUNNEL - CONTINUOUS The wind picks up. Mary’s in a state. shoe. A voice over the PA shocks her: Fighting with the ZIELINSKI (OVER THE PA) No shoe is worth your life. Mary looks up at the control booth. down at her. Sees Zielinski staring PA ANNOUNCER Mach 2 tunnel test, T-minus ten, nine, eight... Mary pulls her foot out of the shoe and runs one-shoed, hobbling toward the exit. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 19. CONTINUED: PA ANNOUNCER (CONT’D) Seven, six, five... Mary steps out of the tunnel. deafening. Just as the wind becomes THE WIND TUNNEL CONTROL ROOM - CONTINUOUS Zielinski and WIND TUNNEL ENGINEERS watch the Mach 2 test. The Mercury 7 capsule is engulfed in forceful winds. It shakes. Rattles. Groans. Mary comes up behind Zielinski. The bolts strain on the heat shield. Pop! One of them pops off, a shingle flies off the heat shield, hits the control booth window. Crash. Engineers jump. Then another two break off. Crash. Crash. A few more. Bang. Bang. Zielinski holds up his hand. ZIELINSKI Shut it down. The wind subsides. THE WIND TUNNEL - LATER Zielinski and Mary are walking around the Mercury 7 capsule. Inspecting. Mary’s taking notes. ZIELINSKI If we alter the exterior from smooth to corrugated, the capsule would have more stability, despite the air displacement. He stops, touches an indent in the heat shield. ZIELINSKI (CONT’D) But the friction it’s under during reentry...heat trumps wind. It’s less predictable. Note: most shield erosion occurs on the posterior side abutting the retro-boosters. Conclusion? Mary looks up from taking notes: MARY The area closest to the boosters is closest to the heat. (MORE) (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 20. CONTINUED: MARY (CONT'D) Coupled with rising temperatures on reentry, the contacts soften. We could consider another fastener other than bolts. Zielinski nods approval. capsule. Inspects another section of the ZIELINSKI There’s another opening in the Engineer Training Program. She’s heard this before. Deflects. MARY Flat head rivets could reduce wind drag. He turns to her. Serious. ZIELINSKI Mary...a person with an engineer’s mind should be an engineer. You can’t be a Computer the rest of your life. That would be a tragic waste of your ability. MARY Mr. Zielinski, I’m a Negro woman. I’m not going to entertain the impossible. ZIELINSKI And I’m a polish Jew whose parents died in a Nazi prison camp. Now I’m standing beneath a space ship that’s going to carry an astronaut to the stars. I think we can say, we’re living the impossible. Let me ask...if you were a white male, would you wish to be an engineer? Mary doesn’t need to think. MARY I wouldn’t have to. I’d already be one INT. NASA HALLWAY - LATER Vivian Mitchell leads Katherine down an endless white hallway. Briefing her: VIVIAN MITCHELL Skirts must be worn past the knee. Sweaters are preferred to blouses. No jewelry. A simple pearl necklace is the exception. (MORE) (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 21. CONTINUED: VIVIAN MITCHELL (CONT'D) Your supervisor is Mr. Al Harrison, Director of the Space Task Group. You’ll write research, proof calculations, so forth. Don’t talk to Mr. Harrison lest he talks to you. Not many Computers last more than a few days, he’s been through a dozen in as many months. (hands her a lanyard) Your clearance. Katherine takes the lanyard. She’s overwhelmed. at steel doors labeled: Space Task Group. They arrive VIVIAN MITCHELL (CONT’D) They’ve never had a colored in here before, Katherine. Don’t embarrass me. Vivian walks off, leaving Katherine alone. breath. Walks into her future. She takes a deep INT. SPACE TASK GROUP OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER Katherine steps into a cyclone of activity and stress. ENGINEERS chalk equations on blackboards, slug coffee. AIDES and SUPPORT STAFF scurry, answer phones. This is the Space Task Group: the world’s most exclusive scientific club. At the back of the room, Harrison paces in his glass bubble, talking with Karl Zielinski. For the briefest moment, everyone seems to be looking at the black woman who just entered their world. But it’s just a passing moment, there’s far too much to do. Engineer Sam Turner hands Katherine a trash can. SAM TURNER This wasn’t emptied last night. I’m sorry. KATHERINE I’m not- He’s gone before she can explain. Katherine sees the only other woman in this zoo: Ruth. Puts the trash can down, walks her way. KATHERINE (CONT’D) Excuse me, ma’am, Mr. Harrison’s Computer reporting. Ruth barely looks up from beneath a pile of worksheets. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 22. CONTINUED: RUTH (points, far off) Take the desk in the corner. you work in a bit. I’ll get She finally notices Katherine is...black. Pauses. Katherine smiles. Ruth considers her. Her strength. Her calm. RUTH (CONT’D) Mr. Harrison won’t warm up to you, don’t expect it. Do your work, keep your head down. Thank you. KATHERINE Katherine lingers. Go on. RUTH Get settled. Katherine walks to her station, way at the back of the room, against the wall. Puts her personals on the desk. Sits. She looks at the Engineer toiling aside her, it’s Paul Stafford. He looks at Katherine. Doesn’t smile. Just studies her. Harrison (with Zielinski) steps out of his office, eating a sandwich. He barks: AL HARRISON Stafford, why are we still losing shingles off our heat shield? Stafford damn near jumps. STAFFORD We’re working with a prototype of the capsule, Al. It’s one third the sizeAL HARRISON I get that. He turns to Zielinski. Dead serious. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) Well, do we need to turn our million dollar fan down, Karl? No, Al. ZIELINSKI I don’t think- (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 23. CONTINUED: (2) AL HARRISON Of course not. That was a joke. Back to Stafford. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) Paul. If the heat shield comes off, what do you think happens to our astronaut? Stafford nods his head. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) So we’re going to come up with a solve, right? Yes, sir. STAFFORD We’re working on it. Harrison moves on. Ruth. AL HARRISON What’s the status on my Computer? RUTH She’s right in front of you, Mr. Harrison. Ruth motions to Katherine. Harrison gives her a once over. Not what he expected either. AL HARRISON Does she know how to handle Analytic Geometry? RUTH Absolutely. And she speaks. I do, sir. Which one? Both, sir. KATHERINE AL HARRISON KATHERINE Geometry and speaking. Harrison waves a finger at Ruth. AL HARRISON Then give her the- (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 24. CONTINUED: (3) She knows exactly what he’s talking about. She always knows what he’s talking about. She snatches a bundle of worksheets off her desk, rushes them to Katherine. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) (to Katherine) Do you think you can find me the Frenet frame for that data using the GramSchmidt-Katherine glances at the data sheets. KATHERINE --Orthogonalization algorithm. Yes, sir. I prefer it over Euclidean coordinates. That’s all Harrison needs to hear. She knows her stuff. AL HARRISON Good. Then, I’m going to need it by the end of the day. And I’m also going to ask you to check Mr. Stafford’s math as well as others on this floor from time to time. Stafford rebuts. STAFFORD I can work that out myself, Al. AL HARRISON I’m sure you can, Paul. I’m sure all of you can. But if that were the case, shingles wouldn’t be flying off the heat shield, now would they. Harrison walks into the center of the Task Group. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) Excuse me. I just want to be clear about something...in 14 days the Mercury 7 will be here for training and I have no doubt that they’ll be asking questions about our work. Do I need to remind everyone...that we are putting a human on top of a missile and shooting him into space? It’s never been done before. And because it’s never been done...everything we do between now and then is going to matter: it’s going to matter to their wives, their kids, I believe it’s going to matter to the whole damn country. (MORE) (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 25. CONTINUED: (4) AL HARRISON (CONT’D) So this Space Task Group will be as advertised. And Americas greatest engineering and scientific minds will not have a problem with having their work checked. Will they, Paul? He waits. Then...nods all around. Good. Amen. No issues. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) So let’s have an amen, goddamnit. THE ENTIRE SPACE TASK GROUP Harrison plods off, into his office. The Group jumps back into the work. Katherine arranges her personals. Meticulous. Everything in it’s place. She looks over at a very frustrated and diminished Stafford. He’s using a thick black marker to redact much of the data in a report. He feels Katherine’s gaze, and stares hostilely at her until she looks away. Katherine puts her head down, opens Harrison’s bundle of worksheets. Starts to dive in. THUD. A thick report lands in front of her. Stafford’s standing above. She jolts. STAFFORD My numbers are spot on. KATHERINE I’ll double check them, sir, not a problem. Katherine opens the report. The black marker redaction is bleeding through pages and pages of numbers. Can’t make out much. KATHERINE (CONT’D) I’m not going to be ableSTAFFORD Work on what you can read. The rest is classified. You don’t have clearance. Stafford walks off. Joins Sam and a FEW COLLEAGUES at the coffee maker. All clearly talking about Katherine. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft -. 