Preparation is essential for any actor gearing up to take on a role. That said, the prep becomes even more critical when an actor is gearing up to take on one of history's most iconic names. That's something that Ryan Gosling faced in his prep to play Neil Armstrong in Damien Chazelle's First Man, and the Crazy, Stupid, Love star recently opened up and admitted that he consulted directly with NASA in his lead up to the movie. Gosling explained:
I've never had more help in my life on a film... Whether it was Neil's sons or his late ex-wife Janet or Neil's sister, his childhood friends... NASA opened the door to the facilities. Neil was a very famously introspective quiet humble person so the challenge was to honor that but also to create windows into what he might be or had been experiencing emotionally at the time.
Ryan Gosling is not a stranger to the realm of true story movies. He appeared in Adam McKay's The Big Short, as well as Andrew Jarecki's All Good Things. However, Neil Armstrong was a particularly private individual, and as Gosling explained in his interview with Deadline during a recent appearance at the Venice Film Festival, he consulted directly with the folks at NASA in order to get some invaluable insight into Armstrong and his experience of becoming the first man to walk on the moon.
Of course, there's more to First Man than just a faithful adaptation of Neil Armstrong and his persona. The film arguably looks like a technical marvel, and the trailers promise some interesting visuals that we have not seen in similar movies like Apollo 13 or even Gravity. In fact, the film recently screened for audiences, and the early reactions are incredibly positive -- with some even drawing comparisons to Saving Private Ryan in the way that First Man moves the dial forward on its respective genre. We will not know exactly what that means until we get a chance to see the movie first-hand, but I'm inclined to believe that Ryan Gosling's faithful representation of Neil Armstrong might have something to do with it.
As previously mentioned, First Man focuses on the exploits of Neil Armstrong and the leadup to his historic first steps on the surface of the moon. In addition to Ryan Gosling, the movie also stars The Crown's Claire Foy, The Strain's Corey Stoll, and Chappaquiddick's Jason Clarke.
Audiences will get a chance to see all of Ryan Gosling's preparation to play Neil Armstrong later this fall when First Man premieres on October 12. Watch out for the latest offering from the La La Land duo when it debuts, and head over to our movie premiere guide to read up on all of the films that are on the horizon for 2018!
