The Oscar-winning directors prove you can find the same infectious chemistry they have with each other with the unlikeliest of people, or alien rock things, in their new film “Project Hail Mary.”
Teaming up with Ryan Gosling, Lord and Miller adapted Andy Weir’s novel of the same name into a heart-warming adventure. In the film, Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher played by Gosling, wakes up from a coma in outer space forgetting who he is and why he is there.
When he remembers he’s humanity’s last resort against an intergalactic threat that could kill the sun, he teams up with an alien that looks like a rock, Rocky, to save the universe.
“This movie is a Hail Mary in the story, but it’s also a Hail Mary on the set,” Lord said. “You’re like, ‘We know this is so hard, we’re pretty sure it’s impossible to pull off.’”
Working with Gosling and the stunt crew to perfectly time a throw in the film was a literal hail mary they pulled off. Lord and Miller plan to do the impossible knowing their past teachers would want them to.
“We had an animation professor in college and he really believed in us,” Miller said. “He was hard on us because he believed that we could do great things, and he made us believe it.”
That professor, David Ehrlich, is from Dartmouth College, where he now works as a visiting professor and still wears purple, his signature color.
“If I get a call before 6a.m. and it wakes me up, I always think it’s him,” Lord said. “He used to call and say, ‘You didn’t turn your assignment in? Where is it?’”
That love for the people who inspired them to be great can be seen in Gosling’s performance. Using tape and inflatable planets, he explains how the sun is dying to his middle schoolers, which helps us understand the stakes and learn he is absolutely the most qualified man to fix it.
“Project Hail Mary” teaches us to find hope in the smallest of miracles and work for, not just believe in, a better tomorrow. Picking yourself back up can show you new ways to tackle a problem and, in Lord and Miller’s case, help make a good scene into an unforgettable one.
“One thing we’ve done more and more as filmmakers is make sure that we’re very prepared for what we need to get but then make sure that we’re flexible and open and ready to pivot if a new idea comes along,” Miller said. “I think that has led to some of the most memorable parts of this movie and other things that we’ve done.”