Andy Weir Shares One Way Working with Ryan Gosling on "Project Hail Mary" Surprised Him (Exclusive) Raven BrunnerThu, March 19, 2026 at 5:00 PM UTC 0 Ryan Gosling and Andy WeirCredit: Albert L. Ortega/Shutterstock Andy Weir tells PEOPLE what surprised him the most about working with Ryan Gosling on the movie adaptation of his book, Project Hail Mary "I shouldn't be surprised, but he's just so incredibly professional. He's nice to everybody.
Andy Weir Shares One Way Working with Ryan Gosling on "Project Hail Mary" Surprised Him (Exclusive)
Raven BrunnerThu, March 19, 2026 at 5:00 PM UTC
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Ryan Gosling and Andy WeirCredit: Albert L. Ortega/Shutterstock -
Andy Weir tells PEOPLE what surprised him the most about working with Ryan Gosling on the movie adaptation of his book, Project Hail Mary
"I shouldn't be surprised, but he's just so incredibly professional. He's nice to everybody. He remembers the names of everybody," the author says
Weir's hit book was a finalist for the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel and was featured on Barack Obama's 2021 summer reading list
Andy Weir is not new to Hollywood but some stars still surprise him.
The author, 53, is celebrating the movie adaptation of his 2021 book Project Hail Mary which stars Ryan Gosling as Dr. Ryland Grace. While speaking with PEOPLE in an exclusive interview, he shares what surprised him the most about working with the movie star.
"I shouldn't be surprised, but he's so incredibly professional. He's nice to everybody. He remembers the names of everybody," Weir says of Gosling.
Andy Weir attends the 'Project Hail Mary' New York premiere at Lincoln Center on March 18, 2026 in New York City.Credit: Stephanie Augello/THR/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty
The author also says Gosling, 45, always had a positive attitude on set.
"He was working 12 hour days, six days a week, hanging from uncomfortable wire harnesses and he never complained about it. I think he had one sick day during the whole production and that was genuine. You don't always get that, especially with top-tier talent," he says.
Project Hail Mary, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, follows science teacher Ryland as he is sent to space to learn about a mysterious substance that is a threat to life on Earth. During his mission, he develops an unexpected friendship with an alien named Rocky.
The script was written by Drew Goddard, who previously adapted Weir's The Martian for the big screen, and Amy Pascal produced with Gosling, Lord, Miller and Weir.
Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz and Lionel Boyce also star.
Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace in 'Project Hail Mary.'Credit: Jonathan Olley/Amazon MGM Studios
Weir's book was a hit upon its release, named a finalist for the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel and landing a spot on Barack Obama's 2021 summer reading list.
As for whether the author always pictured a Gosling-type as Ryland while writing the novel, he admits that he doesn't "actually have a very visual imagination" so his book characters "tend to be blobs in my mind."
"When I finished the book, I couldn't have told you what color Ryland's hair was or anything like that. I think at some point, early in the book, I defined him as Caucasian, but that's about all I had done," he says.
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'Project Hail Mary' by Andy Weir.
"I found that people tend to conjure up their own images, so I don't want to contradict that by describing something that isn't necessary. Rocky, for instance, I didn't know what he looked like. I knew his morphology. I knew he had a pentagonal thorax, and then legs coming out and three fingers at the end of each leg, but I couldn't have told you if his legs were skinny or thick, if they were like bumpy or smooth, if they were symmetrical or asymmetrical," Weir explains.
"If you had asked me before we cast him or anything like that, I would have said, 'I don't think Ryland Grace is as good-looking as Ryan Gosling is.' I don't think of him as being stunningly handsome, but other than that, I didn't have a visual image of him at all," he says.
All said, Weir is pleased with what Gosling brought to the role.
"As a writer, my biggest insecurity, the thing I think I need to work on the most, is my character's depth, complexity and nuance. I think I'm pretty good at coming up with plots and making sure the science works out, but characters have always been something I want to get better at," he says.
"Ryland was my third main character and I put a lot of work into giving him some nuance, giving him some core traits that aren't necessarily good. He's very scared and stuff like that, but he's also someone that you can empathize with," Weir says, adding that some of his decisions for Ryland stemmed from criticism he received of his character Jazz in his second book, Artemis.
"Ryan came in and added so many layers of nuance and depth to the character that are very subtle. Oftentimes he treated the screenplay as a vague suggestion. He'd always do a few takes exactly as written, but then he'd say to the directors like, 'Hey, I want to try doing it like this,' " he says.
Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Ryan Gosling, Sandra Huller, Andy Weir and Drew Goddard at 'Project Hail Mary' Event at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Feb. 25, 2026 in Pasadena, Calif.Credit: Eric Charbonneau/Amazon MGM Studios via Getty
An example that Weir gives is that Gosling and Ortiz, the head puppeteer for Rocky, "would riff off each other and ad lib."
"The end result was a Ryland Grace who was far more detailed, nuanced and deep than anything that I wrote in the book. And the awesome thing about it is I'm going to get credit for all that because people aren't going to assume that the actor is the one who figured all that out. They're going to say, 'Oh, it must have been the writer. Andy, he's good at this.' So thanks, Ryan," he joked.
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Gosling has spoken about his love for the book, saying in a promotional clip, "A lot of people describe this as the best book they've ever read. I just knew if we could stay true to the story, we would make a great film."
Project Hail Mary opens in theaters on March 20.
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: March 19, 2026 at 07:09PM on Source: RED MAG
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