Ryan Gosling talks Project Hail Mary, hopeful science fiction and the challenge of portraying zero g | Scientific American

March 12, 2026 Add Us On Google Add SciAm Ryan Gosling says Project Hail Mary is ‘a reminder of what we’re capable of’ Ryan Gosling plays a science teacher turned (reluctant) astronaut in the upcoming film adaptation of Project Hail Mary, a science fiction novel by author Andy Weir By Brianne Kane edited by Kelso Harper Join Our Community of Science Lovers! Sign Up for Our Free Daily Newsletter Enter your email I agree my information will be processed in accordance with the Scientific American and Springer Nature Limited Privacy Policy . We leverage third party services to both verify and deliver email. By providing your email address, you also consent to having the email address shared with third parties for those purposes. Sign Up On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing . By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Ryan Gosling may not be a formally trained scientist, but he plays a science teacher who reluctantly embarks on an interstellar space mission in the upcoming blockbuster Project Hail Mary. The film, which premieres March 20, 2026, is an adaptation of a popular science-fiction book by Andy Weir, who also authored The Martian . Our associate books editor Brianne Kane sat down with Gosling in the mission control room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and chatted with the actor about hopeful science fiction, career pivots and the pain of portraying zero g on film. It’s Time to Stand Up for Science If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history. I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too. If you subscribe to Scientific American , you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized. In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts , brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters , must-watch videos, challenging games , and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription . There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission. Thank you, David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American Subscribe