26 CONTINUED: (5) She holds Stafford’s report up to the light. to be impossible. Then...her foot starts tapping, jittery. legs. Has to pee something fierce. This is going She crosses her She walks over to Ruth, who’s on a phone call. KATHERINE Excuse me... Ruth holds her hand over the phone. KATHERINE (CONT’D) May I ask you where the ladies’ room is? RUTH Sorry, I have no idea where your bathroom is. Ruth returns to her conversation. Katherine walks away. INT. HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER Katherine rushes down the hall, worksheets in her arms. Searching for a bathroom. Her papers drop. At the far end of the hall...she sees the bathrooms. God. She scoops the papers up. Thank A TRIO OF WHITE WOMEN come out of the ladies’ restroom. stand outside the door, chatting away. Damn. They Katherine gathers herself, ducks down another hallway. ANOTHER HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER Katherine’s practically running. anywhere. No “colored bathrooms” EXT. NASA GROUNDS - MOMENTS LATER Katherine pushes through steel doors into the blinding sun. Sees the West Campus Building way off in the distance. 1/2 mile away to be exact. She runs. INT. WEST CAMPUS HALLWAY - DAY - MOMENTS LATER Katherine sprints down the familiarly dingy West Campus hall. She crashes through a door labeled: “Colored Restroom.” Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 27. THE RESTROOM - MOMENTS LATER Katherine plops down on the toilet. She reaches down to her feet, puts the paperwork on her lap...and keeps working. Calculating numbers. EXT. NASA GROUNDS - MOMENTS LATER Katherine runs back toward the East Campus. legs will take her. As fast as her INT. SPACE TASK GROUP - MOMENTS LATER Harrison, one ear glued to a phone, plunges out of his office, looks for Katherine. Not there. He hollers at Ruth. AL HARRISON Where’s that girl with those numbers? RUTH On a...break. AL HARRISON (to himself) We take breaks now. Harrison returns to his phone call. Katherine bursts through the main door. RUTH My God, where have you been? finished yet? I wasday? Ruth intercepts her: Are you KATHERINE Almost. He said: the end of the RUTH The end of the day around here was yesterday. Ruth thrusts a double stack of worksheets at Katherine. Thrice the size of the first. Harrison’s voice booms from above. AL HARRISON I want those done first. Katherine startles. Harrison’s outside his office, still on the phone. Then...he disappears again. Katherine inspects the stack. Shell shocked. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 28. CONTINUED: RUTH He wants those done first. Get going. Katherine hustles back to her station. On her way, she sees Harrison standing in his bubble, still on the phone, staring right at her. She lands at her desk. Gathers herself. Opens the new worksheets: miles and miles of data. This will be the longest day of her life. THE COFFEE AREA - LATER Katherine’s head is buried in data sheets, as she steps up to the coffee counter, holding her cup. She looks around. Only one coffee pot. She picks it up... Sam looks up from his desk. Sees Katherine pouring her coffee. He looks over at ANOTHER ENGINEER. They share a confused look. OTHER ENGINEERS look over. Stafford sees everyone staring, he follows their gaze to Katherine. Now stirring her coffee. Sam looks to Stafford, “What the hell is she doing?” Katherine turns back, sees all the eyes on her. head down and walks back to her desk. Puts her INT. SPACE TASK GROUP - NIGHT - MUCH LATER A BLACK CLEANING LADY is wiping the coffee counter. The Space Task Group is all but abandoned...aside from Katherine working by lamp light at her desk. She finishes her last calculation. Looks up and sees: Harrison standing in his glass bubble. board. The only other person left. She rises, takes her report. Scribbling on a chalk Walks up the stairs. HARRISON’S OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER Katherine taps on the glass door. KATHERINE Mr. Harrison. Harrison waves her in. KATHERINE (CONT’D) Here you are, sir. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 29. CONTINUED: Without looking. AL HARRISON And Stafford’s heat shield calcs? KATHERINE It’s hard to be sure, sir. That’s not what he needed to hear. He swivels to her. AL HARRISON Do you know what we’re doing here? KATHERINE We’re trying to put a man in space, sir. AL HARRISON That’s right. So you can throw that in the trash. Excuse me? KATHERINE Harrison gets up, moves around his desk. AL HARRISON I said you can throw it away. He gently takes it out of Katherine’s confused hands. Here. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) Harrison drops her report on top of a trash can overflowing with dozens of similar reports and worksheets. It’s a graveyard of obsolete work. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) It's not an insult to your work. Harrison goes back to the board. the logistics. Obsessed with the numbers, AL HARRISON (CONT’D) It's just obsolete. That's how fast things are moving. If I said I was sorry, I'd be saying it all day. Katherine’s immobile. Floored. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 30. CONTINUED: (2) AL HARRISON (CONT’D) What I’m asking you..what I’m asking everyone one in that room, all my geniuses, is to look beyond the numbers. To look around them. Through them. For answers to questions we don’t even know to ask. Math that doesn’t yet exist. He studies the math. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) Because without it, we’re not going anywhere. We’re staying on the ground. We’re not flying into space...we’re not circling the earth. And we’re certainly not touching the moon. And in my mind...I’m already there. Katherine has no words. Are you? Yes, sir AL HARRISON (CONT’D) KATHERINE AL HARRISON Good. Because I don’t need another smart girl with a calculator. Harrison stops abruptly, takes off his glasses. Katherine is lost. Finally: Cleans them. KATHERINE Can I go, sir? Harrison remembers she’s in the room. Oh. Yes. Turns back: AL HARRISON Yes. Go home. He turns back to the board. Mumbles to himself. KATHERINE Good night, sir. Katherine walks to the door. Harrison starts calculating on the board. Too engrossed to say good night. INT. HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER Katherine walks down the lonely white hallway. her fists in frustration. She shakes Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 31. EXT. NASA GROUNDS - NIGHT Katherine pushes out a door, into the parking lot. She’s relieved to see: Dorothy and Mary leaning on the back of Dorothy’s car. Katherine smiles in relief. DOROTHY We’ve been waiting for hours. you catch a bus. Dorothy steps into the car, starts it up. open for Katherine. Next time Mary holds a door MARY (re: Dorothy) She’s in a mood. Katherine and Mary hop in the car. INT. DOROTHY’S CAR - LATER Dorothy drives. Katherine’s in back. Mary’s shotgun, with her feet on the dash. The car is their sanctuary. DOROTHY I haven’t been late one day in ten years. Haven’t been out sick. Haven’t complained. My work’s on time. It’s done right. It’s done well. MARY It’s not fair, that’s a fact. DOROTHY What’s not fair is having the responsibility of a Supervisor, but not the title or the money. Watching you all get moved on. Now don’t get me wrong, any upward movement is movement for us all. It just isn’t movement for me. KATHERINE Truth be told, Dorothy, I don’t know if I can keep up in that room. I’ll be back with the Computers in a week, or out of a job entirely. DOROTHY Oh, please. You’re better with the numbers than anyone in there and you know it. Make that pencil move as fast as your mind does, you’ll be fine. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 32. CONTINUED: Dorothy swats Mary’s feet off her dashboard. DOROTHY (CONT’D) And you. Have some respect. damn feet off my dash board. your living room. Get your This isn’t Mary sits up straight. Katherine sinks back in her seat. It’s quiet. For a long time. Then: DOROTHY (CONT’D) I sound like a supervisor, don’t I? Dorothy smiles wryly. Mary and Katherine breathe. MARY A mean, ole salty one. KATHERINE Riddled with authority. No question. DOROTHY You don’t mess with, Mrs. Vaughan. Dorothy turns the music up. EXT. KATHERINE’S HOUSE - NIGHT - LATER Katherine’s tiny, single-family brick house is modest but well-appointed. She drags up the walkway, waves goodbye to Dorothy and Mary pulling off the curb. INT. KATHERINE’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Katherine steps inside. The only light shines from the kitchen, where her mother, JOYLETTE, is doing dishes. JOYLETTE COLEMAN My word, Katherine. I was fixing to call the National Guard. Katherine kisses her mom. KATHERINE Sorry, Momma. New assignment. Task Group. The Space JOYLETTE COLEMAN That sounds important. It’s a promotion? KATHERINE It’s important and overwhelming...maybe a slight promotion. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 33. CONTINUED: Joylette smiles at her daughter. Always the encourager. JOYLETTE COLEMAN You want the job, right? KATHERINE I think so. It’s a challenge. JOYLETTE COLEMAN Nothing you can’t do, Katherine. Katherine lights up. daughter’s eye. Joylette’s happy to see a spark in her KATHERINE Are they sleeping already? JOYLETTE COLEMAN They’re pretending to. They want their Momma. Katherine smiles. INT. KID’S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Katherine peeks into the tiny bedroom. One unoccupied double bed. And one twin bed where her daughter JOYLETTE (10) is pushing back against CONSTANCE (8), and KATHY (6), who are trying with all their might to shove Joylette from the bed. Katherine steps in, stops the madness. KATHERINE What are you doing!? CONSTANCE It’s not fair Joylette always gets to sleep by herself ‘cause she’s the oldest. JOYLETTE (10) It is too fair! Nuh unh! KATHY Katherine nods calmly, sits on the double bed. Pats it. KATHERINE Constance, Kathy, come sit. Constance and Kathy sit on either side of her. