Preparation for a role in a space movie has always been challenging for everyone. Earlier, Sandra Bullock shared her horrible experience filming Gravity, Ben Affleck had a near-death experience in Armageddon. Ryan Gosling also fell victim to the same while preparing for his role in First Man.
Damien Chazelle’s biographical space drama, based on the 2005 book of the same name, has produced a mind-bending thrill following the life of the first astronaut to land on the — Neil Armstrong, played by Gosling. However, the Barbie actor’s experience of preparing for the movie had harrowing effects on his brain.
Also read: “I like the actress in that film”: Ryan Gosling Can’t Live Without One Nicholas Cage Movie
Ryan Gosling’s Trip To NASA
Oddly enough, Ryan Gosling never dreamt of being an astronaut. “I never dreamed that big,” the actor told Jimmy Kimmel while appearing on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live while promoting the 2018 movie First Man. But doing the movie, the whole process of “researching and getting to go to NASA and learning about the story” was definitely mind-bending for the actor. But the trip to NASA was certainly funny, as the actor revealed:
“Well, it’s funny because it’s– they’re wonderful people. It’s a fascinating place, and it’s one mind-bending thing after another. But I guess like anything, you know, if you do it long enough, it becomes normal to you. So they have a kind of a casualness when they’re explaining this stuff to you. But I remember this one when I was getting a tour. The guy was giving a tour of the James Webb telescope. And he was like, very casually saying, you know, well look, the mirrors on this telescope will be able to decipher the atmospheres on distant planets. And we should be able to see the edge of the universe. And you know, I guess see the beginning and end of time. And then with equal enthusiasm, and over here is the vending machine. There’s only one more Snickers. So get it while you can.”
But the real hardship came when it came to roping in for physical training. Of course, a lot of marvelous scenes were “movie magic” but the actor had to undergo extensive physical training as well.
The Actor Almost Had Brain Damage
NASA never takes it lightly while sending people to space. The astronauts have to undergo several distressful physical training. “I did some physical training, you know, like at NASA there were lots of– you know, they put us through the paces in certain ways,” Gosling revealed. In the movie itself, the actors were put in a multi-axis trainer designed by NASA. But it gets horrible for the actors because unlike the astronauts who get to do it for 20 minutes “but in the movie, because we had to get a lot of shots. I was in it for like 6 to 8 hours.” That’s when the La La Land actor started to “smell a rat” in his brain.
“Getting banged around in the capsules and hitting my head, that something might be wrong. I went home one night, and I called Eva [Mendes], and I was just hell-bent on this idea that there were people in donut stores all around the world, you know, trying to charm their way into getting free donuts. She was so patient and listening, and you know, and then she was saying, well, you know, I think you might have ‘drain bamage.’ And I was like ‘No, there’s donut charmers everywhere, and it’s a problem, and no one’s doing anything about it.’ And she was like, I’ve been saying you have ‘drain damage’ as a joke. But I think you might have brain damage, you should go to the hospital.”
The actor listened to his wife Eva Mendes and went to the hospital. Thankfully, it was just a minor concussion and the actor endured all the hardship.
Also read: “It was f*cking way too long. F*ck me”: Ryan Gosling’s $265 Million Flop Bored Ridley Scott to Death
Source: YouTube
