Ryan Gosling dedicated five years of his life to 'Project Hail Mary' – and teared up at early screenings

Ryan Gosling has opened up about his experience making the adaptation of Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir's sci-fi novel that fans of the book have been eagerly anticipating. For Gosling, the project became one of the most meaningful of his career.

"I dedicated five years of my life to making it. I believe in this book, I believe in the Hail Mary ... It's beautiful"

Gosling also spoke about the source material and its author, calling Weir a genuinely unique voice in modern science fiction. In his view, the book offers something rare for the genre – a chance to look at the future not with anxiety, but with curiosity and hope.

"Andy Weir is such a special voice ... and gives us this opportunity to pivot away from fearing the future and maybe think of it as just something to figure out ... The hopefulness of that ... is what I hope people [take away] from the film"

"I'm watching people tear up after seeing it ... it's making me tear up. There's something about it, it's almost bigger than the movie or book, it's tapped into something that I think is really special"

Project Hail Mary is based on Weir's 2021 novel – from the same author whose book The Martian was adapted by Ridley Scott in 2015. The story follows an astronaut who wakes up alone aboard a spacecraft far from Earth and must piece together how he got there and what mission he has to complete to save humanity.

Project Hail coming to the theaters on March 20.