Gillian Jacobs might be best known for her inspiring laughs on NBC's Community, but for the past few months the actress has been zig-zagging across the west coast to find out more about female computer science pioneer Grace Hopper for a new documentary.
The result? Jacobs far from Britta'd it.
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Released this week, The Queen of Code, which is part of FiveThirtyEight’s “Signals” series, explores the accomplishments and impact of Hopper's work on the first computer, Harvard Mark 1, which led to the creation of programming language COBOL.
The idea came her way after ESPN Films' senior director of development, Dan Silver, heard a passing reference to Hopper on AMC's Halt and Catch Fire, which tells the story of a fictional computer company's triumphs and hardships during the rise of personal computers, and approached Jacobs about the idea.
"We really have Halt and Catch Fire to thank for this documentary," she says.
Bringing the documentary about from concept to completion wasn't easy for Jacobs, who was admittedly a "novice" in the particular area and had to complete the project in between acting commitments.
While on the set of upcoming film Brothers in Law in rural Oregon, Jacobs would excitedly share findings from her research with co-stars like Rita Wilson and Taran Killam, but she jokes, she's pretty sure she was "boring" them.
She used her off days to conduct interviews in the Bay Area and once flew to Phoenix to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration for young women interested in computer sciences.
And once she began work on the new season of Community, which premiers March 17 on Yahoo Screen, she'd sit in her dressing room contacting universities or companies and trying to spend time in the editing room.
It was a labor of love, one she feels was more than worth it in the end.
"I hope people continue to make these documentaries and people like Grace Hopper do take their place in history alongside their male counterparts," she says.
Watch the documentary below: