Ryan Gosling reveals how he acted with his daughters in ‘Project Hail Mary’

Ryan Gosling shares the screen with an alien character named Rocky in his upcoming space movie Project Hail Mary.The La La Land actor said that his two daughters “would talk for Rocky” during some scenes as he listened with an earpiece.Some of Gosling’s reactions to Rocky in the movie came from “my kids talking to me and helping me out,” he said.

Ryan Gosling acted against a couple of surprising collaborators while shooting his latest movie.

The La La Land star shares the screen with an alien ally named Rocky in the upcoming sci-fi adventure Project Hail Mary, and for some of his conversations with his extraterrestrial costar, he employed his daughters Esmeralda Amada, 11, and Amada Lee, 9, to serve as voice doubles for the character.

“Sometimes when I was working and I needed to sort of switch things up or whatever, my kids would come in and I had an earpiece in my ear and they would talk for Rocky, so I could talk to them as Rocky,” Gosling told PEOPLE.

Ryan Gosling in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 30, 2024.

 Phillip Faraone/WireImage

Though James Ortiz voices Rocky in the final cut of Project Hail Mary, Gosling said that some of his reactions to Rocky actually came in response to the performances from his daughters, whom he shares with longtime partner Eva Mendes.

“There’s some moments in the movie where I’m laughing or I’m just so charmed by him, which is like, it’s actually my kids talking to me and helping me out,” the Nice Guys star explained.

Gosling said that his daughters have served as valuable test audiences throughout the process of producing Project Hail Mary. “They’ve seen many cuts of this film,” the Drive actor said. “They’ve given me many notes.”

The Blade Runner 2049 actor said that one of his kids helped shape the look of his character, who is a science teacher who travels to space to help save the planet.

“When I was trying on stuff for the character and my daughter came by, and she was like, ‘You look smart in glasses,'” Gosling remembered. “And I was like, ‘I need to look smart in this, so I will thank you for that.'”

Project Hail Mary also stars Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Lionel Boyce (The Bear), Ken Leung (Industry), and Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us). Based on a novel by Andy Weir (The Martian), the film is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who previously helmed hits like The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street.

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Project Hail Mary hits theaters on March 20.