The creators of ‘Project Hail Mary‘ built a key part of the film around how an astronaut communicates with an alien using a programmed translation system, and that creative decision led them to approach Meryl Streep for a brief voice cameo.
But directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller kept hesitating, unsure how to pitch such an unusual role. So what exactly made them procrastinate, and how did they finally pull it off?
How Meryl Streep Was Approached For ‘Project Hail Mary’
In the sci-fi thriller ‘Project Hail Mary‘, Ryan Gosling plays Dr. Grace, an astronaut who connects with an intelligent alien named Rocky. However, he can only communicate with it through music. He scrolls through the different choices for a computerized voice for Rocky, and there we hear Meryl Streep’s iconic voice.
The search for this voice lasted a long time for directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. They started by just doing a number of silly voices. “We had people from the crew do voices just to make Ryan laugh and have the characters have something to react to,” Miller revealed.
Then they were struck by the brilliant idea of having Meryl Streep do the voice. To this, Ryan Gosling himself added, “She can do anything.” This set the whole plan in motion. The only problem was contacting Streep and getting her to do the role.
For this, they turned to Amy Pascal, one of the film’s producers. “And so then you’re like, okay, Amy Pascal, our producing partner on the movie, had made movies with her, many movies, like The Post and other movies,” Miller recalled. “So, she had a relationship. So, we’re like, Amy, you got to.”
Meryl Streep Had The Perfect Response
Even after their plan was set, Miller and Lord had difficulty approaching Streep. “You have never seen a group of filmmakers procrastinate longer.” Lord revealed, “Every time you rehearsed in the mirror, going, ‘Meryl, would you by any chance want to play a rejected voice of an alien?’ Just trying to explain it to her…You know what? I’m going to ask her tomorrow.”
In case you missed it: Not Sci-Fi, A Silent Classic Film Shaped Ryan Gosling’s ‘Project Hail Mary’ Performance
Ultimately, when the proposal was brought to Streep, she quickly agreed. “She was so fun and thoughtful and playful and did a million different versions: ‘I’ll do more. You want me to try this? Try that?” Miller revealed.
Andy Weir, the author of the novel on which the movie was based, came forward to say, “I love how it ended up being Meryl Streep pretending to be a computer that is pretending to be Meryl Streep.“
Even though Meryl Streep finally agreed, the journey from hesitation to execution became a memorable part of ‘Project Hail Mary‘.
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