Long shoots can push actors in unexpected ways, and Ryan Gosling found a strange but funny solution while filming Project Hail Mary. The actor revealed he bonded with a makeshift “mop friend” to cope with isolation on set.
Ryan Gosling survived loneliness on Project Hail Mary set with a ‘mop’ bestie
Ryan Gosling opened up about the unusual experience of filming Project Hail Mary, where he spent an extended stretch shooting largely by himself. The sci-fi film follows the character, astronaut Ryland Grace, who wakes up alone in space with no memory. That isolation wasn’t just on screen; it carried over into production.
Speaking about the shoot with IMDB, Gosling said he had been working solo for nearly 100 days on a single sequence. “I was kind of needing company,” he admitted. That feeling led to an unusual request: he asked the crew to help him create a companion out of a mop.
The team didn’t just go along with it; they fully committed. Gosling recalled that the crew quickly built the prop and even gave it a name: “Moppy Ringwald.” He spent the day filming scenes with it, even joking that “we danced.” The moment highlights how collaborative and flexible the production environment was, especially under directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Gosling added that not every set would entertain such an idea, saying, “Not many filmmakers are going to stop everything and make a mop friend for you.”
The movie pulls its plot from a novel by Andy Weir, the same mind behind The Martian. The movie is not a small-scale project, and the budget reportedly sits around a massive $200 million. Leading the charge is Gosling, backed by a solid lineup that includes Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz, and Lionel Boyce. Gosling also brought a bit of home into the project, too. He shared that his daughters actually helped voice the alien character Rocky in a few scenes. Project Hail Mary is set to release in theaters on March 20.
Originally written by Rishabh Shandilya on Mandatory.
