Ryan Gosling has spoken about his decision to take on a lead role in the forthcoming Star Wars film Star Wars: Starfighter.
The actor, 45, is one of the biggest names to ever front a Star Wars movie, and marks Gosling’s first foray into long-running franchise filmmaking.
Little is known, however, about the story of the project, which is being directed by Free Guy’s Shawn Levy.
Speaking to io9, Gosling opened up about his reasons for agreeing to Starfighter.
“It was Shawn’s enthusiasm and his vision and the script,” Gosling said. “And I just avoided these things because they never felt right.
“And I’m glad I did because I feel like, [similar to] a book like this, [it was] worth waiting for. And it is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Starfighter is set to become just second Star Wars film released since the poorly received Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, the other being this year’s The Mandalorian & Grogu.
Adapted from the pulpy Disney+ series The Mandalorian, the forthcoming film stars Pedro Pascal as the masked bounty hunter known as Din Djarin.
Gosling, meanwhile, can next be seen in the sci-fi film Project Hail Mary, in which he plays a schoolteacher tasked with travelling into space to save the world. The movie is adapted from a bestselling novel by Andy Weir.
The cast also includes Anatomy of a Fall star Sandra Hüller, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung and Milana Vayntrub, and the film is directed by The Lego Movie’s Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
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Early reactions to Project Hail Mary have been overwhelmingly positive.
Matt Neglia was one of the critics to share a response on social media, writing that the film “feels, in many ways, like a miracle of a movie. It combines the technical awe of Gravity, the problem-solving exhilaration and humour of The Martian, and the sweeping emotion of Interstellar into one film with its own unique style and charm.”
“Ryan Gosling delivers one of his finest performances in years, commanding what is essentially a one-man show that will have you laughing one moment and crying the next.”
Eric Cohn, another to issue an early verdict on the movie, wrote: Project Hail Mary is a faithful adaptation of the book and as such, incredibly charming and imaginative. More than that, it continues Weir’s uncanny ability to transform hard science into palatable mass market entertainment.”
Project Hail Mary is in cinemas from 20 March, while Star Wars: Starfighter is set to arrive in May 2027.
