Where You've Seen The Project Hail Mary Cast Before

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's adaptation of Andy Weir's best-selling novel, "Project Hail Mary," has been a long time coming — in fact, the project was first announced back in May 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 virus (per Variety). The co-directors of "21 Jump Street" and "The LEGO Movie" immediately brought together talent behind and in front of the camera, selecting Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling to play the lead role of Dr. Ryland Grace and "The Good Place" and "The Cabin in the Woods" scribe Drew Goddard as the screenwriter. Together, this team tells the story of Ryland and his quest to save the earth from a dangerous and mysterious microorganism referred to as "Astrophage," which is responsible for the sun dimming and could bring about the end of Earth's civilization as we know it.

From there, it was off to the proverbial races, but still ... fans of Weir's massively popular book had to wait nearly six years to see Ryland's jaw-dropping journey play out on the big screen. The movie is fully worth the wait, as Looper's very own Reuben Baron wrote in his review — and even though the film is largely a one-hander for Gosling, he's surrounded by an incredibly talented supporting cast. So who else shows up in "Project Hail Mary," and where have you seen them before?

As Dr. Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher who ends up aboard a spacecraft set to head to a star called Tau Ceti — a star mysteriously unaffected by the Astrophage scourge that's afflicting other stars, planets, and suns — without a return ticket, Ryan Gosling is nothing short of spectacular in "Project Hail Mary." He also, as it happens, is the main focus of the movie. Because the film is told across two timelines, we spend a lot of time with Gosling's Ryland as he's essentially stranded on board the ship, appropriately named the Hail Mary (the project also derives its name from this term because it's seen as a last-gasp attempt to save both Earth and the larger universe from certain ruin). Unsurprisingly, Gosling is great as Ryland, and here's where you've seen him elsewhere.

This Canadian born-actor has been winning audiences over since his early turns in "Remember the Titans" and, of course, his leading man role in "The Notebook" opposite his real-life girlfriend at the time, Rachel McAdams. Throughout his years on the big screen, Gosling has taken a huge variety of roles, from the jazz-loving lead in Damien Chazelle's "La La Land" to a goofy and incredibly funny dope opposite Russell Crowe in "The Nice Guys" to, of course, his incredible turn as horse guy Ken in Greta Gerwig's 2023 blockbuster "Barbie." Gosling is, at this point, a Hollywood A-lister and one of the most recognizable faces in film, and the success of "Project Hail Mary" rests largely on his performance. Unsurprisingly, he makes it work beautifully.

After Ryan Gosling, the biggest (human) character in "Project Hail Mary" is Eva Stratt, a government agent and Dr. Ryland Grace's direct superior who gets him on board, literally, for the titular project. Eva is strict, unmoved by Ryland's emotionally, and pragmatic to a fault — save for one scene where she turns in a truly surprising karaoke performance — but even when you're angry with her, it's easy to understand her drive to save the world. So who plays Eva?

That would be Sandra Hüller, a German actress who has been a star in her home country for decades before emerging onto the world stage in a big way in 2023. That year, Hüller led "Anatomy of a Fall," a stunning legal drama from director Justine Triet about a novelist, portrayed by Hüller, who ends up on trial after her husband's mysterious death. Somehow, she also found time to play a supporting role in Jonathan Glazer's Oscar-winning film "The Zone of Interest," in which Hüller plays Hedwig Höss, the wife of Auschwitz commandant Rudolph Höss (Christian Friedel) who leads a happy domestic life on a luxurious estate directly next door to the concentration camp. Hüller is a beautifully versatile performer who's just getting started as an international superstar, and "Project Hail Mary" is yet another perfect vehicle for her talent.

When we first meet Carl, a government agent played by Lionel Boyce in "Project Hail Mary," he's stern and seemingly unimpressed by Dr. Ryland Grace's eccentricities. As Ryland figures out how to essentially "breed" Astrophage (which can be used as a phenomenal fuel source when it's not actively dimming the sun), Carl gets involved with that, using his expense account to help Ryland build a makeshift darkroom to breed them (and, along the way, keeping the whole lab fully stocked with as many Skittles as the two can carry). Where have you seen Boyce before, though?

