MY FIRST GUEST TONIGHT IS AN ACADEMY AWARD WINNING ACTOR
KNOWN FOR HER ROLES IN "THE HELP" AND THE "DIVERGENT"
SERIES.
HER NEW FILM IS "HIDDEN FIGURES."
PLEASE WELCOME OCTAVIA SPENCER.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ♪
>> Stephen: GOOD SEEING YOU!
SO NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!
>> NICE TO SEE YOU!
>> Stephen: YOU WERE ON WITH US LAST YEAR.
WE HAD A LOVELY TIME.
>> HAD A BALLAST TIME.
>> Stephen: YOU SEEM TO HAVE A LOT OF FUN WHEREVER YOU GO.
CAN I SHOW THIS PICTURE?
>> YES!
>> Stephen: YOU WERE AT THE U.N. LAST WEEK?
>> UNICEF.
I WAS AT THE EMCEE AT THE UNICEF BALL.
>> Stephen: YOU RAN INTO A VERY INTERESTING PUBLIC FIGURE
WHEN YOU WERE THERE.
HOW DID THIS FIGURE COME ABOUT?
>> I JUST BROKE MY WAY IN THERE.
ACTUALLY, I CAME OUT OF THE BATHROOM AND HILLARY WAS THERE
AND IT WAS, LIKE, OH, MY GOD, MY HANDS ARE WET, AND I LOVE YOU!
SERIOUSLY.
>> Stephen: IT MUST BE INTERESTING TO RUN INTO HER.
IT'S LIKE RUNNING INTO SASQUATCH, SUPER FAMOUS BUT YOU
DON'T SEE HER ANYPLACE.
DID YOU ASK HOW SHE WAS?
>> I JUST TOLD HER I LOVE HER.
>> Stephen: SHE LOOKS HAPPY.
AS MUCH AS YOU MIGHT WANT TO BE PRESIDENT, IT'S A HARD JOB.
>> I KNOW.
I JUST KIND OF WISH THINGS WERE DIFFERENT, BUT WE WILL LEARN,
WON'T WE?
>> Stephen: YES, WE'LL PERSEVERE.
YOU HAVE SOMETHING A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T HAVE, I DON'T HAVE,
YOU HAVE A DAY NAMED AFTER YOU IN YOUR HOME STATE OF ALABAMA.
I DON'T HAVE THAT IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
YOU HAVE OCTAVIA SPENCER DAY.
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT HOLIDAY FOOD BEFORE THE BREAK.
IS THERE A TRADITIONAL OCTAVIA SPENCER ONE WOULD HAVE ON
MARCH 21?
>> YES, MEATLOAF, TURKEY OR REGULAR.
>> Stephen: I ENJOY ALL MY MEATS LOAFED.
ANYTHING UNDER A THICK LAYER OF KETCHUP AND I'M GOOD.
I WILL EAT IT.
>> I LOVE MEATLOAF, I JUST LOVE IT.
>> Stephen: DID YOU MAKE IT YOURSELF?
IS IT A FAMILY THING?
>> I TRY TO MAKE IT, BUT I'M NOT A COOK.
SO, YOU KNOW, I JUST KIND OF PITCH MY FRIENDS OUT AND HOPE
THEY MAKE IT.
YOU KNOW WHO MAKES AN EXCELLENT MEATLOAF IS MELISSA McCARTHY.
MEAN MEATLOAF MELISSA.
>> Stephen: HOW DID YOU LEARN THIS ABOUT HER?
>> WE WERE ALL REALLY, REALLY POOR AND WE WOULD HAVE GAME
NIGHT.
IT WAS THE UGLIEST MEATLOAF EVER KNOWN, BUT SHE WOULD MAKE A
GIANT MEATLOAF FOR 40 PEOPLE AND I WOULD ALWAYS SHOW UP WITH MY
TO-GO BAGS.
>> Stephen: NICE, AND A SPATULA.
>> IT'S WONDERFUL.
>> Stephen: YOUR NEW MOVIE IS CALLED "HIDDEN FIGURES."
IT'S A BRILLIANT MOVIE AND AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF PEOPLE
COMING TOGETHER IN THE MERCURY PROGRAM FOR N.A.S.A., AND
SPECIFICALLY THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN WHO I DID
NOT KNOW WERE THE HUMAN COMPUTERS, THE PEOPLE DOING THE
CALCULATIONS FOR LAUNCH AND REENTRY.
>> YES.
>> Stephen: AND SPECIFICALLY THE STORY TELLS ABOUT GETTING
JOHN GLENN INTO SPACE, THE FIRST AMERICAN TO ORBIT THE EARTH
THREE TIMES IN FIVE HOURS.
>> YEAH.
>> Stephen: AND THERE IS A SPECIAL BO BO POIGNANCY.
WE RECORDED THIS JUST THIS AFTERNOON AND WE JUST LEARNED
JOHN GLENN DIED.
WHAT DID HE MEAN TO YOU BEFORE YOU DID THIS MOVIE?
>> JOHN GLENN WAS THE TOUCHSTONE AND WE FOCUSED ON THE WHO GOT TO
GO TO SPACE, BUT HE WAS AN HONORABLE MAN.
THERE IS A MOMENT IN THE FILM THAT HE SAYS HE DOESN'T WANT TO
TAKE THE FLIGHT UNLESS THE NUMBERS ARE CHECKED BY KATHERINE
JOHNSON, AND THAT SAYS A LOT, BECAUSE SHE WAS A WOMAN OF
COLOR, AND IT WAS HARD BEING IN THOSE ROOMS.
AND HE SHOWED A TRUE ACT OF FAITH BY PUTTING HIS LIFE IN HER
HANDS.
>> Stephen: HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT?