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 34. CONTINUED: KATHERINE (CONT’D) I understand you want to be grown. And you want your own space. So I’m willing to change the rules-Momma! JOYLETTE (10) Katherine shoots her a look. Joylette quiets. KATHERINE Whoever sleeps in that bed in, Joylette’s place, will also dry the dishes, take out the trash, and do all the rest of Joylette’s choirs. Constance and Kathy would rather die! KATHY That’s okay. Never mind. CONSTANCE She’s not so terrible to share with. As Constance and Kathy get into bed, Katherine winks at Joylette. Joylette smiles. KATHERINE Now don’t let me come home, find you like this again. You should have been asleep. A long time ago. JOYLETTE (10) We just wanted to say “good night.” KATHY You’ve been gone for 300 hours. Katherine steps to Kathy’s side of the bed. KATHERINE I work full time now. You all know that. I have to be the mommy and the daddy. Just the mention of “daddy”...instant quiet. Long faces. Katherine sits on the edge of Constance and Kathy’s bed. KATHERINE (CONT’D) I miss your father as much as anyone. KATHY He’s with his angels. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 35. CONTINUED: (2) KATHERINE That’s right. He’s with all his angels. CONSTANCE And he’s watching over us. KATHERINE Every minute. She tucks Kathy in. KATHERINE (CONT’D) So, we’re going to be strong. We’re done crying about it. We have to all do our part now. Which means you have to go to bed like big girls. On your own. Understand? ALL THREE SIBLINGS Yes, Momma. Katherine moves over to Constance. Tucks her in. CONSTANCE Are the Russians fixing to attack us? KATHERINE Where’d you hear that? CONSTANCE My teacher. She said they’re putting spies and nuclear bombs up in space. Joylette (10) cuts in. JOYLETTE (10) We had to stay under our desks this morning. All scrunched up. KATHERINE That’s just a drill. A precaution. Truth is, we don’t know what they’re doing up there. Katherine moves to Joylette (10), tucks her in. CONSTANCE Are you going up to space too, Momma? KATHERINE No, baby. But I’m going to help those brave men do it. The best I can. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 36. CONTINUED: (3) Kathy pulls out a picture she drew of Katherine in space. Hands it to her. KATHY You could fly to space too if you wanted to, Momma. You could be an astronaut. Katherine’s touched. She smiles at her babies. Kisses them. KATHERINE Thank you, baby. Now this time...really go to bed. She turns off the lamp. EXT. MCCLEAN BAPTIST CHURCH - ANOTHER DAY Picturesque, white church for an all black congregation. THE CHURCH SERVICE - CONTINUOUS Sunday morning. Everyone’s on their feet. The room is packed with FAMILIES. Amongst them: Katherine, Joylette (Mom) and the kids; Mary, her husband LEVI and their kids (LEVI, JR.(5) and CAROLYN MARIE (4)); and Dorothy and her husband, HOWARD and their kids (ANN (16), KATHRYN (14), LEONARD (9) and KENNETH (7)). The charismatic, PASTOR AYERS, afire, preaches from the hip. PASTOR AYRES Praise God that change is coming. From the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, to the good Reverend Dr. King, to the students sitting in at lunch counters in North Carolina. Amens all around. PASTOR AYRES (CONT’D) His faith in us has no limit! The good Lord has our very own women workin’ on rocket ships! All eyes turn to our women. they’re revered. Here they stand proud, here PASTOR AYRES (CONT’D) And we have National Guardsman defending our freedom! On the front row, a tall drink of water, NATIONAL GUARD COLONEL JIM JOHNSON, bows his head in recognition. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 37. CONTINUED: PASTOR AYRES (CONT’D) Give a shout of praise for: Colonel Jim Johnson. Returning home by the grace of God, to set up a National Guard unit right here in Hampton! Cheers and claps. PASTOR AYRES (CONT’D) Can I get a “Hallelujah” in here?! Refrains. BEHIND THE CHURCH - CONTINUOUS An after service banquet: PARISHIONERS everywhere enjoying an outdoor pot-luck. Mary and her husband, Levi are serving their Kids. argument: A hushed LEVI JACKSON Now you want to be an engineer? A female engineer. We’re Negro, baby. Ain’t no such thing. Understand it. MARY It’s not like that there, Levi. LEVI JACKSON The only real chance we’re gonna have is when we fight back. You can’t “apply” for freedom. Freedom is never granted to the oppressed. It’s got to be demanded. Taken. MARY Levi, please. Stop quoting your slogans at me. I’ve heard them all. There’s more than one way to achieve something. Levi, Jr. interrupts: LEVI JR. I don’t want any greens. LEVI JACKSON I tell you about interruptin’? Mary steps in, replaces the greens with mac and cheese. MARY Try this, baby. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 38. CONTINUED: LEVI JACKSON He’s gonna eat the greens too. Levi pushes the greens back on his son’s plate. LEVI JACKSON (CONT’D) Kid needs to eat vegetables. You would know that, if you were home. Mary has heard enough. MARY You better settle, Levi Jackson. Less you want this female’s mind right here, front of everybody. Levi backs down. Hell hath no fury... LEVI JACKSON All I’m saying, don’t play a fool. I don’t want to see you get hurt. NASA’s never given you gals your due, having another degree won’t change that. Civil rights ain’t always civil. He walks off. Mary serves greens to her daughter, Carolyn. Cuts her off before she can complain: MARY No lip, little miss. them, so do you. Your brother gets PICNIC TABLES - MOMENTS LATER Katherine and Dorothy are feeding their Kids, trying to have a conversation. DOROTHY I hear he’s planning on staying in the area. KATHERINE That’s good for him. Mary walks up, cuts in: MARY Katherine, go find your way over there. That Colonel Jim’s a tall glass of water. Across the green: Jim Johnson’s talking to Dorothy’s husband, Howard. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 39. CONTINUED: DOROTHY That he is. Tall. Strong. Commanding. MARY Probably like that day...and night. KATHERINE Mary, it’s Sunday. Have some shame. MARY I will not. They laugh. Jim Johnson smiles over at Katherine. DOROTHY I think he’s smiling over here. MARY (to Katherine) At you. Katherine looks. Yep. KATHERINE I’m not smiling back. Dorothy and Mary look at Katherine. DOROTHY Yes, you are. MARY You’re all teeth right now. I am not. She is. KATHERINE Katherine turns away. DOROTHY He’s coming this way. KATHERINE Why’s he doing that? DOROTHY Mary’s waving him over. Sure enough, Mary’s waving him over. KATHERINE Ladies, I don’t know if I’m- (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 40. CONTINUED: (2) Too late. Jim Johnson arrives. MARY Fix your hair on the side. Dorothy wastes no time: DOROTHY Hello, Colonel. I’m Dorothy Vaughan. This is Mary Jackson. I believe you met her husband, Levi. Jim nods hellos. JIM JOHNSON Yes, ma’am. Good to meet ya’ll. DOROTHY And this is Katherine Goble. Jim and Katherine lock eyes. MARY She’s not married. three little girls, Angels on earth, we tell you the rest. Mary blurts out: She’s a widow. With so well-behaved. call ‘em. She can Dorothy, slice-a pie? DOROTHY I’d love one. And with that, Mary and Dorothy leave Katherine alone with Colonel Jim. He smiles at her. THE GROUNDS - LATER Katherine and Jim are walking through the grass. JIM JOHNSON Pastor mentioned you’re a “Computer” at NASA. What’s that entail? KATHERINE We calculate the mathematics necessary to enable launch and landing for the Space Program. JIM JOHNSON Aeronautics. Pretty heady stuff. let women handle that kind ofHe stops himself. Well. Too late. They Backpedals. JIM JOHNSON (CONT’D) That’s not what I mean. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 41. CONTINUED: KATHERINE What do you mean? JIM JOHNSON I was just surprised something so...taxingKatherine stops him. KATHERINE Mr. Johnson, it may be best if you quit talking right now. JIM JOHNSON I’m not meaning any disrespectKATHERINE I’ll have you know, I was the first Negro female student at West Virginia University Graduate School. On any given day I analyze the manometer levels for air displacement, friction and velocity and compute over 10,000 calculations by cosine, square root and lately Analytic Geometry. By hand. There are 20 bright, highly capable Negro women in the West Computing Group. And we’re proud to be doing our part for the country. Katherine adjusts her glasses. KATHERINE (CONT’D) So, yes...they let women do some things over at NASA, Mr. Johnson. But it’s not because we wear skirts...it’s because we wear glasses. She walks off. Jim Johnson watches her go, he’s speechless. And very, very enticed. EXT. NASA GROUNDS - MAIN STREET - ANOTHER DAY The energy of a parade. Grand Old Flag. A MARCHING BAND plays, You’re a A MILITARY MOTORCADE roars to a stop, and out step the guests of honor: The Mercury 7 Astronauts: ALAN SHEPARD, GUS GRISSOM, JOHN GLENN, SCOTT CARPENTER, WALLY SCHIRRA, GORDON COOPER, and DEKE SLAYTON. Harrison’s the first to greet the Mercury 7. Shaking hands. Making introductions. Ruth and Sam are amongst the welcoming committee. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft -. 