In November, Tom Hanks said: 'We can always turn to films, from no matter what era they were made in, to reflect who we are and what we believe and the things we hold dear and important to us.'

And it looks like Academy-Award winner Octavia Spencer has taken Hanks' words to heart.

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Earlier this week, the Hidden Figures star took to Instagram to inform her fans she had rented out an entire cinema in Los Angeles, California to let families from disadvantaged communities see her latest film for free.

She captioned the post with the hashtag 'mlkweekend' – commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday weekend, to say: 'Tomorrow I've bought the 8pm showing of #hiddenfigures the rave Baldwin hills. If you know a family in need that would like to see our movie but can't afford it have them come.

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'It's first come first served. My mom would not have been able to afford to take me and my siblings. So, I'm honoring her and all single parents this #mlkweekend Pass the word,' she added.

Starring alongside actresses Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monae, Spencer plays NASA genius Dorothy Vaughan in the hit film, based on a true story about a group of African-American women in the 1960s who provided NASA with important mathematical calculations in order to launch the program's first successful space mission, Project Mercury.

Spencer's generous offering comes two weeks after 13-year-old Taylor Richardson launched a successful crowdfunding campaign to fundraise money to send more than 100 young girls to see the film.

On the GoFundMe page, Richardson wrote: 'As a girl of color, it's important that girls not only look at the stars but take the steps to reach for them; because many years ago a group of black women marched into a room as programmers and changed the game not only of space exploration but broke gender barriers as well.'

Hidden figures cast | ELLE UKpinterest
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In the end, Richardson has fundraise more than £4,000 to buy the cinema tickets, a copy of the book on which the film is based, a kid's drink, popcorn and sweets.

She told supporters on Twitter that thanks to everyone's generosity, she has now been able to book out two theatre screening to show the film next week.

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According to Mashable, Hidden Figures has become the number one movie at the box office in the US since its release last month, surpassing Rogue One despite being on 2,000 fewer screens.

Watch the trailer to the film below. 'Hidden Figures' will be released 17 February in UK cinemas.

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Katie O'Malley
Site Director

Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.