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Ryan Gosling was struggling to find a new approach to his performance in Project Hail Mary when an unexpected conversation with Julia Roberts gave him the idea he needed.
The 45-year-old actor opened up about the experience during a guild screening of the science-fiction film, explaining that after spending months exploring different ways to play his character, Ryland Grace, he had grown tired of acting alone.
"I had been acting for a long time on the film, and gone through a lot of incarnations of the character, and really felt like I had tried everything I could think of," Gosling told IndieWire.
In the film, Gosling plays a science teacher who wakes up alone aboard a spacecraft with no memory of how he got there. He must figure out how to stop a mysterious substance from causing the sun to die, with help from an unusual rock-like alien named Rocky.
Much of the movie required Gosling to act without a conventional scene partner. Although Rocky was brought to life by actor and puppeteer James Ortiz alongside a team of puppeteers, the demanding process took its toll on Gosling.
He recalled reaching a point where even the elaborate, high-tech set built for the production could not make up for the lack of human interaction.
"I had been in a placenta onesie. I looked like a space caveman. I acted like I was born. I acted like I didn't know how to talk. I was a toddler. I was a man," he said. "But I was just so tired of acting alone."
That changed when Gosling encountered Roberts, who was filming After the Hunt with director Luca Guadagnino. The actress spoke about how much fun she was having on her set and invited Gosling to visit.
"I'd never met her, and she sat down and talked to me," he recalled.
Gosling accepted the invitation and visited a party scene where the cast appeared to be enjoying themselves. After returning to his own set, he told directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller that he wanted someone to act with.
His solution was to turn a mop into a makeshift character. The crew stopped work to help him assemble the improvised scene partner, adding glasses, tape and a dress.
They named the creation Moppy Ringwald, and it ultimately appeared in the finished film.
"What were supposed to be these great visual scenes with all these LEDs, it was just a mop and sunglasses, and they put it in the movie," Gosling said.
The experience also reinforced his appreciation for a production team willing to adapt when things did not go as planned.
"If you're having a problem and you can't solve it, talk to Julia Roberts," he said. "That's the big lesson here. She'll solve it for you."