42 CONTINUED: The entire NASA STAFF is lined up in the parking lot. A receiving line. At the end of this very long line of WHITE MALE NASA EMPLOYEES...we find WHITE FEMALE NASA EMPLOYEES. And after that...our “Colored Computers.” Dorothy’s first, proudly next to Katherine and Mary. bios the Astronauts for Katherine and Mary. DOROTHY Alan Shepard. US Navy pilot. be the first man in space. She He could Alan Shepard waves at the Crowd. DOROTHY (CONT’D) That’s Scott Carpenter and Walter Schirra. Also Navy pilots. Shots of the Mercury 7 intercut. DOROTHY (CONT’D) All under 5’11”, 180 lbs. IQs over 130. MARY Handsome must be a requirement too. KATHERINE How can you possibly be ogling these white men? MARY It’s equal rights. I have the right to see fine in every color. Harrison leads the Astronauts down the receiving line. Glenn shakes hands. DOROTHY That’s John Glenn. pilot. John The only Marine Corps A dashing John Glenn shakes a NASA ENGINEER’s hand. DOROTHY (CONT’D) And those three there are Airforce: Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper and Deke Slayton. The Mercury Team lands in front of Vivian Mitchell and the East Computers. Handshakes. Ruth ends the procession. RUTH Gentlemen, if we may...much to see around here. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 43. CONTINUED: (2) The Mercury Team follows Ruth. John Glenn catches Dorothy staring at him from the end of the line. He stops. JOHN GLENN Heck, haven’t shaken all the hands yet. RUTH We have a fairly tight itinerary, Colonel. AL HARRISON (lets her know it’s okay) RuthToo late, John Glenn’s already gone. the line. The Mercury Team follows. DOROTHY Sweet mother of mercy. this way. Heading to the end of They’re coming KATHERINE Look straight ahead. MARY Shoot, look right at ‘em. Mary stares at the Astronauts as they approach. Vivian sees them headed to Mary, Katherine and Dorothy’s way. Hmm. John Glenn stops in front of Dorothy. JOHN GLENN Ladies. Didn’t wanna run off without saying hello. They seem to be in a big rush around here. Dorothy looks him in the eyes. DOROTHY The Russians certainly aren’t slowing down any. He smiles. Jokes: JOHN GLENN They can’t make a damn ‘frigerator, how the heck they beat us into space? Dorothy laughs. John Glenn offers his hand. moves on to Katherine. Holds out his hand. They shake. He (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 44. CONTINUED: (3) JOHN GLENN (CONT’D) What do you gals do for NASA? KATHERINE Calculate your trajectories, sir. and landing. Launch JOHN GLENN Can’t get anywhere without the numbers. No, sir. KATHERINE He offers Mary his hand. introduction. She doesn’t wait for the MARY Mary Jackson, Mr. Glenn. Engineering. Proud as the devil to be workin’ with you. JOHN GLENN Thank you, Mary. He smiles at her. Mary could faint. John Glenn moves down the line. Shaking hands. The other Astronauts follow. INT. NASA AIRPLANE HANGAR - DAY A press conference. Camera flashbulbs pop incessantly. The Mercury 7 Astronauts sit at a table in front of DOZENS OF REPORTERS and NEWS CAMERAS. A REPORTER hollers out to John Glenn: REPORTER Colonel Glenn, medical experts have stated that a man cannot survive in ZeroG. What are your feelings on the dangers of space flight? Are you scared at all? John Glenn leans down to his mic. JOHN GLENN Well. I only discuss my ‘feelings’ with the Missus. Laughter. They love these men. JOHN GLENN (CONT’D) I believe I can speak for all of us on this: we’ve been flying most of our lives. (MORE) (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 45. CONTINUED: JOHN GLENN (CONT’D) We’re honored to serve our country. That’s what we signed up for. We don’t think about the dangers or have the time to be scared, we have a job to do. Whatever happens up there is in God’s hands. The Reporter hurls another question: REPORTER Well, which one of you wants to go first? Without a beat...every Astronaut raises his hand. And then John Glenn raises both hands. Laughter. Flashbulbs. INT. SPACE TASK GROUP OFFICE - DAY A madhouse. MORE ENGINEERS, MORE STAFF, more work. Katherine’s at the coffee counter. There are now two coffee stations...the smaller coffee pot is labeled: “Colored.” Katherine pours her coffee. Nothing. None made. that. She makes a pot. Refusing to look around. Imagine KATHERINE’S DESK - LATER Katherine’s back at her desk, pouring over reports. Stafford drops a stack of data on her desk. Redacted. STAFFORD Mr. Harrison wants you to confirm launch and landing for the Redstone Rocket test. KATHERINE I cannot work on what I cannot see, Mr. Stafford. Katherine fans the data sheets. A sea of black ink. KATHERINE (CONT’D) It’s illegible. STAFFORD The numbers have been confirmed by two Engineers in this department, and myself. It’s more-or less a dummy check. Stafford walks off. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 46. CONTINUED: Katherine scans the sheets. Holds them up to the light. She can see through the redaction in places. A few terms bleed through: “Redstone,” “Atlas.” Curiosity peaks. She looks at the massive chalkboards across the room. A chalked-chart reads: Redstone Rocket Trajectories. She looks back at her worksheets, gathers her work and walks to the boards. Studies the Redstone Rocket Chart. INT. NASA TECH HALLWAY - LATER Dorothy’s walking down the hallway with an armload of worksheets. She turns a corner. INT. IBM COMPUTER ROOM HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS Dorothy continues down a different, white-tiled hallway. It’s crowded with massive crates and MAINTENANCE MEN and TECHS unloading high-tech equipment. The IBM has arrived. And...it doesn’t fit in the door to the white room. Lots of head scratching. A PAIR OF CARPENTERS are hacking away, sawing the door header. Harrison stands staring at the debacle. Next to him we meet BILL CALHOUN, the young, overly officious IBM Supervisor. AL HARRISON No one thought to measure this thing. BILL CALHOUN I’m afraid not. Should we stop? No. AL HARRISON No, just keep going. Harrison writes a note in his pad. Dorothy walks by. Instinctively...she knows what this is. The next big thing. And the beginning of the end of human Computers. INT. EAST COMPUTING GROUP HALLWAY - LATER Dorothy moves toward a door: “East Computing Group.” INSIDE THE EAST COMPUTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Dorothy enters the all-white East Computing Room. A sharp contrast to the West Group’s room. Every WHITE FEMALE COMPUTER has a desk, a matching chair, a lamp. It’s homey, comfortable, spacious. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 47. CONTINUED: Vivian sees Dorothy, summons her over. VIVIAN MITCHELL Our runner can pick up your work, Dorothy. You need to be workin’, not walkin’. Dorothy puts worksheets in a box next to Vivian’s desk. DOROTHY It’s break time, ma’am. all. No trouble at Vivian points to a massive pile of worksheets within several boxes. VIVIAN MITCHELL Since you made the trip...you can take that batch over there. DOROTHY Sure thing, Mrs. Mitchell. Dorothy stands there, a beat too long. VIVIAN MITCHELL You need somethin’ else? DOROTHY I was wondering if you knew what they’re building in the Tech Wing. Vivian considers whether to answer. Then: VIVIAN MITCHELL It’s called an IBM. A mainframe machine. Apparently, it can do our calculations in a fraction-a the time. A knowing moment for both of them. DOROTHY Guess that’s good for NASA. Vivian nods. Dorothy lingers. Vivian points off... VIVIAN MITCHELL Hurry on, now. Best if you do it in one trip. Vivian returns to her work. Dorothy heads to the boxes. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 48. THE SPACE TASK GROUP OFFICE - LATER Katherine’s still at the chalkboard staring at that Redstone Rocket Chart. Cross-checking her worksheets. She picks up a piece of chalk, starts chalking calculations. Analytic Geometry. Then a graph...the Redstone’s trajectory. The chalk line stops suddenly. Just short of a line labeled, “Orbit.” She draws an X on the spot, then writes: “Redstone Fail.” Then she draws another trajectory line that pushes past the “Orbit” line...and labels it, ”Atlas.” She steps back, looks at her work. She puts the chalk down. Her leg starts tapping. EXT. NASA GROUNDS - CONTINUOUS Katherine pushes out through the steel doors and runs for the West Computing Building. THE SPACE TASK GROUP OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Stafford is standing in front of the blackboard, staring at Katherine’s work. He references a worksheet in his hand. He’ll be damned. Sam Turner comes up behind him. Studies the board. hands him the worksheet. He compares. Hmmm. Stafford And then, like moths drawn to light, one ENGINEER after another is pulled to the math. Surrounding Stafford and the blackboard. Chatter builds. Then, a voice from above: AL HARRISON (O.S.) Whose work is that? Harrison stands outside his glass bubble. No one answers. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) I said, whose work is that?! EXT. COLORED RESTROOM - DAY Katherine comes out of the bathroom. Scurries down the hall. PAUL STAFFORD (O.S.) How did you know the Redstone couldn’t support orbital flight? Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 49. INT. AL HARRISON’S OFFICE - DAY - LATER Stafford’s pacing in front of a seated Katherine. Sam and Ruth are behind him, along with a UNIFORMED US MILITARY OFFICER. PAUL STAFFORD It’s classified information. SAM TURNER It’s top secret. Across from them is a distressed Katherine. KATHERINE It’s not a mystery why the Redstone tests keep failing. It’s fine for sub-orbital flight, but it can’t handle the weight of the capsule and push it into space. The numbers don’t lie. Pan over to: Al Harrison. He’s been standing quietly off to the side, studying the redacted report. AL HARRISON And you figured that out with this? the data is redacted. Half KATHERINE What’s there tells the story if you read between the lines. The distance from launch to orbit is known. The Redstone mass is known. The Mercury Capsule weight is known. And the speeds are there in the data. Impressive. AL HARRISON You did the math. Yes, sir. KATHERINE I looked beyond. AL HARRISON Then how did you know about the Atlas rocket? That’s not math. That data’s not here. Like he said, it’s classified. Harrison waves the report at her. Katherine pauses. KATHERINE I held it up to the light. