According to Aldis Hodge, who played aerospace engineer Mary Jackson’s (Janelle Monae) husband in Hidden Figures, young girls have already been inspired to study math and science after the release of the film. “We’ve already seen that affect happen nationally,” he told the Cut. “We’re constantly doing panels for STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math] and STEAM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Design, and Mathematics] all over. I’m actually working on a project, an initiative called Image of STEM, that was started at the White House during the last administration, the Obama administration.”

“We’ve seen the way people are raising money to take these girls to go see the film and really promoting it,” he continued. “We did an event with Megan Chernin called Girls Build LA, where we screened the film for 2,000 girls. It’s taken a life of its own and a lot of people are really supporting it. I love the fact that a lot of these girls are now getting support for their interest. It’s fantastic. I hope that it just keeps going.”

Hodge is referring to a number of charitable efforts to help kids see Hidden Figures. As BET Breaks reported, Pharrell and Taraji P. Henson bought out theaters for fans to see the film. Octavia Spencer also bought out a theater for families in need. And there have been numerous GoFundMe pages with proceeds going to tickets for young students.

It’s amazing to see that such an inspiring film is truly helping people in the real world. We’re looking forward to seeing how it does at the Oscars!