AceShowbiz - Ryan Gosling is offering a rare glimpse into his family life while discussing his latest role in the hit sci-fi movie Project Hail Mary. Known for his varied and compelling performances, the three-time Oscar nominee has recently captivated audiences with his portrayal of Ryland Grace, a reluctant astronaut on a mission to save Earth.

The film, which opened in the UK last week, has achieved remarkable success, grossing £122 million worldwide, making it the biggest movie debut of the year. In the story, Ryland Grace is a grade 8 science teacher sent by the government to a star system 11.9 light years away to confront a cosmic threat. However, the character's signature look—with glasses—was inspired by none other than Gosling’s own daughter.

Ryan Gosling revealed that while experimenting with his character’s appearance, he initially placed glasses on as a joke, feeling the trope of scientists wearing glasses was somewhat clichéd. It was his young daughter who encouraged him to keep them, saying, “You look smarter in glasses.” This simple piece of advice stuck, and the glasses have since become a memorable aspect of Ryland Grace’s persona on screen.

The actor and his family recently relocated from California to Hampstead, North London, to film Star Wars: Starfighter, which is scheduled for release in May next year. Gosling lives with his partner, actress Eva Mendes, and their two daughters, Esmeralda, 11, and Amada, nine. He often credits his children for providing unexpected support and inspiration. “They help me in so many ways, I couldn’t list them all,” he said. “I think they’re so funny and helpful and smart.”

Gosling and Mendes, who met while filming The Place Beyond the Pines in 2011, are believed to have married privately in 2022. The couple is protective of their children’s privacy, rarely sharing details with the public. However, when choosing to star in Project Hail Mary, Gosling was mindful of crafting a story that could resonate with his daughters’ generation.

“I was so grateful just as a father to get to make a story for my kids, maybe not to be too lofty, but for their generation,” he explained. He also spoke of the unique privilege of working from the manuscript of Andy Weir’s novel before it was published, allowing him to approach the story with fresh eyes and no preconceived notions.

Ryan Gosling’s filmography showcases his versatility, from a drug-addicted teacher in Half Nelson to a romantic lead in The Notebook, a jazz pianist in La La Land, and a financial trader in The Big Short. In Project Hail Mary, his character awakens aboard a spacecraft with no memory of what has happened, gradually realizing he is the sole survivor of his crew, and soon discovers he is not truly alone. He forms an unlikely alliance with an alien named Rocky, a partnership pivotal to the film’s scientific and emotional core.

Gosling praised author Andy Weir’s blend of humor with complex scientific concepts. “Partly what’s so special about Andy’s work is the humour, [which] helps you to digest so much of the hard science and some of the things that are harder to understand,” he remarked. This balance of wit and intellect helped shape the film’s tone and its appeal to audiences.

The cast was encouraged to infuse their own style of humor into the film, creating a unique brand of comedy that distinguished it from the novel. “It became its own brand by the end of it,” Gosling noted. He found the character’s amnesia an intriguing element, as it freed Ryland Grace from preconceived notions of heroism. “He doesn’t know who he is and that he’s not a natural hero. He has no fantasies of being a hero,” Gosling reflected. “He finds his bravery in a really interesting way because he’s had amnesia and he’s able in a way to kind of forget who he was and that he might have been a coward. He’s given this opportunity to be who he wants to be and not who he was.”

On the production side, Gosling expressed admiration for the craftsmanship involved in bringing the alien character Rocky to life. The alien was created through puppetry, involving five to six puppeteers working together to ensure the creature's realistic presence on camera. “It really would have been a lot easier and a lot cheaper to do it another way,” he said. “It was quite difficult to do it this way.” The requirement to accommodate the puppeteers influenced the set design, which had to function practically despite representing a spacecraft in space.

The complexity of portraying a friendship between two beings who cannot share the same atmosphere added to the challenges on set. “They can’t be in each other’s atmosphere. They can’t communicate. Everything is difficult, and we were living that on set,” Gosling shared. Despite these obstacles, the collaboration resulted in a compelling and heartfelt connection between the astronaut and the alien, which became a defining feature of the film’s magic.

Aside from his work on Project Hail Mary, Gosling recently spoke about missing a memorable moment on the set of Star Wars: Starfighter, involving action star Tom Cruise. Cruise arrived on set by helicopter to film a scene but did so on a day Gosling was off. “Tom Cruise flew his helicopter on to set. They were just shooting, and they heard a helicopter, they had to cut. And it was Tom Cruise. He lands in the middle of the set. He takes a camera, and he just starts shooting the action scene,” Gosling recounted. “It was an incredible moment, and I don’t know why he waited for the one day I wasn’t there. I’m gonna hope that was an accident.”

Beyond his current sci-fi projects, Gosling also earned acclaim for his recent role as Ken in the film Barbie. He emphasized how each project allows actors to leave their own mark, especially through adapting humor and performance style to fit the story’s unique requirements.

As a family man and an actor, Ryan Gosling continues to balance both worlds, drawing inspiration from his personal life to enrich his professional work. His daughter’s simple advice on wearing glasses has become an iconic part of a blockbuster film, showcasing how moments at home can influence Hollywood storytelling in unexpected ways.

This interview was adapted from The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service and is available in full on BBC Sounds.