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 50. CONTINUED: Really. Harrison holds the report up to the light. at the redaction. Sees: “Atlas.” Yep. Squints AL HARRISON There it is. He shakes his head in disbelief. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) What’s your name? KATHERINE Katherine Goble. AL HARRISON Are you a spy, Katherine? Am I what? KATHERINE AL HARRISON Are you a Russian spy? KATHERINE No sir, I’m not Russian. Harrison looks to Ruth. RUTH She’s not Russian, sir. AL HARRISON All right then, we have nothing to lose here. Let’s get her everything she needs to work on Shepard’s trajectories. Without redaction. Are we clear on that? Nods and agreement. Stafford objects: PAUL STAFFORD Are we sure about this? AL HARRISON What’s the issue, Paul? her...she’s not a spy. You heard PAUL STAFFORD I just don’t think it’s a good idea. AL HARRISON You know what I think is a good idea? Harrison tosses the redacted documents in the trash. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 51. CONTINUED: (2) AL HARRISON (CONT'D) Darker ink. Ruth, think you could pass that along? He walks out. Ruth smiles at Katherine. INT. COLORED CAFETERIA - HALLWAY - LATER A BLACK COMPUTER pushes through a door labeled: “Colored Cafeteria.” INT. COLORED CAFETERIA - CONTINUOUS Hardly an adequate dining space. Cold steel tables, wobbly wooden chairs and a small rectangular window, whereby brownbagged lunches are distributed to BLACK EMPLOYEES. Dorothy, Katherine and Mary are at the window, grabbing lunch. Mary’s admiring Katherine’s new lanyard credentials. MARY You can probably get to the moon and back with these. KATHERINE Just not the bathroom. MARY Least they’re not blind to what you do. DOROTHY It’s not going to matter soon. This IBM’s going to put us all out of work. They walk to a table. Sit. Eat. KATHERINE What can we do about it? DOROTHY Only one thing to do: learn all we can. Make ourselves valuable. Somewhere down the line a human being’s going to have to hit the buttons. Through the door, in steps Vivian Mitchell. hand. Oh, mercy. File folder in KATHERINE MARY Well, she must be lost. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 52. CONTINUED: Vivian sees the women. front of Mary. B-lines over. She drops the file in VIVIAN MITCHELL NASA doesn’t commission females for the Engineer Trainin’ Program. Mary ruffles up. MARY That position is open to any qualified applicant. VIVIAN MITCHELL Right. ‘Cept you don’t have the educational requirements. MARY I have a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Same degree as most engineers ‘round here. Vivian does not like to be challenged. VIVIAN MITCHELL We now require advanced extension courses through the University of Virginia. It’s in the Employee Handbook. An addendum. She slides a copy on the table. VIVIAN MITCHELL (CONT’D) ‘Case you haven’t read it. Mary can’t control her frustration. MARY Every time we have a chance to get ahead, ya’ll move the finish line. Vivian tightens up. VIVIAN MITCHELL I just follow the rules around here. And I expect those who work for me to follow ‘em as well. There are no special circumstances for anyone. Ya’ll should be thankful you have jobs at all. Vivian walks off. Steamed. Mary pushes her lunch aside. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 53. INT. DOROTHY’S HOUSE - ANOTHER DAY The living room. Dorothy and Katherine are playing Bridge. Mary’s on fire. Bouncing around the room. Handbook Addendum. Reading the NASA MARY “For those that cannot attend classes at the University of Virginia, Advanced Extension Courses are available at Hampton High School.” KATHERINE That’s still a segregated school. MARY Virginia acts like Brown vs. the Board of Ed. never happened. They’ll never just let a “colored” woman take classes at an all white school! Dorothy is curt. DOROTHY Sounds about right. MARY That’s all you’re gonna say? Dorothy rises. DOROTHY I’m not going to sit here all day and listen to you complain about the way things are. Petition the court. Fight for what you want. She throws her cards down. DOROTHY (CONT’D) But quit talking about it. Walks off. Katherine and Mary are silent. Then: MARY I’ve been complaining? Katherine nods ‘yes.’ For days. KATHERINE (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 54. CONTINUED: Dorothy waltzes back in. whiskey mash. Holds up a Mason jar of homemade DOROTHY Not one more peep about work. DOROTHY’S KITCHEN - LATER Music on the radio. The gals are tipsy. Mary’s dancing around the room. Laughing. Dorothy and Katherine are trying to make a cake and icing. It’s a mess. DOROTHY Don’t give her any more. I can’t. KATHERINE She drank it all. MARY I’m as fine as I’ve ever been. I’m fine. DOROTHY You’re as drunk as you’ve ever been. A song comes on the radio, “Twisting The Night Away” by Sam Cooke. MARY Damn. It’s my wedding song. come dance with me. What? No. Come on. Katherine, KATHERINE MARY Dance with me. DOROTHY Go on, Katherine. Go dance. Katherine obliges. Mary instructs. Dorothy joins. MARY We have to teach you how to get a man! Katherine hollers. KATHERINE Teach me what! Dorothy and Mary wrap their arms around her. And dance. Friends through it all. They laugh. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 55. EXT. HAMPTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE - DAY A Civil Rights protest in progress. DOZENS OF BLACK MEN AND WOMEN holding desegregation signs march outside the Courthouse, chanting. A LINE OF WHITE POLICE OFFICERS block the sidewalk. Levi Jackson’s smack in the middle of the fray. A POLICE DOG rares up, knocking Levi to the ground. He bounces up, full of fire. Turning the corner, Dorothy and her two youngest: Leonard (9) and Kenneth (6), walk down the opposite sidewalk. KENNETH What’s happening over there? DOROTHY Don’t pay attention to all that. not part of that trouble. We’re Dorothy looks across the way, sees Levi in the thick of it. She pulls her boys up the steps of: EXT. HAMPTON PUBLIC LIBRARY - CONTINUOUS They climb the stone stairs of the “Colored Entrance.” INT. HAMPTON PUBLIC LIBRARY - LATER Dorothy’s in the middle of an aisle of reference books. Searching titles. The boys are at her feet, fussing. DOROTHY (taps Leonard on the head) I told you no fussing around. Dorothy hands them a book. DOROTHY (CONT’D) Read together. Be quiet. They do as told. Dorothy keeps searching the racks. She finds what she’s looking for, a book titled: Fortran, The New Language of Computers. She pulls it off the shelf. aisle stares back at her. A WHITE LIBRARIAN in the next WHITE LIBRARIAN We don’t want any trouble in here. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 56. CONTINUED: DOROTHY I’m not here for any trouble. WHITE LIBRARIAN What are you here for? A book. DOROTHY WHITE LIBRARIAN You have books in the colored section. DOROTHY It doesn’t have what I’m looking for. WHITE LIBRARIAN That’s just the way it is. EXT. LIBRARY - MOMENTS LATER A SECURITY GUARD escorts Dorothy and her boys, not so gently, out of the library. The Guard grabs the kids’ shoulders, moving them along. DOROTHY Get your hands off my boys. them. Don’t touch She pulls her boys away from the Guard. Turns back. Grits a smile. Gathers her dignity. DOROTHY (CONT’D) You have a blessed day. INT. CITY BUS - LATER We push past SEVERAL WHITE PASSENGERS to the back of the bus...where we find Dorothy between her boys. DOROTHY Separate and equal are two different things. Just cause it’s the way, doesn’t make it right. You understand? THE BOYS Yes, Momma. DOROTHY You act right, you are right. certain. Understand? That’s for THE BOYS Yes, Momma. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 57. CONTINUED: She smiles at her little men. Settles in. Fortran Computer book out of her purse. Then...pulls the LEONARD You took that book, Momma? DOROTHY Son, I pay taxes. And taxes pay for everything in that library. You can’t steal what you already paid for. She opens the book and starts reading to them: DOROTHY (CONT’D) Fortran is a new and exciting language used by programmers to communicate with computers... Titles over: April 12, 1961 INT. DOROTHY’S HOUSE - DAY A birthday party: Leonard Vaughan’s turning 9. packed with FAMILY, FRIENDS and CHILDREN. The place is Little Leonard stands, eyes closed (making a wish) in front of a sprinkled cake. He opens his eyes. Blows. Misses a few. Blows again, way too close. DOROTHY Cake’s already got sprinkles, baby. Doesn’t need a shower. Dorothy gives him a small hug. Everyone LAUGHS and CLAPS. Dorothy starts cutting cake. Katherine and Mary help serve. At the entry: Howard opens the door for Colonel Jim Johnson. Holding a bouquet of flowers. Katherine’s been set up. MARY Look at that. What a surprise. I’ll say. KATHERINE DOROTHY Howard must have invited him. Mmm. KATHERINE Hmmm. Colonel Jim stares through the crowd...over at Katherine. Locks on her. Smiles. