Fans of Project Hail Mary have spent the last few months geeking out over the big-budget remake of Andy Weir’s book that stars Ryan Gosling. There is already a rush on the chunky cardigan with the fox motifs worn by Gosling in the film (even though you have to knit it yourself). Others were obsessed with his silly science-guy T-shirts with slogans like “I wear this shirt periodically” (who doesn’t love a chemistry pun?). All of it was to reiterate that Gosling’s character, Dr Ryland Grace, is the underdog; he’s a science teacher and a reluctant astronaut.
Unlike the brave crew of Artemis 2 or even Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar, Gosling’s character doesn’t necessarily elect to be mankind’s last hope for survival. Along with his unpretentious clothing, another way that costume designers Glyn Dillon and David Crossman highlight Gosling’s ‘humanity’ is through his glasses. The square, gold-rimmed frames are like another character in the film. Teetering off Grace’s nose, barely hanging on by one arm, tucked under his chin, they orbit his face like a spaceship circling Tau Ceti. As a former wearer of glasses myself, this comes off as highly suspicious behaviour, a mark of someone who hasn’t had to wear glasses before and is putting on an act.
In an interview with USA Today, Gosling revealed that when he shot the film he did not wear glasses in real life (gotcha!) and that director Phil Lord even mentioned that his treatment of them was weird. The ‘slutty little glasses’ were kept in the character’s wardrobe, though, when his daughter mentioned that they made him look smarter.
