Project Hail Mary, Milana Vayntrub Interview

"Of course, of course, because I read the book first and I was a big fan of the book. And whenever there's a character that speaks Russian in a story, I'm always like, give me in there. And so this was a really good use of, you know, my heritage and this story coming together. 

I play an astronaut from Russia that goes to space with Grace and another one, Ken, who's here, you'll meet him. Yeah. It feels very magical to be a part of something that I know will be a classic and that I know will mean so much to people of all ages. I really believe that. It feels very magical. They're incredibly collaborative. 

First of all, they're just like funny, nice people, they're like silly and warm and playful and they want you to bring something to the script. I think there are some directors that are like, do it the way I envision it. And then these guys are like, do it the way you sparkle, you know, bring your sparkle to it. And so I brought my sparkle, they said no thank you and sent me home. Yeah. You know, one of the things I heard Ryan say that I'm going to just repeat is that the future isn't something to fear, it's something to figure out. 

And there's the way that Grace, the character, his character in the movie operates is really about like, okay, this is a problem, it's not the end, it's the beginning of a solution that we're going to work on. And I think that could be applied to all of the pain and strife and crisis that we feel in the world these days. And so we're like, okay, how do we work together, how do we apply our greatest minds and use empathy and friendship to work together. It is. 

Well, Ryan is funny. He's kind of a goof and James, the character, the the man that voices Rocky, is a silly little baby boy. And so the two of them together, so playful. And then you know that Phil and Chris, the directors, have done an array of animated films and so they just have that like playful comedy essence built in. And so to see it in live action is really fun."

Milana Vayntrub plays Commander Yáo Li-Jie, one of the astronauts who accompanies Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) on the Hail Mary mission. Yáo is a competent and determined figure, part of the original crew that undertakes the journey alongside Grace. Her character emerges primarily in flashbacks that reveal the events preceding Grace's solitary awakening, showing the dynamics between the team members before something tragically impacts the voyage.