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 58. THE PARTY - NIGHT - LATER A swing song plays on the radio. The living-room floor is swaying with Guests swing dancing. Dorothy and Howard. Mary and Levi. Off to the side we find Katherine. Johnson walks up. Alone. Until Colonel JIM JOHNSON I believe I owe you an apology. KATHERINE Was that it? Jim smiles. JIM JOHNSON Can I make it while we dance? Katherine looks up at him. He sure is handsome. DANCING - LATER Katherine and Jim dance. He’s real good. She’s real stiff. JIM JOHNSON I’m afraid I simply misspoke, Mrs. Goble. I’ve been away for a long time. I imagine, I’m just out of practice. Mm-hmm. KATHERINE JIM JOHNSON And I was hoping you would allow me to start over? Mm-hmm. KATHERINE JIM JOHNSON The thing is...I have an interest in getting to know you better. Mm-hmm. KATHERINE He smiles at her. JIM JOHNSON You are one tough customer. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 59. CONTINUED: KATHERINE You haven't said “you’re sorry” yet. She’s a whole lot more than he can handle. Right. Goble. JIM JOHNSON Of course. I’m sorry, Mrs. KATHERINE For what, Mr. Johnson? JIM JOHNSON Underestimating you. Or any woman like you. Though I can’t imagine there’s many. KATHERINE There you go. That’s good practice, right there. They dance on. Staring at each other. The music cuts off abruptly. An ANNOUNCER cuts in: RADIO ANNOUNCER (ON RADIO) We interrupt Hampton’s Big Band Hour with breaking news. Russian cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, has become the first man in space. The mood drops. Dancing stops. You can hear a pin drop. RADIO ANNOUNCER (ON RADIO) (CONT’D) Gagarin completed one full orbit around the planet in one hundred and eight minutes. INT. NASA SCREENING ROOM - DAY Stale air, tension, dead quiet. A news reel plays footage of Yuri Gagarin’s capsule in orbit. RADIO ANNOUNCER (ON RADIO) This is a crushing blow to America in the race for space. Yuri Gagarin waves to a crowd of RUSSIAN WELL-WISHERS. The news reel stops playing abruptly. Lights rise. Harrison’s standing in the wings, leaning against a wall. Stafford, Sam and Ruth are seated amongst Team Members. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 60. CONTINUED: The Mercury 7 are in attendance, sitting in back. They’re devastated. No one talks. No one moves. It’s like someone died. Finally, John Glenn speaks up: JOHN GLENN Well. They beat the pants off us. Now let’s go on, learn how to fly to space. He walks out. The other Astronauts follow. INT. SPACE TASK GROUP - DAY - LATER Harrison steps into the Space Task Group. The entire Team is sitting at their desks, standing at stations. Frozen in quiet. Harrison walks to the front of the room. Takes off his glasses. AL HARRISON I want to thank everyone for staying. I know it’s late and after what we just saw, I think everyone’s probably anxious to go home. But before we do, I just have to ask... how can it be that we’re in second place in a two man race? Anybody? Paul? Stafford doesn’t have the answer. Shakes his head. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) Then I think Glenn said it pretty well. They’re just outworking us. And the reason I have to think that is because I refuse to believe that the Russians are smarter than us, or because they have more technology. Or that they care more. But I don’t know? Is that possible? Is it possible that it actually means more to them? Harrison walks to the middle of the room. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) We’re in the fight of our lives, people. I just saw seven faces that don’t think we can get there. This isn’t some epic joyride that we’re all on together. So, as of right now, going forward, there’s only two things you need to know: one, staying late will be a fact of life. (MORE) (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 61. CONTINUED: AL HARRISON (CONT’D) And two: your paychecks will not reflect the extra time it takes to catch up and pass those bastards. For those of you that can’t work that way, I understand and thank you for what you've done. For everyone else, you can call your wives and tell them how it’s gonna be. I’ll start with mine. Harrison walks off. Up to his office. INT. AL HARRISON’S OFFICE - DAY - CONTINUOUS Harrison picks up the phone, dials. window, looks out. Waits. He walks to his Every single member of the Space Task Group is on the phone. Quietly talking to their wives, husbands, children. Paul Stafford. Ruth. Sam Turner. Johnson. No one is leaving. And finally...Katherine MONTAGE - THE PUSH TO SHEPARD’S LAUNCH INT. NASA HANGAR - DAY Astronaut training. A full scale model of the Mercury 7 capsule is suspended in the air. Spinning in all directions. Alan Shepard’s inside. Harrison watches from the ground. INT. SPACE TASK GROUP - ANOTHER DAY Katherine’s buried in work. Literally. She’s fighting a cold. Stafford dumps a new load of data on her desk. STAFFORD End of the day. He’s off. Katherine grabs a tissue, blows her nose. THE TECH HALLWAY - ANOTHER NIGHT Dorothy stands at the end of the hallway leading to the IBM room, clutching her purse. Through the window, she sees Harrison alone, standing in front of the IBM. Cleaning his glasses. Tortured by this hunk of metal. Finally...he walks out. the hallway. Clicks off the lights. Heads down Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 62. INSIDE THE WHITE ROOM - CONTINUOUS Dorothy flips the lights back on. staring back at her. The IBM sits ominously She walks to the keypunch, sits down. Opens a draw. back at her: an IBM User Manual. Bingo. Staring DOROTHY Let’s see what you’re made of. EXT. HAMPTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE - ANOTHER DAY Mary walks towards the Hampton County Courthouse. Clutching a case file like a security blanket. She turns down a sidewalk labeled “Colored Entrance.” INT. HAMPTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE - CONTINUOUS Mary’s at a window, standing in front of a COURT CLERK. COURT CLERK This is your court date. (stamps her case file) Colored seats are at the back of the courtroom. Mary nods. Too happy to be offended. INT. WEST COMPUTING ROOM - ANOTHER DAY Dorothy’s standing at the blackboard in front of her Computing Group. Teaching Fortran, computer basics from her library book. DOROTHY The IBM 7090 Data Processing System has the ability to solve problems that cannot be solved in a lifetime of manual labor. When working at optimal capacity it is capable of over 24,000 multiplications per second. Bernie cuts in. BERNIE Holy Moses, that’s lightning fast. ELEANOR They’ll never get it to work. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 63. CONTINUED: DOROTHY It’ll run eventually. We have to know how to program it once it does. Unless you’d rather be out of a job? “Nos” all around. The Girls re-focus. INT. IBM COMPUTER ROOM - ANOTHER NIGHT Dorothy opens the Power Control on the IBM. She inspects the machine’s innards. Cross-referencing with schematics from the IBM Manual. Labeling parts out loud: DOROTHY Control console. Card reader. Card punch. Central Processor. Mother board...always a mother around somewhere. INT. WIND TUNNEL - ANOTHER DAY Mary finds Zielinski on a ladder, inspecting the Mercury 7 Capsule. Mr. Z. MARY He looks down at her. She holds up her Court Petition. MARY (CONT’D) I have a court date.... Zielinski smiles. EXT. KATHERINE’S HOUSE - ANOTHER DAY Katherine, sick as a dog, opens the door to find: Jim Johnson holding a paper bag. JIM JOHNSON Heard you were fighting the flu. He holds up the bag. JIM JOHNSON (CONT’D) Thought maybe you could use some soup? Hot meal for the girls. This is a good man. Katherine can’t deny it. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 64. INT. KATHERINE’S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - LATER Katherine, Jim and the Girls are sitting at the table. Plates of food in front of them. The Girls are sizing up every fiber of this new man in their house. Heads bow for grace. takes it. Jim offers Katherine his hand. She END OF MONTAGE EXT. NASA GROUNDS - ANOTHER DAY Rain pelts the campus. INT. SPACE TASK GROUP - CONTINUOUS Harrison barrels out of his office. Beyond stressed. Juggling worksheets. AL HARRISON Ruth, get the Cape on the line. Shepard’s trajectories need to be updated. He looks over to Katherine’s desk. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) Where is she?! Ruth shrugs. Harrison, frustrated, walks off. INT. COLORED RESTROOM - DAY - CONTINUOUS Katherine’s washing her hands. worksheets and rushes out. She grabs a stack of EXT. NASA GROUNDS - CONTINUOUS Pouring rain. Building. Katherine runs across campus, back to the East INT. SPACE TASK GROUP - MOMENTS LATER Katherine’s soaked like a wet rat. She walks back to her desk. Stafford’s staring at her. Ruth’s staring at her. The whole damn place seems to be staring at her. AL HARRISON (O.S.) Where the hell have you been? Everywhere I look you're not where I need you to be. And it's not my imagination. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 65. CONTINUED: Katherine turns, Harrison’s on the floor. Katherine freezes. