When Ryan Gosling first read the story of Project Hail Mary, it hadn’t even hit bookshelves yet.
But he knew instantly it was something special – so special, in fact, he dedicated five years of his life to turning it into a film.
“I was sent the manuscript from the greatest sci-fi mind of our time, Andy Weir,” Ryan, 45, tells New Idea.
Andy also penned The Martian, but Ryan says “nothing could prepare me for what he had come up with this time”.
Project Hail Mary follows science teacher Ryland (Ryan), who wakes up with amnesia on a spacecraft – only to find he is the sole survivor on a mission to save the rest of mankind.
As Ryan tells us during the San Diego press junket, getting the passion project off the ground became a Hail Mary move in itself, thanks to the material, skyrocketing budgets, and even the writers’ strikes!
What was it about Project Hail Mary that captured you from the get-go?
RG: It took me places I have never been. It showed me things I had never seen. I was not just blown away but also overwhelmed.
This is a story about a scared guy who has to do something impossible. Now I was a scared guy, who had to do something impossible – try and turn this into a movie.
How did you go about that?
RG: I did what you do when you need to do something impossible: you get Amy Pascal to produce it with you.
You then get the only two visionary directors (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller) who could bring this to life to talk to you – they had already read it and loved it.
We needed one more thing. We needed a hero. So, we threw up the Bat-Signal and the Dark Knight himself (screenwriter Drew Goddard) came aboard to help us work the same magic he did on The Martian.
What drew you to your character, Ryland Grace?
RG: I connected to his reluctance. That is what made the character. Aside from the fact that he has a doctorate in molecular biology, he is just an ordinary person in this extraordinary situation.
I think what is so inspiring about him, [is] he reacts to a lot of things as I feel like I might, or a lot of us might.
He is terrified, appropriately, of the task at hand because he is somebody who, on Earth, had given up on himself. He has been given this opportunity to believe in himself again.
It also marks his second astronaut role after First Man in 2018. So, was that a childhood dream job never realised?
RG: No, it never was – not that I remember! I wanted to play basketball in the NBA. Not that that was ever likely to happen! Acting seemed a little more achievable.
Would you go to space in real life if given the chance?
RG: No, no. I’m happy down here on Earth!
How do you stay so grounded despite all your success?
RG: No secret. I got a family. They keep me in line, for sure.
