Going into Project Hail Mary, I was expecting Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) to be many things: a dorky middle school teacher, an astute biologist, a reluctant astronaut. But nothing could have prepared me for who Grace truly is at heart, which is a fashion icon.
Between his nerdy graphic tees, a Cats shirt, and a fabulous fox sweater, Grace brings a unique sense of style to the farthest reaches of the universe. In a series of video interviews, Gosling, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and screenwriter Drew Goddard broke down Grace’s style inspirations, beginning with those science-themed t-shirts.
“A lot of the silly science tees are based on t-shirts that my son, a science nerd, wears on a daily basis,” Miller said. “So he took pictures of his t-shirt collection and sent them to the costume department.”
These shirts included the “I wear this shirt periodically” tee, which comes with an image of the periodic table, as well as the t-shirt that labels “Ah!” as “the element of surprise.”
“The scientific t-shirts remind me so much of scientists I grew up with, because there always is this sort of scientific humor that delights me,” Goddard said.
Another standout from the Ryland Grace spring collection? A knit sweater with two foxes on the front, inspired by a vintage sweater sporting a similar wolf pattern.
Gosling and stylist Mark Avery repurposed that design with foxes. “The fox thing was a little Easter egg for my kids,” Gosling said.
On top of being delightful to take in, Grace’s tees are also plot-relevant. He has amnesia upon waking from his coma in space, so any reminder of his past life, including clothing, is useful to him.
“He was trying to glean a sense of his own personality, but just always being thrown curveballs,” Gosling said. “Like, I love Cats. I guess that’s who I am. I’m the guy who loves Cats and ‘I had potential’ shirts.”
Project Hail Mary is now in theaters.