That would be "The Bear," the FX and Hulu series created by Christopher Storer that took the small screen by storm when it first premiered in the summer of 2022. On that series, Boyce plays pastry chef Marcus Brooks, whose culinary journey takes him from Chicago to Denmark and back as he studies under acclaimed pastry expert Luca (Will Poulter). You might have also spotted Boyce in movies like "Jackass Forever," "Shell," and "Motor City."

As Eva Stratt tells Dr. Ryland Grace in the leadup to the titular project in "Project Hail Mary," the ship ideally needs three people, all of whom know they won't return to earth: a scientist, an engineer, and a pilot. With Ryland filling that first role, the pilot is Yáo Li-Jie, an enthusiastic guy who carries pictures of himself making funny faces with his kids.

Yáo is played, somewhat briefly in "Project Hail Mary," by big and small-screen veteran Ken Leung. Throughout his lengthy career, Leung has appeared in guest roles on shows like "The Sopranos" and "The Good Wife" and booked much bigger roles on shows like "Lost" ... and he's also appeared in films like "Saw" (the first one from 2004), "The Squid and the Whale," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," and "Joker: Folie à Deux." If you're a fan of the truly phenomenal HBO and BBC collaboration "Industry," though, you definitely know Leung as Eric Tao, a financial expert who ends up aligning himself with Myha'la's young upstart Harper Stern at the London firm Pierpoint. (If you're not familiar with "Industry," do yourself a favor and change that now!)

We mentioned the Hail Mary's scientist and pilot, but what about its engineer? That would be Milana Vayntrub's sardonic, funny Olesya Ilyukhina, a Russian woman who volunteers to go up into space to save the world. (At one point, she says she has her, well, "exit" from existence all planned, and yes, it does involve vodka.) As for Vayntrub, you've seen this comedy powerhouse and versatile actress in a ton of projects before.

Throughout her career, Vayntrub has voiced Squirrel Girl in a handful of Marvel Comics projects, enjoyed a recurring role on the hit TV drama "This Is Us," and appeared in everything from "Key & Peele" to "Robot Chicken" to "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story." Vayntrub — who also appears as one of the commercial mascots for AT&T, whose name is Lily, and who sold steamy pictures for a good cause in 2025 — plays a small role in "Project Hail Mary," but it's pretty pivotal, and it's a pleasure to see her alongside Ken Leung and Ryan Gosling.

Ryan Gosling's Dr. Ryland Grace is, without question, the star of "Project Hail Mary" — but after audiences see the movie, they'll leave thinking about Ryland's relationship with Rocky, an alien from a far-flung planet called Erid who ends up meeting Ryland in space. As their two ships pass, the two start exchanging messages and eventually, Rocky makes a pathway between the spacecrafts; before long, Rocky has fully moved into the Hail Mary, bouncing around in a pressurized cage of sorts because Ryland's atmosphere is toxic to his form. ("Rocky" isn't his given name; humans can't understand his real name in Eridean, so Ryland gives him the name because, well, he looks like a rock.)

It's probably not surprising, then, that Rocky is voiced and puppeteered by theater veteran James Ortiz. This artist — who, according to his own website, is a "designer, performer, playwright, and director" — won a Drama Desk Award in 2022 for his work on the Tony-nominated "The Skin of Our Teeth," and he was also part of the 2022 Broadway revival "Into the Woods," where he was the puppetmaster behind the cow Milky White alongside stars like Sara Bareilles and Cheyenne Jackson.

Alongside James Ortiz, who appears in "Project Hail Mary" but isn't physically seen on-screen, the other big voice performer from the film is Priya Kansara, who voices the ship itself. As "Mary," Kansara's soothing voice frustrates and helps Dr. Ryland Grace as he tries to recover his memories and determine why he's on the ship and what he needs to do next ... so where have you seen Kansara before?

This London-born actress broke onto the scene in a big way in Season 2 of Netflix's hit romance drama "Bridgerton" as Miss Eaton, a debutante "interviewed" by Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) to possibly become his wife. Besides "Bridgerton," Kansara has appeared on another Netflix series, "The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself," the movie "Police Society," and the BBC series "Dope Girls."