Ryan Gosling has had some esteemed co-stars over the years, from George Clooney to Margot Robbie. With “Project Hail Mary,” he added a rock alien to that list. James Ortiz’s Rocky was Gosling’s only major scene partner in the film, which presented somewhat of a challenge for the actor. Luckily, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller stepped in with an ingeniously wacky solution that meant Gosling added yet another venerable co-star to his résumé: a mop.
“Project Hail Mary” is one of the best sci-fi movies of 2026, and Gosling delivered yet another irresistibly charismatic performance as Dr. Ryland Grace. The last hope of the human race, Dr. Grace is blasted into the cosmos to save Earth from a microscopic alien race that’s causing the sun to die out. The only problem is, Grace wakes up mid-way through his journey across the galaxy with no memory of how he wound up aboard his spaceship. Grace spends a significant period drifting through the empty vessel alone. This, of course, meant that Gosling had to carry the scenes completely by himself — a tasked he managed admirably. But he might not have done such a stellar job without Lord and Miller’s makeshift co-star.
The actor told People he typically enjoys the dynamic that comes with having a co-star, which made shooting scenes solo somewhat daunting. “I wasn’t ever totally alone because I also had Chris and Phil,” said Gosling, before recalling how the directors devised an inspired solution to his loneliness. “There was one time where I felt I had been alone for like 100 days or something,” Gosling continued, “and I was like, ‘I need someone to talk to. I need a scene partner.’ And they were like, ‘Got it.’ They went and made a mop into a person.”
Things got emotional between Ryan Gosling and Moppy Ringwald
Ryan Gosling was outstanding in “Project Hail Mary,” but he might have struggled without his hastily-assembled secret co-star. How might one make a mop into a person? Well, the answer is in the film itself, as what became known as “Moppy Ringwald” actually made the final cut. According to Gosling, Chris Lord and Phil Miller simply put glasses and a dress on a mop and handed it to their leading man as an improvised co-star. “I spent that day dancing and singing and crying with her and it made the film,” explained the actor. “This is the beauty of working with Chris and Phil: they will put their plans for the day aside and go and make you a mop friend if you need one.”
The actor compared the directors’ “organic and spontaneous” solution to Dr. Ryland Grace and Rocky’s inquisitive and enterprising personalities. In Gosling’s view, both characters “are always experimenting and leading with curiosity,” and he and his directors were “following the lead of that.”
Elsewhere, Miller gave the Associated Press his and Lord’s perspective. “Ryan was like, ‘I just feel like I need a friend. I need a scene partner for this. I don’t know what to do in here,'” he recalled. “We were like, ‘Okay, let’s make a friend.’ So we scoured the set and found a mop and got a dress from the costume department. And we made a little mop friend for him to dance around with.” Those curious to see what Moppy Ringwald looks like will have to watch “Project Hail Mary” closely for what Gosling calls a “blink, you’ll miss it” moment when “she” appears.
Rewatching knowing Moppy Ringwald is just off-screen is just another great reason to revisit the movie.