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) Where the hell do you go everyday? KATHERINE (quietly) The bathroom, sir. AL HARRISON The bathroom! The damn bathroom! Yes, sir. KATHERINE The bathroom. AL HARRISON For 40 minutes a day!? What do you do in there!? We are T-minus zero here. I put a lot of faith in you. Katherine can barely speak. She whispers: KATHERINE There’s no bathroom for me here. AL HARRISON There’s no bathroom? What do you mean there’s no bathroom for you here? Katherine can’t take it anymore. Her voice rises. KATHERINE There’s no bathroom here. There are no COLORED bathrooms in this building or ANY building outside the West Campus. Which is half a mile away! Did you know that? I have to walk to Timbuktu just to relieve myself! And I can’t take one of the handy bikes. Picture that, with my uniform: skirt below the knees and my heels. And don’t get me started about the “simple pearl necklace” I can’t afford. Lord knows you don’t pay “the coloreds enough for that. And I work like a dog day and night, living on coffee from a coffee pot half of you don’t want me to touch! So excuse me if I have to go to the restroom a few times a day! You can hear a pin drop. personals and walks off. ground. Katherine takes her purse, Leaving everyone’s jaws on the Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 66. EXT. COLORED RESTROOM HALLWAY - LATER BANG! BANG! BANG! The sound of hammering, tearing. A SECURITY GUARD runs down the hallway and arrives upon a scene: a crowd of TECHS and ENGINEERS block the corridor. He pushes through the crowd to the front...where...Ruth holds up her hand, stops him. There in front of the group: an inflamed Al Harrison, wielding a crow bar, is bashing the “Colored Restroom” sign on the wall. AL HARRISON Damn thing! On the other side of the corridor...the entire West Computing Group, including Dorothy and Mary watch in wonder. Katherine makes her way through, landing between them. Harrison flails away at the sign. Bang! Bang! AL HARRISON (CONT’D) For Christ’s sake! Harrison keeps at it. Rip. Bang. The sign’s holding on, with all it’s might. Imagine that. He takes a final successful WHACK! And the sign crashes to the floor. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) There you have it! No more colored restrooms. No more white restrooms. Just plain old toilets. Harrison looks over. He sees Katherine. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) Go wherever you damn well please. Preferably closer to your desk. Harrison snatches up the sign. AL HARRISON (CONT’D) At NASA we all...pee the same color! He stumbles off. Straight through the Crowd. Shock and pride and justice for all those watching. Katherine nods approval. Titles over: May 5, 1961 EXT. ROAD - LATER Jim and Katherine drive down a picturesque road in a convertible. Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 67. EXT. SIDE OF THE ROAD - LATER The convertible’s parked on the side of the road. Katherine and Jim are sitting on a blanket in front of the car. A roadside picnic. Jim pours Katherine a Chianti. JIM JOHNSON I think it’s high time that I kissed you, Mrs. Goble. Oh. KATHERINE And why’s that? JIM JOHNSON Figure you’re attracted to me the same as I to you. KATHERINE Is that right? JIM JOHNSON Yes. Or you would have told me to get going a long time ago. Jim leans in and kisses Katherine. leans back. She doesn’t flinch. Jim KATHERINE Haven’t kissed a man in a long time. Almost forgot how. Jim leans in again. They kiss again. DOROTHY’S LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Everyone (our Gals, Levi, Howard, Jim, all the Kids) is gathered in front of the TV to watch... TV REPORTER (LIVE FEED) We’re just moments away from Alan Shepard’s maiden flight as the first American in space. Food is passed around. biggest show on Earth. People sit on the carpet. It’s the INT. FREEDOM 7 CAPSULE - DAY Shepard’s sitting in the tight ‘can’ he’s named: “Freedom 7.” America’s first space capsule. Even through the glass of his helmet, you can feel the sweat, the tension. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft -. 68 CONTINUED: ALAN SHEPARD Any day now, Capcom. Fix your little problem and light this candle! NASA TRACKING CONTROL - HAMPTON, VA - CONTINUOUS NASA command is wall to wall with ENGINEERS, TECHS, SUPPORT. The room laughs at Shepard’s anxiety, a little release of the taut energy of the moment. Fellow Mercury 7 Astronaut, Gordon Cooper, is Shepard’s Capcom (Capsule Communicator.) GORDON COOPER (V.O.) Roger that, Freedom 7. Standby. Gordon looks over at Harrison. AL HARRISON Move to final countdown sequence. DOROTHY’S LIVING ROOM Dorothy, Katherine and Mary are locked on the screen. the Children are quiet. Rapt. TV REPORTER (LIVE FEED) And we’re at T-minus 10, 9... NASA TRACKING CONTROL - HAMPTON, VA - CONTINUOUS Gordon counts down. 8, 7, 6... GORDON COOPER THE FREEDOM 7 CAPSULE - CONTINUOUS Shepard braces himself. 5, 4, 3... GORDON COOPER (IN ALAN’S EAR) DOROTHY’S LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS They countdown along with the Reporter: 2, 1, 0. DOROTHY’S HOUSE FULL Even Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 69. NASA TRACKING CONTROL - HAMPTON, VA - CONTINUOUS Pins and needles. Gordon: GORDON COOPER (INTO MICROPHONE) You’re go for launch. CAPE CANAVERAL - FLORIDA - CONTINUOUS In the background...the rocket roars up off the launchpad, fire spewing from its base. TV REPORTER (LIVE FEED) And we have liftoff! THE FREEDOM 7 CAPSULE - CONTINUOUS Alan Shepard is shaking with the blast. seat by the extreme G. Crushed into his NASA TRACKING CONTROL - HAMPTON, VA - CONTINUOUS The Command Team watches the rocket shoot up into the sky. DOROTHY’S LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Katherine pushes the rocket with her words: KATHERINE Get up there. Go on. THE FREEDOM 7 CAPSULE - CONTINUOUS Alan Shepard breaks through the atmosphere. ALAN SHEPARD This is okay. NASA TRACKING CONTROL - HAMPTON, VA - CONTINUOUS The Command Team finally breathes. Yaw is OK. Shepard’s voice: ALAN SHEPARD (OVER INTERCOM) Switching to manual roll. The celebration begins. DOROTHY’S LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Cheering and celebrating. The Kids run around. Mary kisses Levi. Howard puts his arm around Dorothy. Jim smiles at Katherine. Congratulations all around. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 70. CONTINUED: President JFK’s, Rice University, “Space Race” speech, plays under: JFK (V.O) For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond and we have vowed... EXT. STREETS OF HAMPTON - ANOTHER DAY A parade in progress. The Mercury 7 are sitting in the back of two convertibles. Alan Shepard waves to the crowd, now a national hero. WOMEN throw roses. MEN stand and salute. A Marching Band plays, Stars and Stripes Forever. JFK (V.O.)...that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. EXT. WHITE HOUSE - ANOTHER DAY The White House lawn. President JFK presents Alan Shepard with the NASA Distinguished Service Award. The Mercury 7 are on stage for the ceremony. JFK (V.O.) We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained and new rights to be won... Alan Shepard shakes hands with JFK. INT. SPACE TASK GROUP - ANOTHER DAY The entire Space Task Group is gathered in front of Harrison and Paul Stafford. JFK’s speech plays under: JFK (V.O.)...and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. Stafford hoists the morning paper. JFK on the front page. PAUL STAFFORD I imagine we should all thank President Kennedy for continued job security. Laughs. PAUL STAFFORD (CONT’D) Gus Grissom’s up next. Another suborbital flight with a Redstone. (MORE) (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft -. 71 CONTINUED: PAUL STAFFORD (CONT’D) Our last shot before we strap Glenn to the Atlas and pray we can get him back down. AL HARRISON Yes, and I imagine he’d like us to have the math figured out beforehand. Good work, gentlemen. Go have dinner with your kids. Then let’s get back to work. Applause. The Group disperses. from Stafford. Walks off. Harrison takes the paper INT. IBM COMPUTER ROOM - ANOTHER DAY Dorothy’s in a familiar position: deep within the IBM. running a diagnostic. She moves to the control panel. She’s JFK plays under: JFK (V.O.) Yet the vows of this Nation can only be fulfilled if we in this Nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first. She types a command. Hits enter. Throws the switch. IBM whirs to life. Lights. Noise. Drives spinning. The She runs to the card feeder. Stuffs a stack of programming cards in. The machine sucks them right up. DOROTHY That’a girl. A VOICE catches Dorothy off guard: BILL CALHOUN (O.S.) What the hell are you doing!? Now standing in the doorway: Bill Calhoun and a FEW MAINFRAME TECHS have returned from lunch. BILL CALHOUN (CONT’D) You can’t be in here. Who are you? DOROTHY I’m with the West Computing Group. Dorothy Vaughan, sir. Bill steps up to her. rushes to the IBM. Dorothy presents her NASA ID. A Tech (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft -. 72 CONTINUED: BILL CALHOUN This is a very delicate piece of equipment. DOROTHY I’m sorry, sir. Just trying to be helpful. The Tech calls out: TECHNICIAN Bill, we’ve got numbers. BILL CALHOUN What kind of numbers? The Tech holds up a worksheet pouring out of the IBM. Look. TECHNICIAN Bill moves to the machine, sees for himself. Dorothy. Who just smiles. Turns back to INT. MARY’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY Levi’s standing in front of the TV watching the news. Kids clean the dishes off the table. As the Walter Cronkite reports on the KKK fire bombing of the Freedom Riders’ bus (May 14, 1961.) Images of the charred bus. Battered RIDERS. The extreme violence. WALTER CRONKITE The mob of Klansman threw fire bombs at the bus, as it stopped in Anniston, AL. Fire and smoke trapped many of the Riders inside the vehicle. Mary comes home from work. walks behind Levi. Sees: No one greets her. Odd. She WALTER CRONKITE (CONT’D) The local police stood by as the choking riders fled the flaming bus. She moves to turn the TV off. MARY The kids don’t need toLevi stops her. