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If Rocky’s computerized voice in Project Hail Mary sounded familiar, it was for good reason. The name behind that voice? None other than Meryl Streep. While Rocky doesn’t initially speak in a way Ryland can understand, with his vocalizations resembling whale songs more than human speech, the two eventually find a way to communicate—with Ryland programming a computerized voice for Rocky to use. How did this come about? “And then we [thought], wouldn’t it be fun to get Meryl Streep? And Ryan just said, ‘She can do anything,’ and that was perfect,” said Phil Miller, the film’s director, to Entertainment Weekly.
It Was a Once-in-a-Lifetime Role
Miller went on to elaborate about the journey to get the iconic Meryl Streep to agree, saying, “So we’re like, ‘Okay, well, now we’ve got to ask Meryl Streep.’ And so then you’re like, okay, Amy Pascal, our producing partner on the movie, had made movies with her, many movies, like The Post and other movies. So she had a relationship. So we’re like, Amy, you got to—” And that was all it took to get Streep on board to lend her greatness to “a rejected voice of an alien.” Streep’s response to this new role? “I’ll do more. You want me to try this? Try that?” Miller said, “She was so fun and thoughtful and playful and did a million different versions.”
Project Hail Mary centers on former science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), who wakes up on a spaceship, light-years from home, with no memory of who he is or where he is. As his memory returns, he begins to rediscover the details of his mission: to solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die, which threatens life on Earth. Remembering his mission, Ryland now has to draw on his scientific knowledge to save Earth from extinction. And he soon realizes that he’s not alone, and an unexpected friendship gives him the courage to keep going.
Did you catch Meryl Streep’s cameo in Project Hail Mary? Let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to head over to the ComicBook forum to see what other fans are saying.
