If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.
Project Hail Mary's Andy Weir on torturing lead Ryan Gosling: "No amount of physical discomfort for Ryan is enough"
Weir, who wrote the bestselling novel on which Project Hail Mary is based, appeared at San Diego Comic Con with star Gosling. And somehow, Gosling seemed happy to be there?
Popverse's top stories
- Baldur's Gate 4? Hasbro is confident, even after the departure of Baldur's Gate 3's Larian Studios
- Simon Kinberg on writing X-Men movies, producing Glenn Powell's The Running Man remake, and co-creating Star Wars Rebels [Popversations]
- DC's new Batman writer Matt Fraction declares: "Every Bat-Kid is looking for Bat-Approval from Bat-Dad, who doesn't know what parental approval looks like"
And everything happening this week for Future Fest!
How do you make a groundbreaking sci-fi film? If you're George Lucas, I suppose the answer is to pioneer spaceship SFX. If you're Stanley Kubrick, it's to work in as much classical music as you can. But if you're the team behind 2026's Project Hail Mary, some of whom appeared at this year's San Diego Comic Con, the answer appears to be even simpler:
You put your star through absolute Hell.
That star would be Ryan Gosling, who took to the Hall H stage at SDCC '25 along with Project Hail Mary's directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and the author of the novel upon which the book is based, The Martian creator Andy Weir. At one point in the panel, Weir shared the amount of physicality involved in Gosling's portrayal of main character Ryland Grace - and apparently, it's. not the fun kind.
"We agreed that no amount of physical discomfort by Ryan was too much," Weir chuckled, "If he has to hang from wires, if he has to be covered in Vaseline, doesn't matter. Unpleasant prosthetics on him? Doesn't matter, we were willing to make that sacrifice."
In case you don't know, Project Hail Mary sees Gosling's character shot into space to attempt to make contact with an alien lifeform. A lightyear-long journey like that requires him to go through things like cryosleep and anti-gravity conditions, the effects of which were performed practically on set, and all by poor Gosling.
"He was our Fall Guy," Weir concluded. Good one, Andy.
Project Hail Mary comes to theaters March 20, 2026.
Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out Popverse's guides to:
Follow Popverse for upcoming event coverage and news
Find out how we conduct our review by reading our review policy
Let Popverse be your tour guide through the wilderness of pop culture
Sign in and let us help you find your new favorite thing.
Comments
Want to join the discussion? Please activate your account first.
Visit Reedpop ID if you need to resend the confirmation email.