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 73. CONTINUED: LEVI JACKSON They need to see this. Everyone needs to see this. Mary pauses. The kids join her side. Finally, Levi walks away. Watching in horror. Grabs his coat. LEVI JACKSON (CONT’D) Sit-ins will only get you so far. EXT. HAMPTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE - ANOTHER DAY FOLKS litter the front of the Courthouse steps. INT. HAMPTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE - CONTINUOUS A packed courtroom. NERVOUS DEFENDANTS, LAWYERS. Way in the back corner, past the sea of White Folks: Mary sits in “Colored Seating,” tapping her foot. Finally, A COURT CLERK calls her name: A COURT CLERK Mary Jackson. Petition to attend courses at Hampton High School. Mary hops up. Approaches the rail. JUDGE looks up from the case notes. he sees Mary is...black. A WHITE-HAIRED SOUTHERN Stops in his tracks when MARY Good morning, your honor. THE JUDGE Hampton High School is a white school, Mrs. Jackson. MARY Yes, your Honor. I’m aware of that. The Judge flips through the case notes. THE JUDGE Virginia is still a segregated state. Regardless of what the Federal Government says or the Supreme Court says. Our law is the law. He reaches for his rejection stamp. Mary blurts out: MARY Your Honor, if I may, I believe there are special circumstances to be considered. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 74. CONTINUED: THE JUDGE What would warrant a colored woman attendin’ a white school? MARY May I approach the bench, sir? The Judge considers, waves the BAILIFF to let her through. Mary walks through the rail gate, stands in front of him. MARY (CONT’D) Your Honor, you of all people should understand the importance of being first. THE JUDGE How’s that, Mrs. Jackson? MARY You were the first in your family to serve in the Armed Forces. US Navy. The first to attend University. George Mason. And you are the first State Judge to be re-commissioned by three consecutive Governors. THE JUDGE You’ve done some research. Yes, sir. MARY THE JUDGE What’s the point here? MARY The point is, your Honor... Mary leans in. MARY (CONT’D) No Negro woman in the State of Virginia has ever attended an all white school. It’s unheard of. Yes. THE JUDGE It’s unheard of. MARY And before Alan Shepard sat on top of a rocket, no American had ever touched space. (MORE) (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 75. CONTINUED: (2) MARY (CONT'D) He will forever be remembered as the Navy man from New Hampshire who was the first to touch the stars. The smallest opening in the Judge’s countenance. MARY (CONT’D) And I, sir, plan on being an engineer at NASA. But I can’t do that without taking those classes at that all-white high school. And I can’t change the color of my skin. So...I have no choice but to be the first. Which I can’t do without you. Mary looks around the courtroom. MARY (CONT’D) Your Honor, of all the cases you’ll hear today, which one will matter in a hundred years? Which one will make you the “first?” Mary stops talking. The Judge is jarred. He looks around. Considering his legacy. Considering her passion. Then quietly: THE JUDGE Only the night classes. Mary closes her eyes. EXT. COURTHOUSE - MOMENTS LATER Mary steps of the courthouse. Containing herself...until she can’t hold it in any longer. She screams. She screams with everything she’s got. Happy and free and full. INT. SPACE TASK GROUP - ANOTHER DAY Katherine’s at her desk, typing a report. INSERT TYPING: “Gus Grissom, Launch and Landing Projections, by: Paul Stafford.” She hesitates. Then adds: “and Katherine Goble.” She pulls the cover page out of the typewriter and sets it on top of the full report. Harrison, Stafford, Sam and a few ENGINEERS come out of Harrison’s bubble. Passing Ruth: (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 76. CONTINUED: AL HARRISON Ruth, send the tracking station coordinates to the briefing room. Ruth takes a note. Katherine hops up. INT. HALLWAY - SPACE TASK GROUP - DAY - MOMENTS LATER Katherine catches up to Harrison and Stafford. KATHERINE Mr. Stafford, Gus Grissom’s launch and landing coordinates. She hands Stafford the report. KATHERINE (CONT’D) I’d like to get a jump on John Glenn’s trajectory. Stafford slows down. What!? PAUL STAFFORD Do you have any idea what you’re asking? Katherine won’t be deterred. She digs in. KATHERINE An orbital launch with an Atlas Rocket is going to take time. Harrison slows down, turns back. AL HARRISON Is there a problem? KATHERINE Mr. Harrison...I was wondering.... AL HARRISON I’ve been wondering my whole life. it out. Spit KATHERINE Well, sir, I’d like to get a jump on John Glenn’s trajectory. AL HARRISON This isn’t about plugging in numbers, this is about inventing the math. I think we talked about that. It doesn’t exist. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 77. CONTINUED: KATHERINE I can do it, sir. PAUL STAFFORD Do you know how exacting these calculations have to be? KATHERINE Yes. It’s like shooting a sawed-off shotgun from a thousand feet and getting that one beebee through a hole so tiny, you can’t even see it. Stafford is not impressed. KATHERINE (CONT’D) I’m an excellent shot, sir. Harrison studies her. report from Stafford. She doesn’t flinch. He takes the Checks Katherine’s math. AL HARRISON How do Grissom’s numbers look good. Paul? PAUL STAFFORD They appear spot on. Harrison nods his decision. AL HARRISON Give Glenn’s orbit a go. But you run it all through Stafford. You understand? Yes, sir. KATHERINE Thank you. Harrison hands the report back to Stafford. Walks off. Stafford looks at the report, the cover page. Miffed. PAUL STAFFORD Computers don’t author reports. Stafford rips the cover page off and hands it to Katherine. Catches up to Harrison. Titles over: July 21, 1961 - Gus Grissom splashdown EXT. ATLANTIC OCEAN - DAY Ocean waves crest over the Liberty Bell 7 capsule, bobbing up and down in the middle of the sea. A NEWSCASTER narrates: (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 78. CONTINUED: NEWSCASTER (V.O.) We’re hearing that the Liberty Bell 7 has experienced some sort of malfunction and the capsule is now taking on water. There is no sign of Gus Grissom. A Navy recovery chopper hovers into frame. DOROTHY’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Dorothy, Katherine and Mary are breathless in front of the TV, watching the report. KATHERINE The hatch cover must have blown early. Levi, Howard, Jim Johnson and all the Kids gather around. Time stops. INT. NASA TRACKING CONTROL - HAMPTON, VA - CONTINUOUS Harrison, Stafford and the whole Space Task Group are watching radar. Listening to a live report. No one talks, no one moves. Finally...Gus Grissom comes up from the depths, rising high on a wave. NEWSCASTER (V.O.) Wait. That’s him...in the waves. Gus Grissom is out of the capsule and floating in the middle of the ocean. DOROTHY’S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS A collective breath. The ladies talk to the TV. MARY He blends right in. Grissom fights to stay afloat. him in the waves. His silver suit camouflaging NASA TRACKING CONTROL - HAMPTON, VA - CONTINUOUS The live feed: the helicopter has attached its winch to Liberty Bell 7 and is pulling it out of the water. Stafford talks to the monitors. PAUL STAFFORD Don’t lose the damn capsule. (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 79. CONTINUED: Harrison is on the phone. Incensed. AL HARRISON So, he’s swimming. He’s floating. Goddamnit, I don’t really care. Do we have a visual? Okay. Then where’s the other chopper?! DOROTHY’S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS The live TV broadcast: Splash! The helicopter drops the capsule. Too heavy, too much water. Gasps. NEWSCASTER (V.O.) The helicopter cable has been cut. Liberty Bell 7 capsule is lost. The Grissom bobs up and down, reaching for help. DOROTHY Get the man. Another chopper drops a cable. Grasps onto the line. Grissom comes up for air. A collective sigh of relief. NASA TRACKING CONTROL - HAMPTON, VA - CONTINUOUS The live feed: Grissom is hoisted up into the chopper. Safe. The tip of the Liberty Bell 7 capsule sinks below the black. Harrison sits. Devastated. INT. SENATE HEARING ROOM - ANOTHER DAY Senate Hearing in progress. Harrison sits in front of a panel of SENATORS. SENATOR PATRICK grills Al Harrison. SENATOR PATRICK Mr. Harrison, American Taxpayer money sank in the ocean along with your capsule. What makes you think you can bring John Glenn home safely? Harrison adjusts himself. Takes a moment. Then: AL HARRISON Well, let me say first that discovery is never for the sake of discovery but for the sake of human survival, gentlemen, and it will always come with risk. Whoever gets there first, will make the rules. (MORE) (CONTINUED) Hidden Figures - 5/9/2016 - Shooting Draft - 80. CONTINUED: AL HARRISON (CONT'D) That’s been true of every civilization. And so I think the bigger question for this body to consider is: who do you want calling the shots in space? The Senators are silent. Harrison swings for the fences: AL HARRISON (CONT’D) We have to know what’s out there, Senator. If only to ensure our own survival. We have to touch the stars. And only a man can do that. We’ll get John Glenn home safely because we have to, because he has to tell us what he saw. He stops talking, the Senate Panel weighing his words. EXT. NASA GROUNDS - ANOTHER DAY The NASA Campus is still. INT. SPACE TASK GROUP - DAY - CONTINUOUS Paul Stafford’s sitting on his desk. The Space Task Group stands all around him. He’s holding a miniature of the Mercury Capsule. PAUL STAFFORD The Redstone Rocket: went straight up. The capsule didn't have enough speed to go into orbit. It came back down. He waves

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