Who plays Dr. Ryland Grace in the 2026 film Project Hail Mary?

Ryan Gosling plays Dr. Ryland Grace in the 2026 film Project Hail Mary.

Grace is a former middle-school science teacher and an exceptionally capable scientist who awakens alone aboard a spacecraft with no memory of how he got there. As his memories return, he realizes that humanity has sent him on a desperate mission to investigate a cosmic threat and help save Earth.

Gosling also served as a producer on the film. The movie adapts Andy Weir’s science-fiction novel, but it is not a direct continuation of The Martian, another Weir adaptation that starred Matt Damon. That connection makes Damon a tempting but incorrect choice here.

The film was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a screenplay by Drew Goddard. Gosling’s role places the story’s scientific problem-solving, isolation, humor and friendship at its center.