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In an interview with ComicBook to promote Project Hail Mary (out in theaters March 20th), Goddard explained how star Ryan Gosling’s involvement made writing the script much easier. “I was lucky in this case that [Gosling] had signed on before I had signed on,” he said. “So, by the way, screenwriter’s dream, when you’ve already cast Ryan Gosling before you even show up? That is the goal right there. What it was was a safety net for me, because I realized no matter what I write, he can play. If I write the craziest, broadest comedy, he’s gonna make it even better. If I write heartbreak, he’s gonna sell it. He can’t not filter his performance through his own humanity, and when you have that, it actually frees you to take bigger swings.”
Ryan Gosling Was the Perfect Actor for Project Hail Mary
Over the course of his career, Gosling has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most versatile performers. As Goddard says, he’s adept at both comedy and drama. One of Gosling’s three Oscar nominations came for playing the lovable himbo Ken in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, a film that perfectly utilizes the actor’s comedic sensibilities. At the same time, Gosling is also capable of delivering a compelling performance in something like the underrated biopic First Man, where he demonstrates the breadth of his range with an understated turn tapping into Neil Armstrong’s feelings of overwhelming grief. A look over his filmography highlights a variety of other examples from the action comedy The Fall Guy to musical La La Land to romantic drama Blue Valentine.
Project Hail Mary needed a well-rounded performer at its center to be successful. While the film tells a high-stakes, emotional story about a man’s mission to save Earth, it also sports some buddy comedy elements. The final Project Hail Mary trailer is built around the dynamic between Gosling’s Ryland Grace and Rocky, an alien Grace befriends on his mission. Several moment between the two are played for laughs, making Grace the ideal role for someone with impeccable comedic timing. That said, Gosling doesn’t seem out of place when the narrative turns serious and he has to sell audiences on the dire nature of the adventure.