YOU KNOW, THERE'S A SIGN, ACTUALLY, IN THE MOVIE AT ONE
POINT WHERE THE ROOM WHERE YOUR CHARACTERS ARE WORKING WHICH
WERE REAL WOMEN WHICH SAYS COLORED COMPUTER BECAUSE YOU
WERE CALCULATING.
>> THESE WOMEN WERE MATHEMATICIANS, POLYMATHS.
THEY CAN WORK IN ANY FIELD IN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES.
THEY WERE ALL PRETTY BRILLIANT, BECAUSE I CAN ONLY DO ONE MATH,
IT'S CALLED BASIC.
( LAUGHTER ) AND KATHERINE JOHNSON WAS A
BRILLIANT MIND AND MY CHARACTER DOROTHY VAUGHN WAS THE ACTING
SUPERVISOR OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMPUTERS AND,
SO, SHE WAS THE ONE WHO WOULD ASSIGN PEOPLE TO DIFFERENT JOBS,
AND SHE KNEW KATHERINE WAS CAPABLE.
>> Stephen: I'VE ALWAYS BEEN FASCINATED BY N.A.S.A., AND I'VE
INTERVIEWED SOME OF THOSE EARLY MERCURY ASTRONAUTS AND APOLLO
GUYS AND I WAS OBSESSED WITH THIS WHEN I WAS YOUNGER.
HOW COME I DIDN'T KNOW THIS STORY?
>> I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT EITHER.
WHEN I GOT THE MEMO I WOULD BE MEETING ABOUT THIS, I THOUGHT IT
WAS HISTORICAL FICTION.
I THINK THE REASON WE DON'T KNOW IS BECAUSE THE ARBITERS OF
HISTORY ARE AT THAT TIME THE PRESS.
THEY WERE MORE FOCUSED ON WHO WAS GOING BUT NOT HOW THEY GOT
THERE.
AND THESE WOMEN WERE THE INNER MECHANISMS.
THEY WORKED BEHIND ALL THE SCENES.
ALL THE WOMEN, AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE WORKED BEHIND THE
SCENES, SO THERE WAS VERY LITTLE REGARD TO THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS.
>> Stephen: BESIDES BEING MATHEMATICIANS AND POLYMATHS,
THEY WERE FRIENDS.
>> YES, THEY WERE.
>> Stephen: AND THEY LOOKED OUT FOR EACH OTHER.
>> YES, THEY DID.
>> Stephen: WE HAVE A CLIP OF SOME OF THE WOMEN LOOKING OUT
AFTER EACH OTHER AT A PICNIC, I THINK.
>> HE'S COMING OVER.
NOW WHY WOULD HE BE DOING THAT?
>> BECAUSE MARY IS WAVING AT HIM.
>> NO, I'M NOT!
LADIES, FIX YOUR HANDS.
HI, COLONEL.
I'M DOROTHY.
THIS IS KATHERINE.
NOT MARRIED, A WIDOW WITH THREE GIRLS, SO WELL BEHAVED.
ANGELS ON EARTH IS WHAT WE LIKE TO CALL DOROTHY.
SLICE OF PIE?
>> YOU ALREADY HAVE A SLICE OF PIE, DOROTHY.
( LAUGHTER ) ( APPLAUSE )
>> Stephen: AND IT'S NOT JUST -- MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT
IT WASN'T JUST SORT OF THE MENTAL CALCULATIONS AND THE
PENCIL TYPICAL CALCULATIONS THEY WERE DOING, IT'S THAT THEN
I.B.M. WAS BRINGING IN COMPUTERS TO DO THESE CALCULATIONS, AND
HOW DID THEY RESPOND TO THAT?
>> WELL, THE COMPUTER WASN'T LIKE THE PORTABLE THING THAT WE
KNOW NOW.
IT WOULD TAKE UP A ROOM THIS SIZE, AND THEY HAD THESE MEN WHO
WERE SUPPOSED TO FIGURE IT OUT, AND THEY COULDN'T GET IT TO
WORK, AND DOROTHY VAUGHN, WHO SHE COULD, YOU KNOW, DISASSEMBLE
AND REASSEMBLE ANYTHING ELECTRONIC, SHE FIGURED OUT WHAT
THE PROBLEM WAS AND THEN REALIZED THAT BY GETTING THE
MACHINE TO WORK, IT WOULD PUT ALL OF THEM OUT OF WORK, SO SHE
TAUGHT HERSELF HOW TO PROGRAM IT, AND THEN TAUGHT ALL THE
OTHER WOMEN HOW TO PROGRAM THE I.B.M.
SO SHE'S THE MOTHER OF WOMEN WHO CODE MOVEMENTS.
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: I'M SORT OF
OBSESSED WITH SPACE TRAVEL.
IN THE NEAR FUTURE, IT LOOKS LIKE CIVILIANS WILL BE ABLE TO
GO TO SPACE.
DO YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN BEING ONE OF THE PIONEERS AND
GETTING OUT THERE YOURSELF?
>> I'M NOT A PIONEER.
( LAUGHTER ) >> Stephen: YOU DON'T WANT TO
GO?
>> I DO, BUT LIKE A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW.
THEY CAN FREEZE ME AND IN A HUNDRED YEARS WAKE ME UP AND
THEN TAKE ME, BUT I DON'T WANT TO GO RIGHT NOW.
>> Stephen: ONCE THEY HAVE MEATLOAF IN SPACE, YOU WILL GO.
>> MEATLOAF AND TANG.
>> Stephen: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE!
"HIDDEN FIGURES" IN SELECT THEATERS CHRISTMAS DAY AND
NATIONWIDE JANUARY 6!
OCTAVIA SPENCER, EVERYBODY! WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH JOHN MULANE!